DID D i d safety question

[JEKBreatheandBelieve]

@Muse, I don't take a lot of meds, but I do find some of them helpful. I can get sleep and that's important. I used to be really against them and I would still like to be off of them, but for now they help. The hard part is dealing with the dissociation that leads to dangerous activities.

 

[BuckarooBanzai]

Other than the highly responsible steps you've already taken (kudos!), I'd talk to the alter. If you don't have a relationship with this alter yet, you can still talk aloud to him/her about what happened, the dangers involved, and better ways to cope than self-injury.

Usually, when I don't know the alter, I assume he/she is a child, and so I speak and explain things aloud in an age-appropriate manner.

I do this even if the alter doesn't respond. An alter will hear you if you speak. He/she might not respond, but that doesn't mean you haven't made positive contact. Keep trying.

 

[Muttly]

We have a part who has had a lot of suicidal thoughts and at times has attempted. we've always been able to stop that part. before we had good communication going and understood that part better it was very frightening. I keep trying to answer this but it's hard, because I guess I don't have all the memories of that time. That one did hide/hoarded pills for a time.

One of the things that really helped was when a friend who had DID (met them through a support group) started talking to us about consent. We were self-harming a lot then too. So, our friend was talking to us about how, when some of us harmed the body, we were doing something against the consent of some of the others. How none of us would ever do something that would impact a different person's body without consent. I know that suicidal part heard that and while change wasn't immediate or huge, it did begin to happen. Eventually some of the littles started speaking about how scary and painful the suicidal and self-harm stuff was and that also began to make an impact on that part.

That didn't solve it, but it made a huge increase in safety. The harder work is what we are doing now (yuck). We are having to understand now, what that part is going through. How desperate and hurt that part is and how it has an incredibly hard job. Sie really needs help I guess, but none of us are ready to do that yet.

This same friend says that dealing with DID is about communication, cooperation and.... oh drat, there is a third C.

 

[Deleted member 37343]

Although I don't have an alter, I will sometimes go back and forth between my younger/past self and my present self. Have you ever tried, like the other said, leaving messages or notes for the other? I sometimes take video of myself talking to my younger/past self mindset saying things like, "Hey I don't know what you're going to do but so and so is your friend. Be nice to them, at least for me. I won't appreciate it and I'll slap you if you do something." or, "By the way, this person is coming over. Their name is ---" "Please be nice to my body today I really don't want to have to clean up after you. We share the same body so whatever harm you may do to yourself, you'll have to deal with it too."

I also suggest speaking with your spouse about how your alter acts, have him take video footage(hiding it from alter) so you can get a sense of actions, behavior, and guess at thinking process the alter maybe have.

Again, I'm sorry if this does not help since I personally do not have the same struggles but I hope someone else may be able to offer some useful information!

 

[Ronin]

This same friend says that dealing with DID is about communication, cooperation and.... oh drat, there is a third C.

When in doubt, I try to add compassion.

Usually fitting in ;)

 

[BuckarooBanzai]

Keys: Communication, cooperation, and compassion.

 

[WhisperingUnicorn]

Additional keys: Patience, HONESTY (critical for EACH part to the best of each's ability), agreement about protecting/championing self-health (even if ideas re "how" differ), commitment to have "do no harm" as Rule #1 for all parts ..