General He Became Someone Else... Literally.

[Slynn]

I have been pouring through the forums looking for an answer to this, and have yet to find one... maybe someone could help me out?

I highly doubt my sufferer has split personality, but from a lifetime of abuse I guess its not impossible... This has only happened once so far.

I was on a night shift after having been away for the weekend, and we were talking online via facebook. He was very agitated, and was having flashbacks which has recently gotten to real, and almost permanent. He sees, hears and feels the men from his past in the room, doing things to him almost constantly. He is normally very good at fighting it, but this time, with all the stress of me being away, and spending another night alone, he couldn't fight it any longer, and started believing that the men were actually in the room. He told me he was sitting on one of their laps, and "he" started correcting my partner's poor typing. When I would not believe that there was anyone but my partner in the room this man took over. It wasnt my partner typing anymore, it was this man. "He" told me to do things, spoke in a way my partner never would. It was terrifying. I won't go into the details, but my partner became another person. This "man" even carved 'tranny' into my partner stomach. Something my partner would never do.

Has anyone ever experienced this with their sufferer? I know him reverting to a younger self is normal, and it happens often (which is in itself scary and VERY hard to deal with), but this is something else.

 

[Abstract]

Hi slynn,

I am sorry that both of you find yourself in this awful situation. It sounds frightening for you both. As far as I know it is possible and not that unusual for someone with DID to have an introjected version of someone who has hurt them as a part. I think many of us without DID have very dilute forms of the same thing. Maybe calling ourselves names we have been called in the past for example.

DID is like having all the parts we all normally have but with divisions between them that are complete. DID is very rare but if he had very early severe abuse then it is possible. it might be worthwhile to look up the signs and start to see if he shows many of them and also to get permission for you to tell his T what happened.

I am no expert so please take this from where it comes. I just ended up finding out more along the way with gaining more clarity about my own dissociation and interacting with one or two people who do have genuine DID.

 

[Abstract]

I just wanted to add to not be afraid if he does turn out to have DID. Also differences between parts are often subtle. It is something that can be helped although it takes time to do so.

 

[Slynn]

Thanks for the kind words Abs, but honestly if he does have DID he is better off dead. He says it, and I believe it. He is transgender, and DID is one of the things that prohibits people from medically transitioning. If he cannot medically transition, for him there is no point in life. While he may be able to come to terms with it, it is very VERY unlikely. I am hoping that it was just a once off things, caused by extreme stress and that it wont happen again. If it does he will certainly not admit it to anyone.

 

[Abstract]

Oh my goodness. I am sorry. He certainly has a lot on his plate. And so do you. I can see why they would exclude him if he was DID as I imagine it is possible for the person to transition and then find that they no longer want to. In that case he would struggle to deal with that when the time came.

Maybe it is some version of a flashback although it certainly isn't anything I identify with personally. Maybe it is literally as I said a version of the introjected stuff we all have to some extent if we have experienced abuse. And that him being in a flashback intensified it. Tricky.

 

[Mrs. T]

Wow, That's tough. My husband is going through something similar, yet very different. I wanted to comment because I am seeking answers and when I asked his Psychiatrist what he thought, he refused to answer my question.

My husband sees and hears people, and has a difficult time determining what's real and what's not. He has "worked" for people who don't exist, he has brought our car to a "mechanic" who doesn't exist, he has even gone to a hospital (that doesn't exist) to get his heart tested. He too was abused from a young age.

He has been unable to explain in too much detail about the people he sees. I do believe there are abusers from his past. He says he has been seeing people and hearing people since he was a kid. I think that throughout his life, he has "picked up" new people/hallucinations along the way. They laugh at him and feed him all kinds of lies. They tell him to hurt himself, which he has responded to in the past. One part that scares him though, is that some of his hallucinations have turned out to be actual people that he met for the "first time" at a later date.

He has memory loss. possibly to do with hallucinations or maybe dissociation. But when he goes through these times that he later forgets, he functions "normal" (as far as I know, as I have no clue if I have ever witnessed these times). He has made phone calls and had conversations with people that he later knows nothing about.

I hope things have gotten easier for you since you posted this. That all sounds scary