multiplicity_archives | Entries tagged with terminology

themournfulduck.livejournal.com

I am a single, and before joining this community, I had very little knowledge of multiplicity at all.

Being a prone-to-writing-fiction single, I had an idea for a story with a certain character--or certain group of characters, I should say. It excited me very much, and I began working on it right away. This group of characters shares the same body, but none of them are aware of it. They are all aware of each other, but they are not aware they are in the same body.

But then I pursued research on the concept of multiplicity, and came across this community, and found that my fictional system didn't seem typical at all.

It bothered me a little, because I'd hate to give people an incorrect idea of what multiplicity is really like, and that seems to be a concern especially of many of the people in this community.

But I don't go into it thinking it's standard, and I also, knowing next to nothing of psychology, believe (hope) that there is some variation as far as this sort of thing goes.

I don't think I portray multiplicity negatively, though the system is rather dysfunctional. I like all of the characters very much.

I was thinking maybe I could call it something else, but throughout the book, I don't call it anything. I don't refer to it at all: the reader is supposed to guess they all share the same body by descriptions of circumstances, and the only people who remark on it are bystanders who don't know anything.

So I thought maybe I'd put a disclaimer or something in the beginning, you know, "By the way, this isn't really MPD or DID, just so you know," but then they'd figure out from the disclaimer, and there wouldn't be any point in avoiding mentioning that they all have the same body.

Hopefully I will manage something to that in the end, however, after everything has already come out. I haven't developed the end much; I've only written one draft of it, and don't like it much.

Any opinions?

yellowsub723.livejournal.com

I wanted to start this strand out in the open, as it was embedded in comments regarding a book.

This is an interesting post, because I've become very comfortable describing our system as parts. This is my way of rejecting the terms normally associated with a strict DID medical model. I find the term alter extremely problematic for us. We are not being taken over. We work together and have a great deal of co-consciousness. No problem with others using these terms, I'm just interested in your perspectives on this issue. All of my parts understand that they are whole individuals with separate identities that are validated and that they are concurrently part of a system that the outside world recognize as a whole. In terms of the trauma model, we are certainly a product of some attachment disruptions, but in terms of clinical literature, certain trauma models such as IFS are actually developed in response to the idea that dissociative phenomena are inherently pathological. This type of model hypothesizes a spectrum of multiplicity. No apparant physical/sexual trauma experiences here.

terendel.livejournal.com

Richard and I aren't new to being multiple (we've been a system for 21 years now), but we are very new to the terminology and the hows and whys of other systems. Richard has only recently started fronting, but we're not even sure that's the right term. Most of the time, he's comfortably ensconced in the back of my head, observing and commenting on what's going on. We completely share memories. But when he "fronts," I don't feel ensconced in the back of his head. I feel more like I'm channeling him. He's a little less in back, a bit closer to the front, but it's still mostly like it's me speaking with his voice.

I don't know if that makes sense or just sounds wacky. What are other's experience?

Del

Current Mood: curious

vinik.livejournal.com

Below is a basic 'user info' type description the community we're thinking of creating. In creating it's policies, we've borrowed some concepts of

standingstone's (from their original proposal),

multiplicity, and

vaginapagina. Constructive criticism will be very much appreciated. Please keep in mind that we are also trying to word things as fairly and evenly as possible and if we have managed not to do this somewhere, we'd appreciate alternative wordings.

Thanks!

-David
PS: OK, we've got enough volunteers to moderate/assist. Thanks for all the help, guys!

( Read more... )

pengke.livejournal.com

Alter. It looks so innocent that most of you just think of it as terminology. That’s what you call insiders…alters, parts, fragments, pieces.

You never call them people. They’re not people to you. They’re subhuman fragments that get in your way. They hold your emotions and hold your memories so you can go on being you. They’re the pieces that the real person threw away. They’re the fantasies of a child that tried to section him/herself off from the horrible trauma around them. They’re the entities who will spend their whole life in the shadow of the host. They’re the entities that fulfill a purpose or a job or a role because otherwise they’re not allowed to exist. They’re never people….just alters. What else could they be?

If you called them people, you’d have to acknowledge they were the same as you. You wouldn’t be able to insist that it’s your body and your life. You wouldn’t be able to push them off and insist to speak with your real significant other. You wouldn’t be able to say they’re just pieces to be put back together in a nice pat ‘cure.’ You wouldn’t be able to deny them their right to use their body.

We don’t have any alters nor do we know any. We just know people. Some of the people were created for a purpose. Some of the people were born in response to abuse. Some of the people were the first person in their body. Some of the people are the only person in their body. Some of the people put a lot of energy into their job and get a large part of their identity from their job. Some of the people have a lot of issues that they need to deal with. Some of the people don’t. They’re all people. They’re all equals.

Think about what you’re saying next time you call someone an alter. You’re saying they’re less than you. Think about what you’re saying when you call someone a host. Even if you just mean that they’re the person dealing with the outside the most, it still immediately labels everyone else as an alter. It still holds the connotations of dictator, the real person, of being more important than the rest.

We’re all people. We’re just as valid as the next person. It doesn’t matter if you’re a single, the person in a system that never comes out, or the person in a system that’s always out. We’re just people.

http://users.livejournal.com/_zephyra_/

Is there anyone else here who doesn't like this term very much?

I don't like the feel of it because "mid" sort of implies half-way to somewhere, which makes me question where the "destination" is: Multiple or Singular?

My Other (who has since gone quiet), didn't like the term for other, more mundane reasons. Continuum always made her think of Star trek, and the Q species.

We had been trying to come up with another term to use instead. We came up with Demi-being, Semi-being, and semi-plural, though I'm still working on finding the term that sounds right for us. Semi-plural feels best so far.

Current Mood: thoughtful

miss-innocence.livejournal.com

Hi, I'm Amanda. I just joined this community and I thought Id say 'Hi' to everyone.

Also there's a question that I'd like to ask and I hope no-one minds. In my system I would be considered to be an 'alter', but I really don't like that term. So I was wondering how anyone else describes that, as something a little more friendly, and something that shows us as individuals rather than as just - 'alters'.

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Multiplicity

Being Plural

Entries tagged with terminology

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Parts vs. Alters

Fronting

Proposal: Plural-Positive PTSD Community

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"mid-continuum"

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March 2013

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