#functional multiplicity

[reimeichan]

I was having a conversation with a friend, who started their own DID journey around the same time as me. Our recovery goals are different (they call their goal "the Zygarde method" which, if you've seen mention of the Wishiwashi method on this blog, has a lot of similarities to that), and we're in different places of recovery right now (they've very much reached functional multiplicity at this time and we have not), but it's been really nice to have someone grow with me side by side as we figure out our DID together.

We all know what integration and fusion is, right? Integration is the breaking down of dissociation between parts, fusion is when two parts become one part. But I've realized more and more that the nuances behind what "fusion" is may look different from system to system. For one system, fused parts think and act as one identity with no distinct parts. For another, fused parts are aware of the individual composite pieces of themselves and may even be aware of when a specific piece is the "most prominent" piece at that time. Still another system experiences fusion as being a conglomerate of pieces who, while still distinct, are all sharing thoughts and feelings and memories and opinions with each other and are so in sync they effectively seem to be one identity. And these are just a few examples of what "fusion" may look like.

I think it's beautiful how our experiences can be so different from each other yet there's still a sort of common thread tying all of this together into the same concept that we call "fusion". But I also think that how fusion has been talked about in DID spaces has been so limiting and seems to paint it as only one thing. No wonder some people are hesitant to pursue fusion if they believe it to be akin to losing the multiple parts into one larger part. I encourage people to try to expand their understanding of "fusion" and "identity" and "self", and try to understand what all of that means for you and your system.

#did #dissociative identity disorder #actually did #actuallydid #did osdd #osddid #cdd #did system #by gray #by cyan #by rose #I used all three of my colors even though I've been fused for a while now #because I want to make a point that they are still me #and I am them #fusion #wishiwashi method #zygarde method #final fusion #functional multiplicity

[granulesofsand]

Dissociative Amnesia with BASK

I would love to hear more about systems without amnesia. I’ve been thinking, lately that emotional amnesia is really similar to any other form except maybe full.

I mean that as in memories being stored by type of information; if it’s BASK style, alters can have barriers between any letter or combination of letters.

BASK

Behavior: what the fronter did/had the urge to do

Affect: what the fronter felt/expressed emotionally

Sensation: what the fronter felt/noticed physically

Knowledge: what the fronter was aware/informed of

I would define ‘full blackouts’ as sharing none of the letters, which is unusual for the systems we know/have read about. Even systems we currently describe as having blackouts tend to start with some leakage.

I’d say the most common leaks are Affective and Sensory; bursts of unexplainable emotion or feelings you can tell aren’t yours and unexplainable pain or flashes of perceptions respectively.

I’ve heard of people, particularly front-facing people, experiencing these without co-consciousness. They aren’t accompanied by ‘the facts’ of what happened, and can leave the receiving alters confused or frightened.

A full sharing of either information might be considered another flashback unless intentional, but only a Sensory barrier is labeled amnesia as it stands.

The other leaks we currently refer to as blackouts is Behavior; either as ‘passive influence’ or as co-fronting and co-consciousness.

Some systems have to work on barriers to get Behavioral transmission, which might be as simple as acknowledging the alters as behind them. Others have it as part of the standard function, or see fluctuations without any particular reason.

‘Grayouts’ are barriers that allow Knowledge through; instead of any experience, alters get descriptions of events. It can be compared to being told about memories, like a book or news report.

Systems tend to encourage the permanent sharing of Sensation and Knowledge when decreasing amnesia, Behavior when attempting co-consciousness, and Affect only when fusing.

A fully assembled memory is taken into long term storage, where they usually go when there is no trauma. I don’t know if endogenic or healed traumagenic systems have that complete lack of barriers or if they learn to dissociate non-traumatic memories for individuality.

So I guess I’d like to hear from systems with no barriers, systems with Affective/emotional barriers, and systems that dissociate memories for non-trauma reasons. The whole system or between some members would also work.

What is it like to experience? How do you perceive the sharing, either in internal worlds or as a construct? What does it mean for system dynamics when the alters to share what they do?

You can answer without those guidelines, if you’d prefer. I’m more just curious about the existence of others unlike us than looking for specific datasets.

#cdd system #adaptive system #did osdd #osddid #dissociative identity disorder #traumagenic system #endo safe #pluralgang #plural system #plurality #plural #functional multiplicity #multiple

[system-of-a-feather]

Possibly a hot take but once you get to the point of final fusion / functional multiplicity and you've been in it for a while and that becomes your normal, you REALLY begin to realize that they're really the exact same thing but with different perspectives and preferred language used

And like that means A LOT to some people and thats 1000% valid and the perspective and language can wildly change the experience and how individuals approach it themselves

And just to make it clear for those that tend to read the worst in posts, I'm NOT saying this to be like "oh all functional multiplicity is is really just final fusion and functional multiplicity doesn't exist" or "final fusion is really just functional multiplicity in denial" because that isn't what I'm saying. I am NOT saying one is the only real one and the other is just The Real One But Wrapped Differently.

What I am saying is that the difference of whether I am "at final fusion" or "at functional multiplicity" is a lot less of a wide gap of "two opposite recovery goals" and a lot more of a handwave at which connotation and set of implications on how we relate to ourselves seems more applicable to our identity at the moment.

The difference between them a lot less of a cavern and a lot more like sand in an hourglass and throughout the day I'll identify more with final fusion one hour and functional multiplicity the next and really NOTHING changed in my system. No one split or anything, I just perceived myself in a different angle.

Like at this point, from my perspective in late stage recovery of DID, I personally see it as extremely nonsensical and needless for me to try to say which one I'm at because they are literally just different sides of the same coin. If I'm holding a penny, I often just say I'm holding a penny and saying "I'm holding a penny with the head side up" is only really important when I'm flipping the coin or trying to describe it to someone with visual impairments. As long as there is no real purpose for me to specify, its all the same to me

And of course, I remember NOT being in late stage DID recovery and what not so I absolutely understand the importance and value of both labels and the distinction and I absolutely support them being discussed as separate things because I do think it serves as a good and simplified framework to help people understand the different ways recovery and healing can work for individuals with DID and start thinking about what recovery and healing might mean for them. They're both REALLY good templates and if one is adversive to someone, the other is probably less adversive. Either way, they're both very good starting points on building your idea of recovery.

That's all just to say whenever I see people talking about Final Fusion VS Functional Multiplicity, I just scratch my head as someone who is at both and has been at both for something approaching a year I think now.

Anyways if anyone wants to ask anything on either and/or both final fusion and functional multiplicity or just general late stage DID recovery, feel free to send an ask. I'd love to chat about it, I just am honestly so unbothered by having DID at this point that I am never really prompted or inspired to write about it much anymore.

#actuallydid #dissociative identity disorder #final fusion #functional multiplicity #recovery #did recovery #ptsd recovery #trauma recovery #ptsd #c-ptsd #wishiwashi recovery

[artisticdysfunction]

hey. integration is not fusion. although integration is necessary for fusion, fusion is not the same thing as integration. it's like how all thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs.

integration is key to functional multiplicity. and integration is not fusion.

#four speaks #syscourse #integration #fusion #functional multiplicity #ok to reblog

[many-but-one]

Could we get some positivity for systems who don’t want fusion? Who are fighting to maintain systemhood for their own well-being? Sometimes the trauma is too much for just one person

Hi anon,

Sure, I can do that. With a small caveat.

First of all, fusion is a normal thing that can happen with trauma healing whether the system wants it or not. You very rarely choose to fuse. It’s the brain’s way of saying “we don’t need two or more guys for this anymore, let’s combine them to one.” It’s a normal and natural part of the healing process. Even if striving for functional multiplicity, there will be fusions along the way and you will rarely “end” with the same number you started with.

Fusion is a deeply personal process and not all systems like it or want to do it. Final fusion especially can be terrifying to consider when you have lived as many your whole life. But I do want to note that fusion does not have to be scary and it doesn’t mean you are losing anyone. In most people’s accounts of fusion that I have seen, the fused part still feels both/all parts within them. They often describe it as a wonderful feeling after the initial shock and confusion of the event, especially if sudden. My experience with fusion was wonderful and it massively benefited the system.

From the perspective you are sharing, that all of this trauma is too much for one person, it makes me believe that you are not in a healed enough state to consider it. Of course the trauma is too much for one person, that’s why you’re multiple! Healing that trauma and lowering amnesia barriers/dissociative barriers and integration of memories between alters is necessary for both final fusion AND functional multiplicity. You cannot be functionally multiple if you still experience major amnesia gaps between parts or are still having your everyday life ruled by trauma and triggers. Healing from your trauma is what pushes fusion to occur, because those memories are no longer too much for one person to handle. Once you process those trauma memories completely, they will not affect you like they did before. You will remember them, but not be distressed by them. You will not be triggered by the things within that memory anymore.

So positivity for systems who don’t want to pursue fusion, that’s perfectly fine! It’s a personal choice. But please do not let the fear of the memories being too much for one person to handle to stop you from making that choice. Because fusion won’t occur between parts if the memories aren’t processed anyway. Fusion is a natural part of healing in systemhood and is a good thing! If that’s not the direction you want to go and you want to strive for functional multiplicity, that’s amazing and you can do that! But functional multiplicity also requires a high level of integration of memories too. Which means all parts involved in the system will eventually know all the memories anyway. Wanting to keep memories separate is natural for a system because that’s how you survived, but to actually heal requires less barriers and more memory sharing so that you can live a functional life.

Hope this helps, anon. Please take care!

-Dorian🌹

#did osdd #did alters #personal post #dissociative identity disorder #did #manybutone #dorian🌹 #did system #anon ask #advice #final fusion #functional multiplicity

[companionplanting]

Working on integration (not FUSION) while generally learning to have functional multiplicity is so weird sometimes.

I'll be scrolling on Tumblr and find a post I have never seen before but have liked and commented on. Or I'll be going through photos and find pictures I never took. Or even find food that is so odd and unique, yet can't pin to a specific alter. No notes, no documented switching.

In the beginning, this kind of stuff would scare me. I would be confused and unsure of even my own present being. I would drive myself up a wall honestly.

Now, however, I feel a lot more.... sure. Like yeah, at this moment, some of these things make no sense and I can't pinpoint it to any known alter. But it doesn't scare me. More so makes me go,

"Welp, better find the new guy so we can give him a proper orientation."

I don't know, just feels like some nice growth and cooperation between us.

-🍂

#snails 🍂 #companion_planting #did system #osdd system #actually did #actually osdd #actuallydid #actuallyosdd #actually dissociative #did osdd #did #osdd #osddid #functional multiplicity #integration #healing from trauma #actually traumagenic #traumagenic #plural system #plural stuff

[korya-elana]

Say it with me guys:

INTEGRATION is the LOWERING OF AMNESIA BARRIERS. This is a process that happens automatically as you heal and is necessary for healing.

FUSION is when 2+ ALTERS FUSE INTO ONE. Final Fusion is the fusion of every (or most) alters into a single identity.

These terms are NOT interchangeable. They CANNOT be used in place of each other. I see so much fearmongering around integration because people actually mean fusion. Please learn what you're saying! Research the terms you use! Misusing terms causes harm!

I'm seeing this more and more in the community and it's driving us up a wall.

Obligatory comment that while final fusion is not our goal, we support those with CDDs attempting to reach that state. Healing looks different for everyone.

#did osdd #did system #alters #plurality #system things #fusion #final fusion #integration #functional multiplicity #terminology #definitions

[pluralaita]

am i the asshole for fakeclaiming a subsystem?

To start, we have cdid, and a lot of our headmates are part of subsystems, we very likely have sidesystems, and overall its a big mess. Recently a headmate of ours has been grappling with the fact that he might be a subsystem because of how he formed. (several fragments fused, which is how a lot of our "introjects" form) This doesn't really make sense to me. First off, he doesn't really show defining traits of being a subsystem, between the several fragments he has all their personality traits simultaneously, not switching visibly, no changes in personality, no outside changes in anything. When we cofront, he doesn't ever change, and when we have blurriness its just Him and whoever else, not a part of him and whoever else. I told him the truth, that it's very unlikely that he's a subsystem, that we would be able to tell if he was, etc. He, of course, didn't take that well. Now half of the system is on my ass about how it's not my place to decide that (it is, I am one of the alters who holds all the information about our system, which others don't believe (due to me also being one of our main protectors)) and that I have to apologize, which I did but I remained firm that he's not a subsystem. He literally just isn't. He feels like one because he's a fusion of several fragments, not because he is one, and to falsely put it to memory that he is a subsystem (just to appease him) would likely put us back further in our attempt at recovery & functional multiplicity.

#fakeclaiming #cdid #cdid system #subsystem #sidesystem #sisasystem #functional multiplicity #aita #am i the asshole #plurality #plural system #plural community #cdd #cdd system #did system #osdd #didosdd #osdd system #didosdd system #dissociative identity disorder #otherwise specified dissociative disorder #RESULT: YTA

[shining-star-system]

Tw for this whole damn thing, it's a rant with some irritating shit.

Had someone tell me I was spreading misinformation because I don't want to reach final fusion and that functionsl multiplicity is okay. Also claimed I didn't have DID because some of us are extremely connected to source and haven't broken away from it.

This same person has said some very harmful things, such as sources aren't real. Made me pissed off and give me a headache.

Not only did this person actively try to start forcing people to reach final fusion, but was also commenting that no one can have their name unless they said it was okay (pretty much). Glad they were banned from the server, but the fucking nerves some people have.

Their argument was that EVERY SYSTEM must remove introjects from their source to fully heal and to reach final fusion. That systems HAD TO just to heal.

Maybe I don't want to be removed from my sources, maybe some of our introjects actively need to stay close so we can also work through trauma the body has.

Functional multiplicity exists. Don't fucking fake claim people or say that they HAVE to reach final fusion because they don't meet what you want them to.

Block me if you think final fusion is the only way you can be a functioning system.

#did #system #dissociative identity disorder #did system #did osdd #plurality #osdd #didosdd #functional multiplicity #tired of having final fusion being shoved down my fucking throat #tw rant #rant

[autimulti]

Trying to find words to explain dissociative disorders!

This is one of the most common questions that we are asked on the subject. So, here is another attempt to answer in a meaningful and intelligible way. Hopefully we managed, let us know! Intro This post is adapted from an answer to the Quora question: What Is dissociative Identity disorder? Firstly, instead of talking strictly about DID, I would like to include the whole dissociative spectrum…

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#ACE #Consciousness #Coping Mechanisms #Dissociation #Functional Multiplicity #Healing #Info #Neurodivergent #Plurality #Psychology #Resources #Self-awareness #Structural Dissociation #support #survivor #trauma

[69ottersinatrenchcoat]

I am so so sorry, I tried reading your dni and about the system page but it's a bit much for me.

However I did read your studying for psychology, how many years of studying do you have? Does did effect your studies ?

So, I typed up a super long answer to this, and it's gone, and I haven't had the spoons to write it up again… but here we go.

That's totally good honey, it's there partly for our reference and for anyone curious. Literally no pressure to read it! We haven't got to university yet; on the condition we get accepted into the bachelors of psychology program, we'll be starting our psych degree in Feb 2025. Our system has had a burning interest in psychology, well, since we were a kid. We've always been fascinated by the human brain and why people act the way they do. Plus, when our mental health started (heavily) declining when the body was 11-13, we started reading and finding things that we're fascinated by. It'll be three years for our bachelor's of psych plus 3-5 years post graduate (masters, phD or post grad certi.) to become a clinical psychologist.

And yes. DID impacts our education.

[The above message was written by Amber (🔥), I'll take over from here - Kyle 💜]

As Amber said, it impacts our education, and heavily. Since discovering we are a system, we have realised there was a lot of knowledge that went unheard, and passed through the system without any recollection. It finally explained how I (we) would get wonderful marks in subjects I (we) don't remember participating in, particularly statistics/maths. Kaden, my brother, would front, complete the class and get amazing scores, while the rest of us were left scrambling in the dark wondering what happened. I was aware of our system far before our host was for about six years before I had the terminology to explain what I was experiencing. I remember how our host would get confused when they received high marks in statistics while remembering absolutely nothing.

We're at a Christian school, which, I have a love/hate relationship with. As some of you may have seen by my past posts, I'm Christian and proudly queer, however our school doesn't see that that's possible (it seems in their eyes you're either queer, or Christian and never both bc 'queerness is unbiblical'). And it's worsened by our system having an array of religions.

From a straight learning perspective, our notes vary drastically and often information goes missed or unnoticed if we switch out.

We're hoping that once we're healthier and achieving functional multiplicity, that we can use our system as a superpower, especially working with clients. Where our littles can help younger clients feel heard and safe, and where we can match our clients with an alter that matches and/or compliments their communication style, and way of relating to the world. And if we ever end up working with a system (or for that matter, PTSD, depression, anxiety, OCD, autism or ADHD) in therapy, we'll have first-hand experience with it.

#future psychologist #posted by 💜 #posted by 🔥 #did osdd #did #osddid #osdd did #functional multiplicity #multiplicity #anti endo #traumagenic did

[reimeichan]

Yknow what yeah I do wanna talk about that last post I reblogged.

Because I was in survival mode for so long, I didn't even realize it was survival mode even when I got out of it. My brain was so convinced for years afterwards that I was STILL in danger constantly, even though I was no longer being constantly traumatized and re-traumatized by my abusers. I thought by simply escaping I was allowing myself to heal and recover, never once realizing I never actually did the work to do such. Plus, Survival Mode had been my norm for over twenty years of my life. I didn't know anything else.

For four years after leaving that traumatic environment, I continued on as if I was in survival mode. And, well, that was what worked for me. Work was basically an extension of college which was an extension of high school, and I continued to beat myself up internally to do chores and shit the same way I would avoid being yelled at by my parents. I didn't see anything wrong with any of this. After all, I had a stable income and was no longer dealing with a toxic, abusive environment. Why did anything need to change?

Well, turns out, a lot of my old coping skills were only helping me because they were so maladaptive and hurting the people around me. My emotional dissociation made me distant and inattentive to the emotional needs of the people closest to me. My reliance on panic and adrenaline to get myself started on tasks made me unreliable to others who actually treated me like a human being. And as I slowly realized how much my past had shaped my current behavior, I became more and more aware of how different my current life and my old life were.

And that revelation felt like ripping the carpet from under me, only to find a massive whirlpool of chaos where there should have been solid ground.

It was like my eyes suddenly opened to all the trauma and grief and emotional turmoil that I had pretended did not affect me was now rushing out as a stream out into the open. I had opened Pandora's Box and couldn't close it again. My life that I had carefully cultivated quickly fell apart as I was now all too aware of just how much I hadn't actually worked through and processed. I lost my partner of 14 years, and the stable job I held for 4 years. I was a mess as I tried to untangle the mass of cobwebs in my head from decades of pushing things away, the cobwebs that feebly held me together until they no longer could.

And... slowly, I replaced those cobwebs with stronger things. Instead of ignoring my traumas, I faced them. Instead of ignoring my feelings, I let myself feel them. Instead of pretending everything was fine, I let myself fall apart, so that I knew how to better put myself back together again. I replaced the old coping skills and old behaviors that no longer served me with healthier things that allowed me to move forward. I stacked things neatly in my head where I could see them, instead of shoving them away into a corner.

And in time, I learned how to be happy.

It's weird, really. I thought I knew what happiness was. I thought happiness would have been louder and more obvious. I always saw the people cheering on screen and celebrating as what happiness would feel like. But I've found that happiness is gentle and calming, and I realized the "happiness" I had growing up was not truly happiness.

I'm doing better now. It fucking sucked to get here. But... it's worth it.

#mental health #recovery #healing #personal #okay to rb #by green #functional multiplicity #we're finally accepting that we've reached a point in healing that we can truly deem as functional multiplicity #it's weird to realize we're here but I'm proud of us and wanted to share all this

[granulesofsand]

🗝️🏷️ discussion of dissociation and formation of CDDs

We do like to periodically announce that we still operate on a multiplicity model of DID. That means we believe a lot of structural dissociation, but with some differences.

Where we do understand young children as having states, we don’t define them as being parts. It isn’t six puzzle pieces, but six blueprints of the brain. Each functions differently with what’s already there, and none of them literally occupy a place.

Dissociation keeps these states separate. Sometimes they get further away or have amnesia walls put up between them. They never fell into each other like singlets’ states did. Now these states become alters, and their abilities vary by their system’s features.

These features inform the growth of each alter as an individual. Alters with access to internal experiences can elaborate without external input in directions not possible for alters who go dormant outside of front. Alters without co-consciousness have to gain skill sets independently.

There is no right way to be an alter. Some systems view their alters as parts of a whole. Some want to fuse into one state. Others believe that sharing memories and information is necessary for their healing.

All of those things can be good and right for that system. We tend to pull out the ‘secret third option’. We believe any alter in our system is a full person if they say they are, and that our distinct ways of using the brain are no less than a singlet.

Because we view each other as largely already whole, we don’t integrate between ourselves. We have worked on communication and bringing other insiders up to date, but we don’t utilize one another’s lived experiences.

Our third option is community, which we get to define for ourselves. Many of us struggle with demands and authority, so we don’t make progress with prescribed goals. If the two roads to choose from are melting our grains of sand into one final glass or getting so close as to be a mosaic, we’ll pave our own path.

And it’s working for us so far. We haven’t found any literature that stopped us in our tracks, haven’t hit a wall in our journey. So this is good for us.

Our name is an extended metaphor for our DID. It’s an understanding that we are not less than or part of, but one step in a turning cycle. Rocks grow and break, glass forms and shatters, and neither stays small forever. The smallest granules of sand make up a desert, and even those tiny bits can shape stones.

It’s okay to have a different perspective than we have evidence for. Science is an ever changing thing, understanding shifting with culture and time. Your experience cannot be wrong, even if we don’t see it right now. You are living proof, and that is enough.

#did osdd #dissociative identity disorder #traumagenic system #osddid #did system #polyfragmented system #cdid #hc did #structural dissociation #multiplicity #plurality #functional multiplicity #final fusion #secret third option

[system-of-a-feather]

Alternative System Mind Mapping Method for Communication

[DISCLAIMER: This is not a professional or scientifically or anything really backed method, this is something coming solely from peer / personal experience.]

In regards to an anon ask earlier, I was thinking about it and one of the ways we've approached improving communication - particularly internal - in a way that is a lot less prone to flooding or dealing with trauma or anything too overwhelming - is by approaching it following the concept of Memory Webs

I haven't read up on them recently, but "Memory Webs" were a thing that our AP Psychology teacher in highschool made us do because the AP Psych test was term / jargon heavy. Memory in the human brain has been shown to be HEAVILY associative and the ability to remember and connect things tends to rely on following a "web" of connected topics, ideas, concepts etc from one idea to the next.

So in our AP Psych class, she gave us these GIANT books for Vocabulary Webs that we had to slowly work on, each of which required 6 other vocab words / related concepts, a summarized definition, and an image to represent it. By doing this, you added 6 cues to recall the word (increasing the chance you'd remember it), a visual cue, an episodic memory of working on it, and a definition - all in all improving how connected the word is to other concepts in your brain and making it easier to recall it.

I personally like to look at DID and our parts in a similar manner sometimes where the large issue is that a lot of the nodes in the web of associations are either disconnected or connected through a hard-to-find and/or small chain. In that sense, parts struggle to be held together because they are not associated concepts. It's hard to reach other parts because the dissociative walls (which in our unsubstantiated opinion is less a 'wall' and more so a lack of reinforced neural connections, so I would call them dissociative caverns) keep associations from forming

As a result, alternative to more traditional ways of mapping your system and parts, a method I've liked to internally visualize systems and navigating system dynamics is through a memory web manner. (I actually have never done it physically cause the Ray part of my brain - also the most prominent part writing this rn - rarely liked to front if he didn't have to and did a lot of stuff internally)

Here's a bit of a breakdown using six of our parts if any of you want to try it out.

We personally like it because it strips a lot of trauma and stress off of it and makes it a lot more of a positive and present engaging activity. For the purposes of this, I'll be using the free online app of Milanote cause we've used it before for OC associative webs and I think it'll do fine enough. (Honestly it actually might just be a good way to log alter information now that I'm looking at it if you are at a place in recovery where keeping track of that physically helpful)

So we can start by dropping down the parts we want to include in the form of boards

So from here, we have a bunch of disconnected parts. However, we find that a lot of these parts have things that mean a lot to them, that illicit a strong emotion or reaction from them.

Some parts may lack it more than others (often in our case trauma holders and/or trauma locked parts) and that's okay and to be expected. This is a visualization method and if there isn't much connecting a part that is 100% okay.

For demonstration sake, I will now add bubbles around each part of things that were pretty early apparent that each individual liked.

Also for the purposes of how I know our system works and how I plan to do this, I am actually moving Riku to the center and you will all see why Riku is such an S tier center point with this model

So you can see some connections forming.

Some key things you can take from this visual that also applied to earlier stags of how we connected

Lucille and Riku are and have always been pretty darn connected, they go back as one of the longest duos and were split almost as a pair to deal with academics

Chunn and Ray have a very shared interest of "I don't want to do anything leave me alone"

XIV literally was just a piece of shit early on and didn't have any immediate HARD connections with anyone largely because he never was interested in actually engaging in things he liked in a positive way as his "favorite emotion" at the time was "being pissed off"

Lin - an originally trauma stuck / loop - is very very poorly associated with anything that isn't overtly trauma related (and that is saying something cause Vocaloid is trauma related) and thus has very few connections to other parts

So looking at this though, there are a few things that have some similarities between parts. What you can do is make plans to try to foster the interests that you do have and try to generalize it a bit more to also encompass what interests other parts have. So lets engage in hobbies a little more - explore a few concepts that mean a lot to parts independently - and find some more generalized version of those hobbies

(forgot to add easy listening to Ray's and "only wearing monochrome*" to XIV's earlier) (*there are a lot of nuances and caveats)

Damn, look at that. It's messy and ugly to have in a 2D form. I absolutely hate it, this would be so impossible with our whole system. But HEY, it's very connected - and that's the goal.

Compared to the previous one, you can see how easily it can be for one part's interests to start to drift into another. Because they are largely and strongly associated features to each part, they are a lot more accessible when engaging in their shared / associated connections and interests which makes it easier for the them to stay together near the front, stay associated with one another, and work with and communicate with one another.

Of course anyone following this blog goes "Where tf is Birds" and that I left out because it would ruin the point of the web as it actually is one of our traditional "you are around the system a lot? okay pick a bird" which serves to 1) be a fun system culture thing 2) be a means of welcoming a part in and 3) helps establish a foundational connection; we do the same with music but with music its a lot more elaborate and I probably wont explain it for other reasons.

But overtime, by fostering interests that were already present and encouraging parts to broaden and generalize their specific interest a bit, you end up with a lot of overlapping associations that can greatly improve internal communication, co-fronting ability, and just general fluidity and easy of moving around the brain web.

It becomes a good way of trying to figure out what you can do to encourage and help build connections and associations between parts by seeing where things are similar / could have more overlap (combat and martial arts, different types of fashion, different types of music, different appreciation for arts, taking over the world, yada yada yada)

And you wanna know the coolest thing? When you step back from the whole web you can see certain things appear that stand out the most and have some of the most connections.

If you ever intend to go to Final Fusion, those are the things that will likely be the most prominent traits of your whole self

For us? [REDACTED BIRDS for the point of the demonstration], Music, Fashion, Taking over the World, Recovery and Healing, Buddhism, Martial Arts, Arts in general - they're all some of our largest traits that persist in almost all forms as individual parts, partially fused parts, and fully fused parts.

And the BEST part? Doing this didn't require us to touch trauma at all.

Of course in recovery that will come up cause PTSD doesn't ask permission, but its a very low stress way to help improve internal communication and engagement with one another.

#actuallydid #dissociative identity disorder #resources #advice #internal communication #integration #feather's unsubstantiated theraputic tools #unsubstantiated advice #alter: fei #final fusion #functional multiplicity #wishiwashi recovery #system mapping #system map #mind mapping #mindmap #recovery #healing #alter: ray #<- heavily authored by that part of this brain #system dynamics

[sophieinwonderland]

If someone intentionally becoming plural makes you uncomfortable because you think being a system is inherently less healthy than being a singlet, then it logically follows that a system who achieves healthy multiplicity is less healthy than one who achieves final fusion.

to be dead honest? the way some sysmeds speak it SOUNDS like that. that's probably why im so uncomfortable with the anti-endo rhetoric even though we're probably at most mixed origins if not entirely traumagenic. you'd look at me, at us, enjoying being a system, and call us delusional? call me an endo (in a fakeclaiming tone) just because i don't police others identities? like... no! no thanks!

So much this!

It's really terrible how so much of anti rhetoric just reinforces the stigma around multiplicity and having positive experiences with your system.

And I think that we need to acknowledge at this point that Dissociative Identity Disorder is nuanced. That just because certain experiences in DID are dysfunctional doesn't mean that every aspect of the disorder is.

Being multiple allows you to communicate internally in a way most singlets can't, and a lesser version of this is actually sought after as a therapeutic tool in Internal Family Systems.

Singlets, especially those with low self-esteem and depression, will often struggled with self-compassion. For many, it's easier to be compassionate towards someone else than it is to be compassionate towards themselves. A system that reaches healthy multiplicity can provide an internal support that a singlet might not have access to.

It's no wonder that of the DID voice hearers, nearly 70% say that they would miss the voices if they stopped talking.

(Source: study comparing voice hearing in Schizophrenia vs DID.)

A lot of systems care about and support each other.

While there are a lot of aspects of DID that are dysfunctional, it doesn't mean that having alters or experiencing internal communication/auditory hallucinations are always part of the problem.

And I think the many systems who have achieved healthy multiplicity would take issue with the suggestion that they could never be as healthy as a singlet as long as they're multiple.

It's so important then to not just validate healthy multiplicity as some inferior healing option, but to actually embrace it as something that can actually be just as healthy as if not healthier than final fusion for many systems.

I saw an anti-endo respond to my last post with this meme, and I think it does a great job summing up the anti-endo position.

To the anti-endo, multiplicity can never be healthy, good or beneficial. The most you can ever hope for without fusion is being "functional."

And this type of ideology is harmful to all systems.

#ask box #syscourse #plural #plurality #endogenic #sanism #plural system #endogenic system #system #multiplicity #actually plural #systems #ableism #system stuff #functional multiplicity #healthy multiplicity #neurodivergence #neurodivergent #neurodiverse #mental health

[thrivingwhilemultiple]

Brain: ...brb, afk...

Dissociation is normal and natural. It’s an instinctual response every being possesses, humans and…

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#thrivingwhilemultiple #this post talks about #depersonalization #derealization #dissociation #dissociative barriers #lived experience #trauma recovery #complex dissociative disorder #dissociative identity disorder #functional multiplicity #thriving multiplicity