March 2023

Parts are created from trauma, not necessarily abuse

Pretty early on in my DID discovery journey, I realized that my handwriting was different depending on which part of me was writing. This was very useful information, as I had taken well-catalogued academic notes for years prior to starting therapy, so I had a solid bank of data of which I could look back on and see which parts of me were active at different times of my life.

autism DID mechanism narrative trauma

5 minutes

It’s not about identity

… it’s about childhood trauma. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) can be thought of as a coping mechanism one may develop when they experience repeated trauma in early childhood. It is arguably one of the most misunderstood and controversial mental health conditions, perhaps because it’s been repeatedly sensationalized in the media. Or, maybe because the name and clinical description of the disorder implies that it’s about having multiple identities or personality states.

DID identity mechanism

6 minutes