The Alters. (Purinz)

What is Dissociative Identity Disorder ?

It is recommended to read this section to better understand some terms and situations that will not be deeply explained in the plot to avoid making the story too heavy. Therefore, all the information is provided here.

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is characterized by the presence of two or more personalities.

Each one may have a name, a history, and its own personal characteristics.

Each personality is different, and each has a distinct sense of "self." In their mind, each personality creates a mental image of their physical appearance, their gender, sexual identity, sexual orientation, height, skin color, hair color, or eye color, which is often very different from the physical body they inhabit.

It has been scientifically proven that depending on the personality, sections of the brain can either activate or inhibit. Thus, one personality might have a disability (such as deafness, blindness, muteness...), and each one may have a different control over the body, changing aspects like posture, voice tone, and body movement.

There are characteristics similar to anxiety, depression, Borderline Personality Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and self-harm.

The most common traits include: • Insecure emotional bonds, mistrust, and dependence on others. • Major memory gaps, amnesia. • Panic or anxiety disorders. • Flashbacks that strongly trigger the personality. • Frequent changes between personalities/"Alters."

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) (previously known as multiple personality disorder) often develops as a reaction to a traumatic situation, allowing a person to avoid bad memories by depositing them in "another self."

It is important to note that a person with DID does not consider themselves a single entity but rather as multiple, as a system. Whether they have only two personalities or 34, they all form the entirety of the system. There is no "original" or "owner" of the system.

For example, if a glass breaks into different pieces, which is the original? None, and all at the same time. Each piece is individual and together they form the whole.

DID develops before the ages of 7 to 9, when a child's mind, specifically the psychic apparatus, must react to various traumatic, anxiety-inducing situations that it cannot process. Believing it cannot survive the situation, the mind creates a person to free them from it. This person takes on the role of enduring the trauma so the child doesn't suffer, creating a wall of amnesia between them, separating the memories of the child and this "new person."

In this way, the child creates a psychological mechanism where, with each situation that causes stress, a new personality is created to deal with it. Each personality will carry a different memory, experience, or trauma, sometimes more severe than others.

Another important point to highlight is that the personalities created by the child stem from the child's own mind. They have unconscious values and symbolic meanings unique to the child.

For example, if a little girl is sexually abused, she might think that if she were a boy, this wouldn't happen, or if she were a boy, she could protect herself. This way, she creates a male personality to defend her.

Due to the complexity of multiple personalities within one body, the system organizes itself into an Internal World, where all the personalities coexist, much like a family living together in a house.

These new personalities are called "Alters" (short for "Alternate Identity State") and can have different functions and roles. Starting with:

The Host: This is the personality that is in charge of the body most of the time and makes most of the decisions for the system. This personality usually doesn't remember any trauma; the other personalities protect it from experiencing anything that could cause unhappiness. Normally, the Host is unaware that other personalities exist or that they suffer from a disorder.