Complex Dissociative Disorders Research & Resources
Here is a list of resources about Complex Dissociative Disorders (CDD) and related experiences that we have read through and verified are reliable and informative if you are curious about CDDs but don't know where to start.
CDD General Resources
Complex dissociative disorders (CDDs) are chronic mental health conditions that can include Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), Unspecified Dissociative Disorder (UDD), Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder (DP/DR), and Dissociative Amnesia. They are characterized by dissociative symptoms that can affect memory, consciousness, emotion, identity, and motor control. People with CDDs may experience severe psychiatric symptoms, low psychosocial functioning, and high levels of comorbidity with other disorders. CDDs are the result of severe and repetitive trauma that occurs in early childhood.
Misconceptions About CDDs
DID has been used as a horror trope in fiction books and movies since the 1920s. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920 & 1931), The Three Faces of Eve (1957), Psycho (1960), Sybil (1973), and most recently Split (2016). CDDs have been severely misrepresented and sensationalized, which contributes to stigmatization and hinders public understanding. Here are some articles that aim to educate people and destigmatize this complex disorder.
The Specifics of CDDs
Here are some resources that explain the different aspects and symptoms of CDDs.
Alters
Innerworlds
Dissociative Amnesia
Trauma & Complex PTSD
RAMCOA & Programing
Trigger Warning: Child Sexual Abuse (CSA)
Polyfragmentation
Related Sources and Resources
This section lists various resources we have gathered about comorbid and related disorders. The two most common misdiagnoses for DID are Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder. I can confirm this phenomenon from personal experience. Research also suggests that those with CDDs are more likely to have comorbid disorders. This list is extensive but not exhaustive and at the bottom is a book recommendation list focusing on CPTSD and Dissociation and how to manage symptoms, and heal your mind, body and soul.
Comorbid Disorders
Bipolar Disorder
Personality Disorders
Psychosis
Autism
Maladaptive Daydreaming
Conversion Disorders
Malingering & Factitious Disorders
Misc. Resources
Charities & Foundations
Recommended Reading List
FAQ
Answers to the most frequently asked questions we've been asked.
What is a System and what is a Singlet?
A System refers to a person with a CDD aka someone with multiple selves. Singlet refers to a person who does not have a CDD aka someone with a single self.
"Being a system sounds kinda fun."
"Seems like you're never alone, now I wish I was a system."
"I wish I could have my favorite characters come to life."
"I wish our system had (insert favorite character) how could I intentionally traumatize my host so we split them?"
These are all REAL comments from singlets and systems we've gotten on our social media pages.
Stop romanticizing "desired" parts of CDDs.
No, you do not want this. This is a serious mental health DISORDER. It comes with a lot of instability that makes it very difficult to function in society.Criteria C for a diagnosis of DID is, "The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning." (292, DSM-5)Have you ever had an identity crisis? Or a gender/sexuality crisis? Imagine never knowing what you are or who you are because your identity is constantly changing every day of your life.DID is not all about how many alters you can split or which favorite character of yours you want to have to live your life for you. And introjects (fictives/factives) aren't usually happy to be here when they split. A lot of them feel like they've been ripped away from their worlds, from their friends, from everything familiar to them and now they're forced to live someone else's life, and for what?There are healthier methods of escapism and achieving inner peace, there's spirituality, lucid dreaming/shifting, Otherkin, writing, art, role play, and even Internal Family Systems (IFS) which is a therapy practice if you need something like that. These are all non-disordered forms of multiplicity in my opinion. They're great ways of coping with stress, reality, and loneliness. But romanticizing mental disabilities and even in some cases encouraging self-harm is never okay.
Is the host alter the "original" personality?
Not necessarily. The idea of there being an "original personality" or "core alter" is a controversial topic.According to Structural Dissociation theory (the most prominent of many current neuroscientific theories as far as I am currently aware), a child's consciousness does not fully integrate into a singular identity until between the ages of 6-9 years old (7-10 and 6-12 are also age ranges we have heard quoted but this article here says 6-9).This means that we are all born as systems made up of ego states. They aren't fully developed identities like alters, they are fragments of your consciousness. "I'm hungry", "I'm scared", I'm happy" things like that.If you have a stable/healthy upbringing, then your brain will naturally integrate these parts as you develop which forms your singular identity.However, if a child experiences consistent/repetitive trauma in early childhood (i.e. during the period when the brain is developing and integrating these ego states) the brain prevents the integration of those parts to protect itself from the trauma. This leads to the child continuing to have multiple identities and never developing a singular sense of self.For a more accurate and in-depth explanation click the link below
What's the deal with "evil/dangerous" alters?
The deal is that Hollywood has painted us as crazy two-faced monsters with innocent charm on the surface and hidden sadistic killers waiting on the inside to switch in and hurt other people.This is one of the main reasons we have decided to use our platform to educate and entertain. To break down these harmful stigmas. See the Misconceptions About CDDs section of this card for more details.The "evil alter" concept is based on a type of alter known as "persecutors".Persecutor alters are typically trauma holders who have a misconstrued way of protecting themselves and their system from being traumatized again. They are more likely to harm themselves than someone else. But, just like singlets, sometimes due to mental instability and behavioral issues, persecutors can be assholes and/or abusers.But regardless of whether you're a system or a singlet, we are all equally capable of being an asshole or an abuser, just as much as we are capable of being compassionate and moral.There's this concept called "System Accountability" which means that everyone in your system, is held accountable for the words and actions of each alter, and dealing with the consequences of those actions maturely is the responsibility of the entire system.Just because you've been traumatized does not give you a free pass to traumatize others. The golden rule we are all hopefully taught from a young age is to treat others how you would like to be treated.Systems and singlets alike have moral codes they follow. Your persecutors might not abide by some of your system's morals but that doesn't mean you as a non-persecutor aren't responsible for moderating their actions. That alter is still a part of "you" that has done something bad. Take accountability for your actions.
Should you really be enabling this behavior by giving your personalities names and pronouns?
"I think therefore I am." - René DescartesWe are and have always been multiple people in one body. The only reason we haven't presented as our individual selves until now is because we were forced to hide these aspects of our collective self to protect ourself from abuse. Letting alters express themselves individually is a sign that we are healing.This disorder is covert. We didn't even know we were multiple people until we got diagnosed at 22. That's 22 years of playing pretend to appease our abusers.Our "names and pronouns" are what we use to express our differing identities because in a system, gender, sexuality, personality, mannerisms, appearance, morals, values, likes, dislikes, and all the other things that make a person a sentient being differ from alter to alter.To use an analogy that we feel fits our experience: the difference between a system and a family unit is that we all share one body and one brain.And just like siblings, the dynamics can be a little ridiculous. /j"It takes a village to raise a kid"This world never gave us a village we felt safely a part of so our brain created one of its own. It created us, our world, our village, our community, our family, and our whole universe because we didn't have a "real" one. We didn't have a place to call home. We didn't have a family to call loving. We didn't have a community to call safe. We had ourselves, our imagination, and our strong ability to dissociate.We are here. We have always been here. The difference now is that we have a place to call home. We have a family to call loving. We have a community to call safe. So now, we are all trying to get a piece of the action as our unmasked, authentic selves.
Isn't it unhealthy to be broadcasting your disability on social media?
Absolutely not. As an American, we have the freedom of speech. Our disability affects every aspect of our life. Just like any other disabled person with an online platform, we share what we feel comfortable sharing online and spread awareness about our unique life experiences.We have a voice for a reason but we've never been allowed to use it before. So now that we can, we use it to proudly speak up against uneducated, rude, ableist, bigotry. We want to normalize how we live our life with this disability. We want to break the stigmas we face from able-bodied society.We check in with each other to make sure no one is overstepping boundaries before posting because of our System Accountability.Not every system has the privilege to be outspoken like us. We have an online platform so we can connect with other people who share our experiences. We have this platform to raise awareness about DID so that others like us don't have to struggle for years not knowing there's terminology and recognition for the things we couldn't put into words in the past.If you lived a day in our shoes you'd understand. We exist. We survived. We want the world to know that.
Can alters in a system date each other?
Yes.Think of it as a highly dissociated version of self-love.In our system, we have several relationships. They occur through parts work and help to build healthy internal communication between dissociated parts.In the same way, an alter might be a parental figure or older/younger sibling of other alters, some alters may decide to share a different kind of intimate bond between them. It's healthy, natural, and a sign that we are healing.
What is a Subsystem?
It's the clinical term for an alter that has alters.Yes, alters can have their own alters. Think of it as a system within a system. System inception! /jOur system has many subsystems. Polyfragmented DID systems are the most common type of systems to have multiple subsystems. It's a form of internal structural organization.
How do splits occur?
"There are conflicting theories as to how this occurs, neither of which alone adequately describes all types of splitting but the combination of which does.The newer theory of how alters are created is that of structural dissociation. According to this theory, alters are created when no existing parts can integrate new materials (e.g., memories, strong emotions, perceptions, attachment styles) because these materials are too threatening or are perceived as conflicting too strongly with what is already held. Over time, these materials are used together often enough that they integrate into a new self-state.This appears to accurately describe how DID is first created and how new alters are formed in response to new trauma, high levels of stress, or other overwhelming experiences." (DID-Research.org)In our personal experience, times when we have been under heavy emotional distress or stress of any kind have caused new splits. Splits have also occurred for us because of our comorbid disorders, such as Dysthymia. We have 4 alters currently who hold onto different symptoms of our depression because the one alter that used to hold onto all of the symptoms couldn't handle all of it on their own anymore.Another thing to keep in mind is that trauma is an entirely subjective experience. Something that may be mildly stressful to one person or not stressful at all, may be very traumatic to someone else.Things like comorbid disorders and neurodivergence are common reasons a system might have a lower stress tolerance for splitting.A “neurodivergent” person refers to a person on the autism spectrum or, more generally, to someone whose brain processes information in a way that is not typical of most individuals.
How can you tell if a system is faking it?
This question leads to a very problematic form of ableism called "Fakeclaiming."Unless you are someone's therapist/psychiatrist, it is not your place to validate or invalidate anyone's lived experiences whether they are diagnosed or not.I have seen proof of people who have admitted they faked being a system for whatever reason. I know there are people out there who fake being a system so they can abuse others who actually are systems.And there are probably a lot of people out there who have some other disorder going on that they have mistaken for DID.However, mentally healthy people don't fake having mental disorders. So even if the person is faking having that particular disorder they probably have some other disorder that is just as valid and in need of attention and medical assistance.Believe what you want to believe.But I will never accuse someone of faking a disorder even if I have a hunch that they are because fakeclaiming people is more harmful than good.Don't fakeclaim people. It only adds to the stigma surrounding mental health disorders and is severely damaging to the person receiving the accusation.
"DID is a RARE disorder most people on the internet who claim to have it are lying/faking."
Here is a quote from National Library of Medicine:"Known since the 1800s, DID is a psychiatric disorder that is highly recognizable under the category of dissociative disorders and accompanied by memory and identity disorders. Research indicates that dissociative disorders are observed in 12–13.8% of the psychiatric patient population. However, DID is found in 1% of the general population. DID has an estimated lifetime prevalence of around 1.5%. This rate is similar to that of schizophrenia, and it is a public health problem that should receive attention. Although prevalence rates are similar to those seen in schizophrenia, not enough research has been done on DID. In the wake of the research results and clinical experiences, it was determined that DID diagnosis was challenging. DID symptoms can conflict with those of other disorders, and DID can rarely be seen without another disorder."The idea that DID is this "rare" mythical disorder that only a very few people have is misinformation based on old statistics from a time when DID was lesser known and misunderstood.