(no subject)

[bacskocky.livejournal.com]

It's people liek this that cause the world of multiples to never be seen for what it truly is

(btw, for those of you who don't know me (pretty much everyone) I'm a non-multiple whose SO is a member of a multiple system)

EDIT:

The purpose of me posting this was not to bash one specific person for their belief on how they should treat my SO. This is jsut the first example I've gotten that is in WRITING of the way so many people think that a few pamphlets, a couple documentaries, and maybe a book or two and they're geniuses on the topic. They're the ones who don't see that whether someone is faking the "disorder" or not, it is often a defense mechanism, not something for purely attention. Even if it IS for attention, maybe teh person believes that surrounding themselves with a large number of peopel on the outside will protect them.

Comments

[nematoddity.livejournal.com]

That's actually something I'm trying to track down articles/research on--'not all systems were born of trauma'. Just about everything I've read has told me severe trauma makes the multiple, and, you know, you'd think I'd remember something that major...I'm thinking, for me at least, it's just another way of coping with an unusual childhood, but one that--far as I know--involved no abuse...

(Long-winded way of asking, know any good links?)

[whisperedones.livejournal.com]

Aside from Astraea's Web, nupe. :S Our system WAS born of trauma (well, maybe it wasn't, maybe it was there before... blah. We'll never know >_<) so... boo. :P Sorry.

[pengke.livejournal.com]

Sometimes if you read case studies or books on DID patients they'll mention instances of multiplicity that occurred prior to any trauma. They usually gloss over this fact and go on insisting that it was the horrible abuse that "fragmented" everyone. For example, in the Minds of Billy Milligan, the author describes two people in addition to Billy who were around years before the abuse that supposedly caused him to be multiple. They didn't comment on that, of course, and still pointed to the abuse as the sole and only reason that they were multiple. You can also occasionally find people in DID support groups that are confused because they weren't abused but they usually end up being told that they're repressing it or "someone else is holding the memories".

I generally recommend reading Rewriting the Soul by Ian Hacking. It's a bit dry and I don't agree with all that he says but he does a good job of pointing out the flaws and reasons behind the current multiple theology without jumping to the conclusion that it means that multiplicity is fake. The biggest problem is that there isn't any real research into multiplicity. The entire basis of the belief is the fact that most DID patients do have a history of abuse. I explained in another post why that's not enough to constitute proof. http://www.livejournal.com/community/multiplicity/151876.html?thread=1506628#t1506628

We personally don't think any multiple system is caused by trauma or abuse. People in the system are often created (deliberately or otherwise)in response to abuse or to deal with the abuse but that's not the same thing. There is definitely a correlation between having a dysfunctional system that seeks therapy and receives a diagnosis of DID and having a history of abuse. I suspect that this is probably because of the coping mechanisms that the group as a whole develops during the abuse and the fact that you have however many people with issues trying to deal with things individually. Of course, there's no research to support this and unfortunately there will probably never be.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

http://www.bentspoons.com/Shaytar
http://www.dreamshore.net/amorpha

[nematoddity.livejournal.com]

Definitely food for thought, now I've had time to explore. And I am glad to know that there's more than one explanation for DID...