Update

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

I posted a couple of months ago, when I was nearly full term in my pregnancy about my confusion with my own disorder. My system hasn't been active in some time and I was wondering if there are other people who are members here who haven't had a dissosiative episode (that they know about) for more than a few years. The reason I ask is that I don't reall understand how this disorder becomes "cured". It's my understanding that a psychogolical disorder can only really be managed, as my experiences with depression/anxiety have shown me. I know the term integration and that's the term my talk-therapist used with me when treating my disorder years ago. It appears that I integrated fully and haven't had a setback since age 18 (I'm 26 now). I was wondering - is integration for life in most cases or is a disorder like DID always possible to trigger under whatever extreme circumstances?

Comments

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

Our group's lifestyle isn't considered a disorder to us, but there have been times when some have left for a time and then returned. Perhaps it's possible that some in your group/system have gone away for awhile? Can you call for them maybe? Or other situations like stress or changes in medication can make communication difficult. That's all I can really think of. I hope things get better for you and you can communicate with them again. *hug*

Kasia

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I don't really want them to come back. I'm just wondering what might have caused them to go away. Thanks for the response. : )

[freakshownia.livejournal.com]

Us (and most people here as well) do not consider it to be a disorder, and while you may be disfunctional, we find speaking of multiplicity in terms of a disorder to be insulting.

That said, I've never heard of a single case of successful forced integration.

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

Okay, another person who is caught up in semantics. DID is a disorder as it is claimed to be in the DSM V. What would you like for me to call it? My pre-existing personal hell where my alters would attack people, try to kill myself and do such things? I consider that a disorder and I'm actually insulted that you would not take my situation seriously, if you want to start talking about who's insulting who.

But back to my main question. If you have never heard of a successful full integration, what does that mean exactly? You mean that you've never heard of people going years without having a dissosiation or do you mean that you've never heard of it completely going away? Because I'm very sure that I've not had an episode since age 18 and I'm 26 now.

[freakshownia.livejournal.com]

Uh, I was just saying that just because it's a disorder for you, that doesn't mean it is for everyone, and those of us who are functional don't want to be referred to as disordered.

Not every system dissociates (I'm not sure if we ever have), so that isn't always an issue, but I've never heard of it completely going away. Sybil is probably the most famous multiple who went through a failed integration. I don't know what you mean by "episode" though...

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

was there an emotional or traumatic trigger that brought your personalities back into control or did you just want them to come back or...? Sorry if my questions are offensive - I apparantly have a really bad way of wording myself with this forum.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

We don't know a whole lot about DID, but we have heard of very few successful full integrations. Most of the people we know of who have tried to integrate, differentiate again within a few months or a couple of years. Including some who were portrayed in popular books with rosy-hued happy endings, like Sybil.

We did know a woman on line whose group fully and voluntarily integrated and stayed that way and is apparently fine with it to this day.

You may have heard a lot of "successful full integration" stories taht are not really. Doctors like to have a "success" on their records, and they tend to define success as integration, and integration as things like -- when they no longer see several people in the therapy session. (Because if they don't see them, they're not there, right? :p ) So a lot of these so-called successful integrations could be just that everyone is keeping quiet and just one person talks, or hiding for the time being.

[tatteredscars.livejournal.com]

i think you're questions are very clear.

just wanted to let you know. ;)

[rhymer-713.livejournal.com]

We agree with ksol1460 We are nondisordered ourselves but we do understand your questions perfectly clearly and we've never ever heard of a single forced integration which was successful long-term. However, anything is possible. Also, another forum for you to ask this question on would be fragmentedminds if you've not asked there. It might be helpful. It's not a very active forum at all but if you post people will comment. And we wish you much luck on finding answers.
Kenzi of Rhymershouse

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

For me there is only me and Little Kal. There's only 2 of us. I remember some one asked this question before. I said last time that I don't know how me and Little Kal would integrate. If I hugged her close to me maybe. Or she could hide behind me and some one might think we were both one person. Kalli

[freakshownia.livejournal.com]

Hehe that's cute - I'm picturing two little girls trying to hide behind each other - I don't think that would work very well ^^;;

[rabbitsystem.livejournal.com]

I was split along roughly the MPD pattern. (I say MPD rather than DID because I wasn't dissociative, I was just...in pieces.) I was healed, all in a rush - it was really quite incredible. I'm myself again now, really myself, I'm whole. There hasn't been a hint of me-in-parts since. I guess I'm permanently healed. We all hope so - I was never meant to be in bits like that. It's possible, of curse, that something may trigger a re-shattering, but we hope and pray it will never happen.
-Ellen, with help from the peanut gallery.

[hold-me-coldly.livejournal.com]

From my understanding, in discussing this with my therapist, it doesn't become "cured" through integration. The system simply learns to function as a singleton to the outside world without times of dissociation. If, for whatever reason, the need arose for you to be living as a multiple again, the integration could be reversed. If you were to (gods forbid) go through something traumatic again, you would likely live as multiple again. For my system, I chose that we would not integrate and instead learn to function as a group and have co-operation as a group. I don't see my life, or "our" life being lived it's best as a singleton. And I don't see my own DID as something so disabling once we get to that point of functionality and co-operation. But I can respect and appreciate another system choosing integration.

As for the snark and shitty comments I've seen, I was to understand this to be a place of acceptance, regardless of type of multplicity and I am sorry you have received some of those comments. ♥

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

thanks. : )

[rhymer-713.livejournal.com]

Leigh,
We can agree with you. The reason people are a bit angry, and rightfully so, is that she seemed to imply, even if that implication was not meant, that every one in this community had DID and had "alters" Now we know you well and when you use terms like that it doesn't offend us. This is because you use those terms only to describe yourselves and have enough respect for us to call us people in our own right and to understand that our circumstances are different from yours. That is very highly appreciated. And the snark wasn't bad over all..It's just highly frustrating when you try to help some one and they get defensive and act like you've insulted them.
And had you asked a question you would have said something like "Do people in your groups do xxx." And no one would've minded.
Rayvin

[heyyy-sunshine.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of integration successfully working. As soon as something traumatic happens, the integration process seems to fall apart. I think integration would be a waste of valuable time, for us anyway, especially if everything's likely to fall back into place again. But I do see why others would want to.

I'm sorry that your situation (whatever you want to call it, labels don't really mean much to us anyway) has caused so many problems with you. And I'm also sorry you've received some rather rude comments. But I understand where you're coming from. I've run across my fair share of difficulties with this as well. I love the others but I can't lie and say that I've never thought about how everything would be without all of this. If you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. =)

[catskillmarina.livejournal.com]

We were very dyfunctional about 2 years ago. Now we do quite well and are striving to
do better. 2 years ago we did fit the MPD pattern but we define it for us as simply
getting used to living as a system. Now it is not a big deal for kids to front even
at work. I am one of the littles and i often do the work. It is not an easy thing to
adjust to abruptly.

--- Miri of Mtribe

[tej-agni.livejournal.com]

comment 50! woot! ♥

[arbolera.livejournal.com]

I think it can be for life. Try not to banish your emotions/opinions/self when you're under stress. Good luck.

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

thanks. Kinda hard with this community. : P (j/k)

[rhymer-713.livejournal.com]

Cassie,
I am going to attempt to explain why you got the responses you got from some people. I am not trying to be snarky or to split hairs or to be rude in any way. The reason people are angry is this. The mass majority of this community consider the other members of their groups, systems whatever to be people and not alters. Had you written "Do you have people in your systems who are..." you likely wouldn't have gotten screamed at. And it is not just a matter of symantics. Imagine if you will if some one said your alters were people in their own rights and said they should come out as often as they wanted without you stopping it. Would you not find that offensive? Or if some one came to you and said something about DID not existing... That would make you offended wouldn't it since you know DID exists. You've lived it. So see, it isn't just symantics. And when people honestly tried to help you, to answer your questions politely you got defensive and snapped at them. See, a lot of us have had integration forced on us, even if we did not want it and since most of us are people and not alters if you use the term in a blanket sense as in "Do you have alters who..." it is like saying the other members of groups aren't people in their own right..Imagine what that'd be to be considered a person...I'm just trying to explain why people were so angry toward you and I hope this did not come off as snarky.

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

I see. The only other person that I know IRL who has had DID called her other personalities, "alters". Because she's very educated herself, I thought calling them "people" as in, "do your other people..." would be confusing. In other words, my attempt at using the correct terminology actually ended up offending rather than helping myself be clear.

Thanks for the insighnt.

[melange-fiesta.livejournal.com]

I think you're very stuck in the idea that having multiple personalities ALWAYS means you have a disorder, and when people try to tell you otherwise you get very confused, disoriented, and sometimes offended because people don't understand you. Let me make it clear: This community is populated mostly by people who DO NOT HAVE Dissociative Identity Disorder. As a result, the things you talk about may not even have anything to do with their own personal situations, and they will say this to you when they comment. The people here DO have more than one personality inside a single physical form, but most of them are interested in living in harmonious co-existence with their other personalities. I realize that for you this may not be possible, but that doesn't mean it's impossible for EVERYone.

It's probably important that I clarify that I am a singlet, not a multiple, and I've met both people who have DID and people who are non-disordered multiples.