Multiplicity

We know several groups which are 'functional' (man I hate that word) in the sense that they are getting stuff done, activities of daily living and all that, and they have no co-consciousness at all. They use notes and lists and calendars and whiteboards instead. They know the other people are there, but they have no idea, say, when Mary comes up front what Sam has just been doing unless he leaves a note.

So lack of communication/ co-consciousness/ memory / time loss does not = nonfunctionality the way we see it. Although it can be a problem if the group doesn't have sufficient coping strategies (yich, I'm starting to dislike that expression too) in place.

We have known several groups where a frontrunner didn't want to or was afraid to acknowledge the others, some of them would do somewhat drastic things in order to bring frontrunner's attention to the fact that they existed and were people. But in other groups, they seemed afraid that the frontrunner would discover them, and were removing as much evidence of their presence as possible. In one group one girl who was desperate to consider herself the sole resident of the body would burn her diaries as fast as she wrote them, part of the reason being that "there is handwriting here that is not mine, and that is not allowed." Could something like that be part of it?

You may find these helpful, from the memory archive of this community: (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=multiplicity)
switching (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=multiplicity&keyword=switching&filter=all)
discovery (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=multiplicity&keyword=discovery&filter=all)
co-conscious (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=multiplicity&keyword=co-conscious&filter=all)