#i also have a fourth point about high fragment counts + multiple people fronting but i'm out of energy

[the-habitat-sysblog]

it's quite frustrating when you work up the courage to tell someone you have DID, but they hit you with "well, *i've* never noticed you switch" or "to me you're always the same person".

i think those statements are so misinformed to how DID (most often) presents. there are some things to note when observing DID from the outside:

not all cases of DID are overt. overt refers to your symptoms, switches & differences between alters being obvious to people from the outside. overt DID is less common than its counterpart *covert* (more secretive) DID. in covert DID, symptoms may be less noticeable from the outside, & that may lead to difficulty being diagnosed.

masking. masking is the ability some people possess to pretend to be someone/something that they are not. in DID, alters who are not the host part may mask as the host part to feel safe, undetectable, or simply out of instinct. before discovery of the system, this may be a subconscious effort; after discovery of the system, this may be purposeful in order to hide alter differences from others, for any reason.

complexity of identity. let us imagine that the host in a system is an ambivert - not quite introverted, & not quite extroverted. this host switches out, in front of their friend group, & a social part or other extroverted & friendly alter takes their place. their friends assume that they are just in a "friendlier mood", while in reality this person has switched. meanwhile this alter has a completely different set of interests, identity, & such, but since it is not brought up in conversation, the friend group does not suspect their friend has switched between separated self-states. identity is complex, & alters are (often, not always) able to feel & express a large range of emotions, depending in their mood. this can make it harder to tell the difference between an alter being in a strange mood, & a whole new part fronting!

so, next time you meet someone with DID, believe them. not all of our experiences are visible! edit: "DID" here can also be replaced with OSDD1, P-DID or UDD, but i just used DID because that's my specific experience.

#i also have a fourth point about high fragment counts + multiple people fronting but i'm out of energy #this has been bothering me recently! #i'll be making more posts about DID etiquette in the future #much love to those with overt DID as well! #it has its own challenges & stigmas #but i can't speak on that experience myself #blurry❔.txt #; #💬 #[ #did #polyfrag did #did system #traumagenic system #actually traumagenic #cdd #sysblr #system #cdd community #system stuff #endos dni #did etiquette #]