Just last week, someone asked me a bunch of questions so they could get more information before writing a character with dissociative identity disorder. Having lived with it since I was 5 (and having the unique perspective of going through final fusion/integration), I made a comprehensive video! It was way easier than writing it all out, and far more fun too.
Check it out & share so others can learn about this highly misunderstood condition, too!
Here are the 19 questions answered in the video:
- Can you tell me a bit about the day to day life living with dissociative identity disorder (DID)?
- It is said that DID occurs as a result of childhood trauma, is this true? Do you know if it is possible to split without suffering childhood trauma?
- How many alters do you have?
- Can you tell me about the process of “switching”?
- How do you communicate with your alters? Are you able to hear them speak to you?
- Do your alters have specific roles? I heard that there is a gatekeeper who decides which alter comes out and when.
- What happens to the other alters when one is in control? Are they able to speak to each other?
- How did you find out you had dissociative identity disorder? What were the main symptoms?
- How does this impact any friendships and relationships you have built? Do you all have separate friendships and relationships?
- Is there any common misconceptions about DID that you want to make me aware of?
- Is it possible that one alter may insist on “taking over” and coming out full time? Is it possible to stop them?
- Are other alters able to see what is going on when they aren’t in control? If so, is it possible to stop them?
- Is there ever any jealousy between alters?
- Do you all get along well? How do you handle disagreements?
- Tell me a bit about the host personality. Is the host the ‘original’? Is it possible to change hosts over time?
- Tell me about the different types of therapy? How does integration work? Have you considered it? Why/ why not?
- Do you get headaches when you switch? Is there any other symptoms you get when switching?
- Does switching occur when you are triggered? Can it happen for no reason?
- How has your family coped with you having dissociative identity disorder?
What other questions do you have? Drop them in a comment below! Are you considering writing a character with dissociative identity disorder? Share a bit about them!

0 Comments