Multiple and not multiple?

[xarog.livejournal.com]

I'm new here. I saw someone referrnig to her(him?)self as a multiple on another message board I visit. I thought I'd ask more about it since I kind of felt the same way... And now I'm here. Hi everyone =D


I've read some of the FAQs, and in a way I fit the description, but in another way I don't. It's pretty weird the way my personalities operate (or should I call them facets?) I'll try to explain it as best as I can:

My personalities are all slight variations of fictional characters. More "human" versions of them, if you will. There's around 10 of them, and they're all characters I really like. In a way it's like I half-become the character. I've been this way since I was a kid, and I can't really recall a time where I wasn't "talking" to people inside my head. Some of them came and went over the years, and there are always opportunities for a new one to be created. It sounds pretty multiple so far, but here's where it gets a bit different: They don't interact with each other. It's almost like it's me and one specific personality (whatever one happens to be "up front" at the time) running the show, while all the others are kind of hibernating in the background until something makes another personality take the passenger seat with me. (Like, say, watching a movie that contains a character that one of my personalities is based on might bring that personality out.) Obviously, some of the personalities have a lor more air time than others :P

I do interact with "people" in my head, too. But I think they are more like imaginary friends rather than actual personalities; they never take control of anything and are only there for me/main personality to "talk" to. (They are usually similar to other characters who interact with that specific personality in the movie/game/book/etc.) And the thing is, for each one of my personalities, there is a different set of imaginary friends/people.

And the voices. That's another thing. There's voices in my head, but I know they're only in my head. Like, I don't think I'm actually HEARing them. Just that I (or other parts of me? Imaginary friends?) am creating them.

Anyway, I'm probably forgetting a lot of things, but I'll try to post them as they come to my mind. I'm trying to figure out what the hell's up with me. I'm glad to know that I'm not alone, for starters! Any imput is appreciated ^^

Comments

[kyouketsusha.livejournal.com]

Have you read about soulbonding?

[our-menagerie.livejournal.com]

OT but can we steal your snarky House icon? with credit to whoever made it of course.

[pthalo]

that was my first thought too

[xarog.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of soulbonding/ID bonding... I'm still pretty new to all of this :P I'll check it out though! Are there any excellent sites about it that come to mind? Or should I just stick "soulbonding" into google, pray I don't get too many ads, and let 'er rip? (I think I'll do that to start anyway.)

child_recalled, the person who referred me to this place was "Countess Báthory" on the asexuality.org forums. (Yeah... There's another thing. My personalities are all generally male, but my body isn't. Maybe it has something to do with me being asexual :P)

You might want to check this out

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

http://www.karitas.net/pavilion/library/articles/s_sbsense_ast0802.html

[sethrenn.livejournal.com]

You might identify with the concept of being a median (http://www.karitas.net/pavilion/library/articles/m_median_kiya0405.html), or with some of the things described on the community soulbonding.

This, of course, does not mean that you must identify as either of those things, but they might be useful starting points for figuring out how you operate. I personally thought there was a lot of general fluff on soulbonding and people trying to kind of one-up each other (although you get that in plenty of multiple comms too).

One important thing to keep in mind is that just because you find a paradigm that describes something close to your experience, you don't necessarily have to jump in right away with both feet and say "Oh, so this means I am a x/y/z." Take your time and test the waters. If not all the aspects of that paradigm fit, or if some of them rub you the wrong way, or if you don't like the terminology, you don't have to adopt it wholesale. I've just seen a lot of people get hurt by finding a paradigm close to their experience but not a perfect match and then trying to actually modify their own experiences and ways of operating so that it would fit that paradigm, just to have a place to belong. Even though I'm a member of a multiple system, I've personally experienced various things (including talking to characters) in a way that doesn't really match up perfectly with any paradigm out there, so I kind of float between various communities, but not really allied to any.

[vox-vocis-vita.livejournal.com]

I agree that you might try looking into soulbonding. There are several communities around LJ, one of which has already been linked above. I identify as a soulbonder, but my husband and several of my friends identify as multiple.

I'm always open for discussion and questions. None of my contact info is listed publicly, but if you're interested let me know and I can give you my email or something.