Disorders

[rozanya.livejournal.com]

Do any systems here have multiples with mental health disorders? I was just curious, because over here we have Shania (who has Bipolar Disorder) and Ailsa (who has OCD).

Also, if someone like that is fronting, do they carry on their traits? For example, do they get the mood swings if they're bipolar?

Sita

Comments

[cirape.livejournal.com]

We do occasionally get depressive spells or mood swings when fronting, even if one wouldn't normally get them. The body/Dizzy has been diagnosed with Depression (possibly bi-polar as well). Dizzy also seems to have ADD to some degree, but that does not affect any other fronters (unless the body is pumped full of sugar or caffeine, and then it doesn't count).
Mood swings and depression are most noticeable around PMS, but I don't think the hormones are the only cause behind them.

[teh-kerry.livejournal.com]

We have Sam with suspected OCD, and his traits definitely carry over (Lynn has to have the hands when he's out, to stop him re-organising everything in sight). Tom has Bipolar Disorder, and the mood swings still carry over, although not as much now he has medication inside. And Nick is a suspected schizophrenic, and he says he still gets the voices and paranoia when he's out.

The various issues go away when they're inside, though.

[shiro-hayabusa.livejournal.com]

Lux/the body has anxiety, panic, and depression issues, which do affect whoever is fronting. I have some form of PTSD (undiagnosed) and I will trigger and panic in a much different way from Lux's panic reactions. My PTSD issues exist when fronting or when inside, but they tend to be worse when fronting--maybe it plays off the body's panic disorders? The PTSD is entirely due to my own personal experiences. One of my headmates has mild panic issues, another had past issues that seem to be mostly resolved.

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

A couple of years ago a curly red-haired man in his early 20s showed up within our realm at a gateway building. He knocked on the door and came in to eat breakfast with everyone as if he'd always been there. He can speak but doesn't answer questions in ways that we expect and has told us his name is Roger. He seems childlike, yet not at the same time. He likes to say "ya'know?" a lot. We aren't sure why his communication skills are this way, but he's gentle and curious and we love having him around. He has never fronted.

Kasia Redstar

[sethrenn.livejournal.com]

Kind of depends what you qualify here as a mental disorder, I think.

There are a few people in here who would be considered by doctors to have had, or have even been told by doctors that they had, experiences that were symptoms of bipolar or psychosis or whatever, yet for them, those things were perceived as spiritual experiences, or as their mind trying to find a way to work out problems that just couldn't come out any other way. Or cycles of extreme energy bursts might be part of how someone's creative process naturally works. Also, as we've mentioned before, we're a gateway system with a variety of different cultures, and some things which are considered mental disorders in this culture are seen as religious, holy or desirable states in theirs.

As for stuff like depression, OCD, anxiety, etc... yeah, we've had that in the past, we've sure had that. We don't like to detail our psychiatric history much, because it sometimes seems like unless we talk about it with disclaimers after practically every sentence, assumptions start flying left and right, and we've even gotten to the point where we can predict exactly what assumptions are going to be made and when. Or we get accused of lying about our past because the way in which we recovered from certain problems didn't follow the way in which some doctors were saying was the *only* way. I'm not necessarily saying anyone here would do that, but damn, it really hurts if you did suffer something for years, and get hit with being told that you never actually suffered it, or 'don't understand what xyz disorder is really like', because your experiences don't fit into some pre-defined model; so we're a bit paranoid. Well, more than a bit, even.

But, if you want us to detail it, maybe we could go into detail in a private letter or something.

[exegetic.livejournal.com]

We tend not to talk about such things as well, for the reasons you have stated. It is difficult to talk openly about times when someone in your group may have had a difficult time coping when people are willing to use that to label your entire group as disordered.

[weirdiguess.livejournal.com]

The depression the body has affects anybody around it. Selene's problems (anxiety, depression, stuff like that) affect her at front, even a little worse. Think they might have started just affecting the body in general, hard to tell 'cause she never leaves it.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Yes, we have Dokun, who is schizophrenic, Anthony who is bipolar, and Rachel Christoffels, who is depressed. Rachel's telepathy means her stress and malaise tend to affect all of us.
Baron Harkonnen^Crew.

[lion-azure.livejournal.com]

The host suffers from SAD, anxiety and panic attacks; there's a person with ptsd, a possible case of bipolar disorder, and two of us suffer from mental issues that don't fit any diagnostic criteria.

Usually, there will be a slight "bleedover" of those problems if we're co-fronting, and, with the ptsd and bipolar, they sometimes fully manifest if the afflicted person fronts. Not with the other two, though, which we assume is due to the fact that those disorders are too severe and at the same time too alien for our mind to comprehend.

[ques-nova.livejournal.com]

Our system works the other way around. The body and original main front (Cassandra) has a number of problems (mostly comorbid with PTSD) and if She/the body experiences, for example, an anxiety attack, anyone fronting has to deal with that attack. There are a few members who are willing and able to deal with anxiety and some of the other problems better than Cassandra can and so sometimes they will front to help calm Her.

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

That is similar to how it is for us. This body has a sensitive nervous system and certain every day activities can create more of a reaction for the body (and the fronter) than a body with a less sensitive nervous system. As such, any fronter will experience anxiety, for instance, while they are fronting. (The same with exhaustion, a cold, or bumps and bruises.) If they are in the body and actually directly fronting they will feel the bodily affects such as increased heart rate, tense muscles, or headaches. Those who are only near to the front may feel the emotional affects from the fronter such as frustration or fear. Depending on who it is at the direct front, the sensations could become less. Some in our group are better at handling anxiety than others. Everyone is different.

Amalah (typing)

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

Or would experience anxiety if it were occurring at the time the fronter was present.

[pilgrimchild.livejournal.com]

Yes 2 are severly depressed and 2 are autistic

[pilgrimchild.livejournal.com]

Whoops... and a couple with long-term anorexia

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Andy has occasional anxiety attacks, although he hasn't had any in some time. He used to take tiny doses of Xanax prn.

We have plenty of autistic people (chen), but in our world that's not a disorder.

[freakshownia.livejournal.com]

Yes, we have people with ADD, anxiety disorders, depression, panic disorder, aspergers, and an eating disorder (plus others I'm probably forgetting!). There's also one girl who may be autistic (her sister says she is) but it might be something else.


[Daz]

[rhymer-713.livejournal.com]

::Nods:: The body is diagnosed with depression so whomever is front deals with it. Some of us do a better job than others.

[hydra-system.livejournal.com]

One member has an eating disorder. She and her twin brother also seem to suffer from paranoia, but we aren't certain. Paranoia may have been an affliction of the main front runner. The main front runner has anxiety disorders as well as PTSD. There is also a case of mild OCD, but we don't know who sufferes from it. It is more apparent, however, when the youngest system member is present.

Because we often co-front and run, many of these traits meld together and others will be affected by someone else's disorder. There are some members, however, that are not affected by any disorder.

[jerseytwo.livejournal.com]

I'm the only one who's got any sort of problems, and it's OCD/anxiety stuff. It doesn't seem to bleed over. When I start to have an attack, I can go inside and get Jer (or Jen now; I need to update about that) to take over, and either one of them can continue to do whatever it was we were doing before, while I take my problems inside and out of the way. It's quite useful.

Jes

[20splinters.livejournal.com]

The body's diagnosed bipolar and has some OCD traits as well. Shel was just recently in a severe depression, and she and Lia tend to get completely incapacitated by that. I tend to be one of the more manic-types in here, so I can keep going through depression and didn't think I was experiencing any depressive until Wish pointed out that I'm showing some of the less recognized symptoms, like irritability, lack of appetite, difficulty concentrating, and poor memory. It tends to be better to have a manic-type front during depression than a depressive-type during mania. Rhiannon got called to front during the last manic phase, and she found that restless energy extremely irritating and stepped back very quickly. She actually prefers a mildly depressed state, because she'd rather stay home and read a good book anyway.

Gab

[pthalo]

one of our main fronts has ocd. they have to spend extra time in the body to finish all the rituals. it's kind of annoying.