(no subject)
May. 10th, 2005 01:34 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
pengke.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
multiplicity_archivesWhy are people so eager to tell other people that they (the other people) are multiple?
Lots of people experience things that are associated with multiplicity. Dissociative trances like the whole driving in a car example are very common. Tons of people hear voices, either internally or as auditory hallucinations. People have characters, muses, and imaginary friends living in their head. People have internal personifications of their thought processes. Adults get caught up having fun doing goofy things and end up feeling like a little kid again. People have sides of themselves where the same person experiences conflicting emotions or opinions simultaneously. Some people write in wildly different handwriting styles. All of these things are perfectly normal. None of them mean that the person is multiple.
So why is it that whenever someone posts to this community and mentions one of those things everyone jumps to tell them that they’re multiple or some other form of plural?
Someone posts saying they have imaginary friends and they’re told that they might be median. Someone else posts saying that they’ve figured out that they’re not multiple and everyone tells them that they really are. People post mentioning any of the above experiences and suddenly it’s this big invalidating taboo to point out that the experience in and of itself does not mean that you’re multiple.
It’s ridiculous. There is no reason to tell every Tom, Dick, and Harry that they’re multiple. Not everyone is multiple. That’s not being elitist or excluding anyone. It’s just a fact. Suggesting that someone consider all of the possible explanations is a good thing. Telling someone who isn’t multiple that they are is not a good thing. There’s no reason to shower confirmation on everyone who comes looking for validation. The community’s open to everyone. They don’t need the shiny sticker of multiplicity to join. If they’re really confused and need help, tell them how you decided that you were multiple then let them figure it out for themselves. Some of you would argue that there are people who sound like they’re multiple but don’t realize that they are. Really, it’s not this community’s place to make that judgment; especially not when descriptions of completely different things can sound so similar.
I’m not even going to comment on the whole “Everyone who believes that they might be multiple probably is” philosophy.
Lots of people experience things that are associated with multiplicity. Dissociative trances like the whole driving in a car example are very common. Tons of people hear voices, either internally or as auditory hallucinations. People have characters, muses, and imaginary friends living in their head. People have internal personifications of their thought processes. Adults get caught up having fun doing goofy things and end up feeling like a little kid again. People have sides of themselves where the same person experiences conflicting emotions or opinions simultaneously. Some people write in wildly different handwriting styles. All of these things are perfectly normal. None of them mean that the person is multiple.
So why is it that whenever someone posts to this community and mentions one of those things everyone jumps to tell them that they’re multiple or some other form of plural?
Someone posts saying they have imaginary friends and they’re told that they might be median. Someone else posts saying that they’ve figured out that they’re not multiple and everyone tells them that they really are. People post mentioning any of the above experiences and suddenly it’s this big invalidating taboo to point out that the experience in and of itself does not mean that you’re multiple.
It’s ridiculous. There is no reason to tell every Tom, Dick, and Harry that they’re multiple. Not everyone is multiple. That’s not being elitist or excluding anyone. It’s just a fact. Suggesting that someone consider all of the possible explanations is a good thing. Telling someone who isn’t multiple that they are is not a good thing. There’s no reason to shower confirmation on everyone who comes looking for validation. The community’s open to everyone. They don’t need the shiny sticker of multiplicity to join. If they’re really confused and need help, tell them how you decided that you were multiple then let them figure it out for themselves. Some of you would argue that there are people who sound like they’re multiple but don’t realize that they are. Really, it’s not this community’s place to make that judgment; especially not when descriptions of completely different things can sound so similar.
I’m not even going to comment on the whole “Everyone who believes that they might be multiple probably is” philosophy.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 07:35 am (UTC)But honestly, I also wish people would be less gung-ho about trying to convince others they're multiple, especially when it's on such a minor pretext as occasionally forgetting conversations you've had. Everyone does that.
I also think some of this attitude descends from the therapy culture of the 80s and 90s-- people like Richard Kluft promoted the idea that if one even suspects multiplicity in a client, they probably are multiple, and need to be subjected to intense interrogation sessions until they 'admit' to it. Incredibly vague checklists were passed around to both therapists and clients, claiming that things like occasional childlike behaviour and carrying on conversations with oneself were symptoms of dissociation. Similar ones were passed around for symptoms of sexual abuse-- some clients were told that any disturbing thought, dream or image they experienced was a memory. By their criteria, just about anyone could come off looking like they were multiple. I suspect there are some therapists who still take those ideas seriously, and pass them on to their clients.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 11:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 02:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 08:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-10 11:45 am (UTC)