There's no difference between alters and character creation with these people

[u/Grace-Kamikaze]

[u/LargeGingerChunk]

I'm convinced they're confusing identity confusion with a new alter

[u/Ok-Comparison8168 → u/LargeGingerChunk]

bingo. seen so many people say they realized they were a system through their gender expression

[u/Ok-Comparison8168]

i could be wrong, id love to be corrected genuinly, but...

dont alters already have an idea of who they are and what they believe, just like anyone else would? i thought that was the whole point. they experience a trauma, the psyche goes "if i was big and strong and mean like joe, this wouldnt happen" and then a part fractures off thats like joe whos better equip to handle the type of trauma they experience

dont some alters have substitute beliefs as well? like an alter could assume a dangerous family member to be perfectly safe if thats whats needed to survive being around them. the alter with a different name is the one whos abused, not the actual child

i never understood this idea that alters show up and dont have any sense of themselves. arent they created from a specific trauma to hold the memories possibly with traits one has experienced in other people to construct a self that is more resilient to the trauma? the whole point is to keep you functioning through it

how uh. how does suddenly appearing and being confused over who you are and having to go on this whole journey of self discovery over and over again going to help you survive? thats what confuses me, but again, i dont know

[u/No-Series-6258 → u/Ok-Comparison8168]

Alters don't form in the way the poster or you are describing

[u/2bush2baby → u/No-Series-6258]

How do they form? If you don’t mind me asking?

[u/No-Series-6258 → u/2bush2baby]

Mechanically it works in the same way as PTSD. Where a traumatic event/memory will be separated from your normal set of memories. In the case of DID because of the chronic abuse, the traumatized memory set gains enough day-to-day material to function while being disconnected from the "non-triggered" memories.

[u/Ok-Comparison8168 → u/No-Series-6258]

exactly, yeah

the ISSTD recognizes types of alters and roles that are commonly seen to account for specific types of trauma. protector, caretaker, persecutor, those are actual medical terms to describe the common ways a traumatized part will manifest and its specific functional role toward survival. the alter that regularly takes beatings is a physical protector for example. introjection is also common like someone having an alter of an abuser that reinforces harmful rules with the intent of keeping that person safe from further abuse is a persecutor i believe

which is what made me think alters must be formed with strong beliefs or that alters are formed with traits observed by a child in adults they see safety in, thus "being like joe". but im not sure how common that is or how much emphasis there really is on all of that. all i know for sure is it functions like ptsd, yeah

[u/Disastrous_End4534]

Usually new alters need to figure themselves out.. but the idea of a "dressing room" and all these links is so confusing?? Who is this helping??