Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)
Alters (alternate personalities) are something people with dissociative identity disorder (DID) may have. Alters are separate identities. Some of these alters may communicate with each other and some of them may not. When I was first diagnosed with DID, my alters did not communicate with each other at all. I was only aware of the current personality state that I was in. I wasn't aware of any other alters in my dissociative identity disorder.
I began having suspicions that I may have alternate personalities when I started noticing that I had voices in my head who argued with each other but who didn't sound like they were my own voice. I also noticed that people who were close to me would accuse me of doing things that I didn't feel like I had done. Eventually, I called a suicide hotline while I was in an emotional crisis, and finally admitted to the woman that I thought I had multiple personalities. She said, "You might." Hearing her say that changed my life. She believed me and it gave me the courage to tell my therapist.
Getting To Know My Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder
I told my therapist that I thought I had multiple personalities. I learned that a dissociative identity disorder "system" refers to the individual person who has DID, and all of the separate alters that make him or her up. My therapist began doing work with me to help me communicate with my alters. She had me focus, and try to gather all of my alters at a roundtable. There we had discussions and I got to know my system.
Bringing Alters Together in Dissociative Identity Disorder
Some of my alters wouldn't come to the table, and some of them wouldn't stay. It was still a helpful tool to begin the reintegration process. Communication between the alters is an important part of getting better with DID. Having communication helps the whole situation to be less scary and painful. It also helps a person to be aware and conscious of who he or she is when he or she splits from one alter to the next.
A person's system can be made up of few or many alters. The more a person can learn about each of the alters in DID, the better. At the roundtable, I asked for the alters' names and how they felt that day. I told my therapist what they said. Together, my therapist and I gained information and awareness about each alter. This has been very helpful in my journey with DID.
More on Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder
Watch this video for more on alters in dissociative identity disorder.
APA Reference
Polley, S.
(2015, March 29). Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 14 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/2015/03/alters-in-dissociative-identity-disorder
Author: Sherry Polley
Hey there ^^ I'm doing a presentation on DID at college and I'd like to ask a question: When do the alters appear for the first time? Like are they "created" during the phase of severe abuse or do the kid go through that then have a split of personnality resulting in very distinctives alters? Also I was wondering if you were aware of the difference with Europe, I'm not sure anymore if it's just France who consider DID as non exitant and claims it to be a symptom of Schizophrenia or if it's the whole Europe.
Danie,
I know for sure that it is not all of Europe that considers DID non-existent. There are treatment centers especially for DID and dissociative disorders throughout Europe, and I have several friends in Europe that are treated for their DID. I am not entirely sure about France, but I can tell you that in any country, even in the US where I am based, there are people in the psychological/psychiatric community who do not believe in DID.
As far as alters, they can exist for a long time before the host becomes aware that they are even there. It really depends on the person. It is most believed that alters are "created" at the time of the abuse to hold the trauma, that is why people with DID have difficulty with memory.
I am doing a presentation on DID and i was wondering as the dominant personality age do the alters age as well? For example does an alter who is a three year old child remain the same age or does he/she age.
Claire,
There is no definitive answer to that - it can vary from person to person. In some systems, alters age along with the host. Other systems, alters can stay the same age forever. Then there are age sliders, which are alters whose age can change back and forth.
Several years later, but yes, in my experience the different personalities do age. It may require that they are recognized and have some chance to express themselves. I know an alter that was kind of wild when unrecognized. But know that he has a name and received acceptance he seems to grow up. His contribution to the full person has been helpful because he is very attentive to detail and the main personality is not.
Question: I'm doing a project on Dissociative Identity Disorder and was wondering if people with DID ever "lose" alters. Like do they ever "die" in a way and never come back?
They do not disappear. The reintegrate to help make a stronger healthier you, It is like when you finally can deal with the issue that alter controls then they become a part of you again.
I am not tecky so is this a blog? I have alters. I know some of them. I am 56 and just learned of them. Wow. After years of therapy several hospitalization and a long term psychologists of which non of them mentioned any of this. I like my alters. I have had a lot of abuse in my life. I have also been a very successful RN as a profession. The diagnosis that I've been with for 30 years is bi polar. Do you know if any therapists that nonwhat the hell they are doing in the Spokane WA area to help people with alters?
Hello im doing a project on DID and I was confused on how do the alters develop the different accent and languages ?
There’s not much study surrounding this. Some believe they were exposed to the other language at an earlier time, and the alter retained that language.
I have an alter who wants me dead, if I was to die, is it possible for her to fully live and dominate my body, without me?
Hi, Dawn. Your question is very timely because I just wrote a post on alters/headmates wanting each other dead. I'll provide the link below. As to your specific question, it can be complicated. A simple answer to your questions is that If an alter was to kill the body, yes, you would die. It is not uncommon for alters to want other headmates in the system to go away. An alter can die by suicide, in which case the whole body would die, but an alter cannot just kill another alter. You are all interconnected. What I work on with my system is communication and negotiation. I journal to communicate and find out how everybody is, what is going on with the system, and determine how to meet everyone's needs in a healthy way. I encourage you to do the same with the headmate that wants you dead, as you say. There is a reason he/she is threatened by you. Try to find out what it is and then find some common ground with this headmate. I hope I have provided some answers into your question. Please read the link below. It might give you more insight into headmates killing other headmates and/or the body. Take care. https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/2018/04/can-a-headmate-kill-another…
I believe I have D.I.D But I've been told by every doctor I see that I can't because alters can't know each other or the host. Is this true? I hardly ever have amnesia but I do dissociate from it. I feel an alter take over a situation and they won't let me handle it and push me out. Is that possible to be aware of being pushed out too?
20 years living with DID n i finally understand. Im serious about my case. I know my alter and of course different name . think different and it also grows. I know my alter and where it comes from. 480 547 7210.
Hello, Dario. Thank you for being part of our online community. It sounds like you are now more familiar with one of your alters. That takes a lot of hard work and patience. Congratulations. Keep up the good work!
Hello! I’m writing a play on a man with DID. I have a few questions so I don’t misrepresent the illness.
1) Would the main personality (the DID sufferer) actually recognise their alters by name? As in would they recognise if someone who had meet them as a different personality called them by the name of that personality and realise that they had taken over. Or would it just be like he wouldn’t know his alters by name at all?
2) Would it be okay if a persecutor alter killed the person that caused emotional distress to them? I’m not saying that this will be an evil alter of course not. But rather an Alter that believed that this was the only possible way to end the abuse as well as thinking it was the right way.
3) How long will a alter remain in control for? In the plan, an alter called Markus is in control of the sufferer body for two years. Is this too long?
4) Linking to this other question, would the sufferer remember what Markus had gotten up to since they share the same memories? Would the sufferer eventually remember what had occurred or not at all?
Thank you so much in advance.
1) if the alter is a host or a strong ANP they could be able to know each alter by name.
2) No. Persecutors are negative towards the system itself not so much other people.
3) They can be front from 5 minutes to many years. It depends on the system and whats happening in their life.
4) The sufferer would be extremely distressed, the whole body and its life would have changed entirely.
Some other things you could do to make it more realistic than other things that have been written on DID are things like forgetting their name for a few seconds, carrying around a diary full of system info, using we and our instead of me and my, and randomly whispering to themselves.
Iv. Been diagnosed n 2017..i didnt believe it..
Its the hardest thing iv ever tried to live with
Id give anythng to be my old self...
I have a friend I believe has DID. Should I discuss this with him? How would I assist him in getting therapy? Should I not interfere and accept him with out trying to help deal with the potential problem.
I feel like an idiot. I really never knew what DID was untrue l recently and I was skeptical and thought it was all made up or they were just crazy. I’m almost 53 and recently I have had bouts with amnesia and found myself “waking up” in random places/cities, found a bunch of charges on my credit cards and bank card that I never made, was asked about experiences I had told family and friends which never happened and social media posts which I never made. I was telling friends/family/police/bank/Dr/etc that someone had stolen my identity and then started finding some of the purchases in my closet or bedside drawer, found myself waking up in stores with random foods or items I don’t eat or use etc...and the final straw was “switching” at work and having no idea what I did for awhile at work. Scared me so bad I called my daughters crying saying something is wrong with me I think I’m crazy etc. Went to hospital ran multiple tests, seen many doctors neurologists, etc and eventually psychiatric help and found out there is another identity living in me. Learning to live with and understand what is happening
Can you have DID but remain in control, not letting the alters come out. I have what I call my inner mental community, there are often people there visiting, I can see them a lot of times they talk to each other or me. One person is Madame Zolta, she is Romanian and only starts to come forward when I am extremely stressed to take care of me. There are times when i am driving or at work and all of a sudden half the day has passed and I don't remember it or if my mood changes really quickly I will feel sort of a shit in my head (tingling or a dizzy for a few seconds. Sometimes I feel like a moody teenager, or a kid who doesn't wanna share, "the mine" mentality. I just want to know if you can have DID but the alters don't fully take control .
Hi I think I my have DID I have been looking into it and I seem to have all the symtoms, I forget doing things and I blackout and find myself somewhere else. I hear people talking sometimes aswell. It's making me a bit scared since I'm only 13.
Becca Hargis, are you still involved with being there for people like me who has DID. Thank you. Joanie Hanes