Adventuretimefantic's longer updates

How do you know if you're a system?

Ah yes, the big question. I've actually been asked this a few times, so it's about time I actually make a post about it. So to everyone that's asked in the past and recently, here's a much much bigger answer more detailed answer.

Now obviously, I am not a psychiatrist. I can't diagnose anyone. But I AM a system. So like,,, I have some weight in this conversation here.

Let me make this crystal clear. NO two systems are the same. There are medically diagnosed systems who don't fit the DSM-5 criteria for diagnosis because they've healed to the point of functionality. They are still a system, just no longer fit the diagnostic criteria. So no, a diagnosis isn't the only determining factor. People go decades living as a system before they get diagnosed. It's not like you magically gain all the symptoms the day you get diagnosed. You get diagnosed because you show symptoms FIRST. While diagnosis definitely helps because it can get you access to specialised therapy and accommodations, in some cases disability aid, it's not a necessity.

I also want to mention there's different types of systems. DID and OSDD are both system related disorders with lots of similarities, but are not the same thing. Other disorders can impact the way a system operates too, making some symptoms vastly different to a system without that co morbid disorder. So I'm going to go over some of the most common types of systems first.

Dissociative systems, also known as traumagenic.
So DID and OSDD basically. They are disorders, that involve disassociation and stem from childhood trauma. In the easiest terms possible, when the undeveloped child brain experiences a trauma that interrupts their usual development, the brain puts up barriers. These barriers of amnesia and disassociation are what cause alters. Like the brain is sectioning off certain areas of itself for a particular alter to function in. This is why some alters have different senses of taste, different emotional reactions and different handwriting and speech patterns. They're operating from a different part of the brain from other alters. You can actually see different parts of the brain light up on a CAT scan when switches occur. Amnesia can range from grey-out (e.g. knowing something happened but not remembering it happening, forgetting things soon after they happened) to black-out (suddenly waking up in an entirely new place not knowing how or when you got there, entire years of your life missing form your memory).
You may be a dissociative system if you:
-have large gaps in your memory.
-experience time loss. (E.g. sitting down to do one task at 2pm, spacing out and suddenly it's 3am and you don't remember what you were doing)
-don't remember buying things, going certain places, where you put things, why you're doing something etc.
-hear voices or feel presences around you (note: if you have very high amnesia levels, you may not experience this until those levels lower and the barriers between alters get smaller). While this can also be sign of psychosis, when it's paired with the rest of symptoms of plurality, it's more likely to be alters talking/being close to front.
-dissociate for long periods.
-don't recognise yourself looking in the mirror or down at your body.
-feel like you're dreaming/are not real/ are watching yourself from an outsiders perspective.
-having different accents or speech patterns, handwriting, art styles etc out of nowhere.
-can't remember traumatic events you know happened. (E.g. you know your house burnt down because you're literally looking at the ashes, but can't remember the fire happening)
-feel like you're in auto pilot/ have no control over your body
-have a vivid "daydream" world with characters and environments. (Note: Maladaptive Daydream Disorder is its own thing, which can also cause these vivid worlds. But when it's paired with all the other symptoms, it's likely that the world is actually a headspace, and the characters are actually alters)
-have moments where you feel like you're being possessed by another person, you aren't fully yourself, you 'become someone else' including characters, irl people you know, celebrities, religious figures, mythical creatures, animals etc.
-have thoughts that aren't yours (e.g. the thought 'I'm craving chips' crossing your mind when you don't like chips at all)
-suddenly experiencing gender dysphoria/body dysmorphia, then it goes away. This could be another alter with a different gender/appearance to the body. Applies to sexuality too. If you're gay but suddenly have a straight feeling it could be another alter nearby that is straight.
-having random names and 'characters' appearing in your mind for seemingly no reason.
-you find notes left in your phone/around the house you don't remember writing.
-you find chores you thought you hadn't done yet already finished.