DID Passive influence in dissociative disorders

[Keen]

I'm sorry for turning this Other Disorders forum into a DID forum with all my questions. I really appreciate everyone responding with their thoughts and experiences.

I am trying to understand the passive influence of alters/parts. I think this may happen more often than switching, at least for me, but I'm not sure, and wonder if I understand what it is exactly.

Here's some examples from my life, please tell me if this would be considered passive influence from alters, based on your understanding. I am a church-going person of faith, but some days I experience these feelings and thoughts like "I don't even believe in your religion" or an aversion to its teachings (and not in the "I'd rather be fishing/shopping/sleeping" kind of way). Or, the other day a friend was coming over and I felt this huge feeling of tension and anger toward that friend that made absolutely no sense to me. In these, and other situations, I'm fully present in the moment and myself, but I experience thoughts or feelings that I don't understand and don't match with me.

I am not sure how passive influence from parts/alters plays out in real life and am wondering if those with dissociative disorders could explain to me how they experience this or what their therapists/their own research have helped them understand about it.

Thanks for your help, everyone.

 

[whiteraven]

I'm sorry for turning this Other Disorders forum into a DID forum with all my questions. I really apprec...

LOL. I'm never sure whether to post about DID here or under the dissociation thread.

What you describe here sounds to me like what you call "passive influence" of your parts. Others who don't have DID might just see it as different moods or a diversity of view, but I relate very closely to what you are saying. For example, I went through a very strong spiritual/religious crisis when I had one insider insist that she go through training to convert to Judaism and another (at the same time!) decide she wanted to go through catechism to become a Catholic. I had had very conflicting feelings spiritually for a very long time but just figured I was screwed up and then the issue became much clearer with this revelation.

The more you pay attention, the more you start to notice this sort of thing. You can begin to ask questions of those inside or simply make experiences more available for them as you start to understand what they need. It makes life easier, generally.

 

[Muted]

:roflmao:H

I'm sorry for turning this Other Disorders forum into a DID forum with all my questions.

I didn't get that until I read @whiteraven 's

LOL. I'm never sure whether to post about DID here or under the dissociation thread.

That's :roflmao: hilarious!!

 

[Sideways]

I'm not so sure that the examples you've given I'd describe as "passive", so much as some of your parts trying to let you know that something isn't okay for them.

For example, if you try and establish which part has a problem with religion, what do they have to say about that? Is it that they don't understand how important this is for you and would just prefer to do something else with their time? Or are they trying to let you know that they actually find church really distressing? Either way, it would be good to try and communicate with that part to make sure that they feel safw, and to perhaps establish a way that you can go to church without the disruption, but also with distressing part of yourself.

The same goes for your friend. You may find this person great, but part of you clearly doesn't, and is trying to communicate with you about that. If you want to establish trust, it's important to listen, and make sure that everyone feels safe...

 

[Keen]

:roflmao:H
I didn't get that until I read @whiteraven 's


That's :roflmao: hilarious...

Whenever I would put it into the dissociation forum, an admin moved my thread here, so I just started posting them here.

 

[Keen]

some of your parts trying to let you know that something isn't okay for them.

Thanks for this perspective. I'm really so new to this me trying to communicate with parts and trying to realize when they're communicating with me, I find it really confusing. Even more confusing than when they just take over and do their thing.

Others who don't have DID might just see it as different moods or a diversity of view, but I relate very closely to what you are saying

Yeah, it is definitely different than simply different moods/views, so I've been trying to figure out what it is. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Muted]

I guess I thought DID was on the dissociative spectrum?

 

[whiteraven]

I guess I thought DID was on the dissociative spectrum?

Definitely is.

 

[whiteraven]

Whenever I would put it into the dissociation forum, an admin moved my thread here, so I just started po...

Ah...good to know. No idea why that is, though. I'll have to ask.

 

[whiteraven]

I'm not so sure that the examples you've given I'd describe as "passive", so much as some of you...

Good point, @Ragdoll Circus. I got the sense that @Kassie was using "passive" in the sense that maybe she's simply not as aware of a more straightforward kind of communication with them, which is where my reply came from.

 

[Sideways]

I can only speak from my own experience, and people experience DID in a lot of ways. It's just that for me, it's definitely true that if I take the more subtle forms of communication and do something with them, I'm less likely to switch.

For example, if I walk into a church and I notice that suddenly part of me seems to be a bit cranky? I can maybe take some time out and address it, and by doing that, I seem to get more trust from my parts - they know I'm listening, they know I'll pay attention if they feel unsafe. It's usually when I ignore the feeling of unsafety that one of my parts decides "No, I'm gonna need to take over to avoid this situation."

But it's definitely a case of different strokes for different folks.

 

[whiteraven]

I can only speak from my own experience, and people experience DID in a lot of ways. It's just...

Yes, absolutely.