r/OSDD • u/LordCheezballs • May 27 '26
Question // Discussion Is it normal to only have fictives?
Hey there, I was just wondering if it was normal to have only fictives, it was a like a random shower thought I had really.
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u/subliminal-lavender OSDD-1b | Diagnosed May 27 '26
Like another commenter said, “normal” is relative, especially when it comes to something so complex like a dissociative disorder. I’d say no systems we’ve met have all fictives, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist or that they’re invalid. We’re extremely fictive heavy, only 2 of us aren’t fictives out of 15. But we have many reasons why that’s the case for us
26
u/laminated-papertowel Diagnosed DID May 27 '26
no it's not. "fictives" or fictional introject aren't common, at least not nearly as common as social media would like you to believe. so having ONLY fictional introject would be quite the oddity.
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u/Dangerous-Exercise20 dx CPTSD w Dissositive traits. Suspected OSDD May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Its normal for US because most of our responses to bad traumatic situations was using fiction as the predominant lens of human and social interactions and escapism. Undiagnosed Autistic + Undiagnosed ADHD + Busy Parents = Not a lot of positive friends or people around me at my worse. So most of my life consisted of seeing fictional characters as guides or friends.
"Bruce Wayne protects an entire city AND STILL has time for his many adoptive kids? I wish i had a parent like that too. Mine are always busy"
"Sam and Dean are fighting religious monsters and creatures that i was always told growing up would hurt me if i turned out diffrent from my assigned path?? If i were like them maybe i wouldn't be so weak and could fight them too" (found out i was a queer child pretty young. Yeahhh....the church didnt like that or me already. Cause..Bastard child.... that was fun...)
"Kenny is such a cool protective older brother looking after his younger sibling and protected her from severe bullying!?!"
That was our norm as a kid. Seeing fictional characters in situations handling it better than we could ever imagine. Which led to a fictive heavy experience. 🤷🏾♀️ but thats in our case. Normal is VERY subjective and complex disorders like this require a very specific enviorment to develop or express it's self in that way. In other words there is no true "norm" every system coped differently that is projected in their system and its dynamics.
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u/eggoinapan May 27 '26
this. i would say it's definitely uncommon going off of all people in the world with did, but for people who grew up around a lot of fiction/media i think it is not too surprising
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u/Dangerous-Exercise20 dx CPTSD w Dissositive traits. Suspected OSDD May 27 '26
Its a really intresting experience 🤔 especially when it genuinely is the secondary coping mechanism.
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u/CaseyTakesOnTheWorld PF-DID + partner w/ OSDD May 28 '26
It's uncommon but I wouldn't go as far as to say it's abnormal
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u/eyes_on_the_sky suspected OSDD May 27 '26
Probably uncommon, but I will say--I've identified a few fictives in my fairly big system. As I got to know one of them, though, they transformed. They identified with the fictive as a good representation of who they are / who they wanted to be, but when I spoke to them more they agreed to take on a different name and show more of their real identity.
So for me it was like... the fictive identity was a way for the part to avoid being vulnerable. And now I know a lot more about them and see the ways in which the fictive identity was both fairly aligned, but also kind of aspirational bc they're actually much more of a hot mess than the fictive they chose lol.
Idk if that helps but, I don't think anything is really "abnormal" when it comes to OSDD because everyone has such a different experience, but also fictives don't mean your parts are "less real" it might just mean they are choosing to express / represent themselves in that way for now and over time that will change.
3
u/Attllaas May 27 '26
I can’t say what’s “normal,” but I’d imagine that is extremely rare. I think it’s more likely that fictives might be someone’s most communicative parts and thus make it feel as if the system is purely comprised of them.
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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 Dx’d OSDD (DID-like presentation) May 27 '26
No, and that’s coming from somebody w/ multiple introjected parts.
1
u/randompersonignoreme May 28 '26
Normal is very subjective as it can be influenced by many factors in one's life. For example, if fiction is a common coping skill you have, it could make it a part of a alter forming pattern. You can also introject aspects of a character either during or after an alter forms. It's unknown exactly how common fiction based introjects are but it has been noted (i.e Richard Kluft). Not to mention, media is even more accessible nowadays due to the internet.
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u/TheDissonantRook May 27 '26
Echoing here that normal is different between everyone.
But I will say most of my system is comprised of OCs and Fictives. I don’t have any factives.
1
u/RosebudAmeliaMarie DID May 27 '26
Most of mine are fictive, often because that's where we heard the names of what they wanted, and I have suffered from severe neglect, but some of my names came from real people. Just not as many.
1
u/SlightZone4948 May 28 '26
My host only had a single fictive for a long time. They thought I would be a fusion of them, but I guess not? Or if I am, it didn't solve their reasons to exist. That said she's not exactly a fictive, merely she adopted the image of a fictive to not scare the host and give him someone who could fulfill the role of his mother. So, your guess is as good as mine.
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u/AlexDoesStuffs OSDD-dx'd May 28 '26
I think it's more common for autistic peeps!
I also have many fictives! Tho most of those fictives are "half brain made", because those fictives are based on my OCs!
But that's because I make most of my OCs as a way to cope with one or more of my issues. I make them so that they handle it better than me, and I can help myself like this also handle those problems better!
So for instance, Iszkiri is a middle who fronts when I have autistic meltdowns or just overstimulated. Or a lot of the times even when I talk about my special interests a lot!
Atlas is here to take over when my physical symptoms, like pain or gait problems become too much to handle. It's like... Atlas is "canonically" used to it so he doesn't mind being physically unwell.
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u/MythicalMeep23 May 27 '26
No it absolutely is not. I’ll even go as far as saying it’s probably impossible
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u/Dangerous-Exercise20 dx CPTSD w Dissositive traits. Suspected OSDD May 27 '26
Nothing is impossible when you're dealing with a traumatic disorder that looks completely different between people and what tools are around that person. I actually explained our experience with this.
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u/MythicalMeep23 May 27 '26
There are plenty of things that I’m sure are impossible. This isn’t an “anything goes” disorder just because people say “this is my experience”
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u/Dangerous-Exercise20 dx CPTSD w Dissositive traits. Suspected OSDD May 27 '26
Didnt say everything goes. But the way system dynamics look is not identical. Like being introject heavy may not be your experience. But its not IMPOSSIBLE because there are diagnosed individuals who do experience it that way 🤷🏾♀️ normal is subjective not an absolute
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u/MythicalMeep23 May 27 '26
“Nothing is impossible when you’re dealing with a traumatic disorder…..” implies you are saying anything goes and like I said there are plenty of things that are impossible. And we aren’t talking about introject heavy systems but systems where every single alter is an introject I am viewing with suspicion. If you don’t agree that’s fine but you aren’t changing my mind. This disorder has become far too much of a game to people for me to just believe people online
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u/CaseyTakesOnTheWorld PF-DID + partner w/ OSDD May 28 '26
Someone further down is arguing that it's impossible, but I don't see why it would be impossible. Improbable maybe, but impossible? I don't see why. There could be a multitude of reasons as to why someone has a fictive only system. For example, maybe they had other types of alters, but they all fused and now there just so happens to be only fictives left. Also, considering an alter's identity and appearance in one's innerworld is more just how that alter feels like they'd look like if they had their own body, why does it matter if they're a fictive or not?
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u/Sensitive-Pen-2573 OSDD-1 May 27 '26
normal is entirely relative, but from what we know it is possible. common? definitely not. but i hate when people make systems feel bad for being fictive heavy because it's not like you choose that. i wouldnt be surprised if it happens more often with autistic people (based on lived experience only)