News Did Anyone Read The Article In Today's New York Times?

[Hope4Now]

Article called Me, Me, Me and my Therapist. Woman in her 60s who has DID. My husband showed it to me. He thought I would be interested because I have some dissociation issues. It flipped me out. I have never asked if I have DID. I never really think diagnoses much matter, because much of the work is the same. But something about this article really threw me--she talks about her "outer-me" and other parts who make up her "atmosphere." That nobody including her even knew what was up with her until she was in her late 40s. That she was/is highly functional in spite of it all. All of it sounded so familiar. She has names for her parts. Most of the time I don't even believe my parts are real. My therapist has encouraged me to name my parts. She's been in therapy for 15 years. She is writing a memoir.

I am totally confused. Sorry. Just wondering if anybody else read it and had reactions to it.

 

[joeylittle]

Link, for anyone who would like to read it:
Me, Me, Me and my Therapist

 

[Recovery4Me]

I think the writer is creative in wording and will make a bundle with the right marketing.(Well honestly, that is my reaction- not to discount her personalities). My sister only had two.

 

[Nam]

Oh, interesting article. I'm very interested how she came to discover all the other "selfs".

The part that resonated with me was the object permeance. I have a mild form of this. If you are not in my life, right in front of me, I tend to forget about that person. When my hubby goes on business trips, I rarely contact him because he's not here. When he returns, I just go about my business as if he never left. It's weird, I admit. Hubs is used to it. He is not offended if I don't respond or update on the kiddos. No news is good news.

 

[Hope4Now]

Thanks for posting the link @joeylittle

 

[Deleted member 1860]

No issues with the article, many issues with the ignorant comments! Some people need to sit down and shut up as they seem to find it impossible to believe something that they haven't personally experienced. I love how on these anonymous forums, doctors come forward and label themselves as "Dr" (in order to give themselves more clout) and then say asinine things like "animals have no benefit in therapy" Oh really? Then why do SO many people have therapy dogs?!?! Someone else says she's just a "whiny woman who hasn't grown up yet". Yeah, that guy's a real gem....must be nice to have a non trauma life! I think I'm most annoyed by the idea prevalent in many comments that if you're not the worst of the worst, then you are faking it. Yeah, been there, done that, and have been kicked out of programs b/c I didn't fit popular perception of what a mental patient should be! People seem to have no idea about the mind's power to compartmentalize so that we can just get through the day. SMH.

 

[mrsps]

I really enjoyed reading it. Wot a cool therapist Jeffery sounds like

 

[zeckster81]

My alters loved the article. The six of them never all agree on anything. Lol. I personally wish they would have started or ended it with some academic information for the negative commenters who knew nothing of what they were talking about could have read. In short my six parts are happy DID got some non negative press.

 

[Ellabella44]

thought it was interesting, i'd be curious how she found them as well. I found my youngest at the beach. sometimes very curious, but usually she is fearful. glad it was short, my head starts to hurt when I try to read about dissociating.

 

[Leigh925]

Thanks for bringing that article to my attention. I forwarded it to my therapist. I had to laugh about the travel plans. Been there...done that. Have the talk about object permanence a lot!

It can be extremely overwhelming to deal with dissociation to the point of parts but it enabled me to survive so for that I am grateful.

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

Forgive me, but I never read anything from The New York Times. They've been caught feigning articles, have a serious political viewsI don't like, and although I'm sure the story is intriguing, it doesn't even touch the surface of what we're all about.
If it triggered someone, I would doubt I would read it.

 

[Chava]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I don't have DID but I relate a lot to the object permanence stuff and it's sort of worked like this. Different "versions" of my self are met with pretty much the same continuity from my therapist. It helps SO MUCH to recognize this stuff of object permanence and be able to talk about it without worrying that you'll sound nuts (well, finding the right places to talk about it). If my therapist went sailing it would make perfect sense for some part of myself to be helped by a map, something tangible. I've told her it has felt a little different lately. When she was out for her own medical stuff, I told her it did not feel so much like she "disappeared" or I did.

This isn't like a DID hallmark, but more like the stuff of early trauma, found in early C-PTSD, BPD, and DID. She just has a clear "Wendy" where I have more like body-mind splits that always keep some part present (body is 2 yrs old but I feel aware and can remember what I've done...or feelings are very young but mind is watching this and still connected to one self). My dissociation is like a heavy bubble nothing can permeate but I can maintain memory. But she sounds aware...can you have DID and not have the issue of losing time or not being aware of what you were doing 10 minutes ago?

I was okay when my therapist was out for medical leave, I knew she was still "there" but also noticed I wanted to be sure she was okay....sort of forgetting about my self (did lots of this sort of subjugating when younger as a way to keep safe). So there's always been this weird problem of self...the world exists only from my point of view, or only from the other person's point of view, and the middle ground where we have some kind of combined reality and "relationship" is strange to me. Probably because I never firmly learned what that was like.