March 5th is Dissociative Identities Awareness Day,
or DID Awareness Day.
Either way you call it, March 5th is a day that meant to increase awareness of what is officially called Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Of course, we used to use the term Multiple Personality Disorder.
And nowadays, many survivors prefer the term: Dissociative Identities. Leave off the disorder part, thank you very much.
I’ve heard the term Dissociative Identity Gift for awhile now. That at least gives a positive context to what was an amazing ability to survive the unthinkable.
Research has shown that up to 3% of the general population have Dissociative Identities.
Think about that for a second. The world population is currently 7.8 billion people. Three percent of nearly 8 billion people…. Wow. Do the math. That adds up to being a lot of people with DID! Not only “a lot”. That math means millions of people have DID. Millions!
This means that DID is not rare. It’s not unusual. It is true that DID is still misunderstood and not recognized or diagnosed sufficiently, but there are certainly many, many dissociative trauma survivors living in our world today. And hello hello to all of you out there!
No one with DID needs to be left feeling alone anymore.
You are NOT alone with your battles.
There are people who understand.
There are helpful resources for you.
You survived the trauma on your own, yes, of course. You were strong. You were amazing. You were absolutely courageous, even in the midst of the worst possible situations. I think you are awesome for being so creative and incredible. I do understand some of the horrors you’ve survived, I hear your pain, and my heart goes out to you. I am so so deeply sorry you were hurt as badly as you were. I wish that someone — anyone — would have prevented you from going through so much anguish, so much torture, so much heartbreak.
You did not deserve that. It is, and was not right that anyone hurt you. It is, and was not okay that you were left alone or abandoned. It is, and was not okay that you were wounded and betrayed on so many levels. None of that should have happened to you, and it was not your fault. It was not your little ones’ fault. You did nothing to justify the vicious crimes that were forced upon you. You are NOT bad just because someone else was bad TO you.
The fact that you survived all that, means you were more than amazing. You have developed incredible super powers, enormous strength, incredible creativity.
I couldn’t help you then, but I can help you now.
The good news I can offer you now, is that you don’t have to be alone as you go through the healing process. I couldn’t stop the trauma that you survived, but by golly, we can be here to help you NOW. You don’t have to be alone in your pain anymore.
Where can you go for help and support?
There are so many helpful resources and helpful places for dissociative systems to go for comfort, for understanding, for support, for help, for information. A quick Google search will pull up hundreds of different options.
And yes, of course, here at Discussing Dissociation, we have options for you as well. In addition to the 400+ articles of information, the free eBook, “101+ Ways to See DID”, let me list out a few helpful, and specialized resources developed for people with Dissociative Identities found right here at Discussing Dissociation.
Discussing Dissociation Community Forum
Discussing Dissociation Educational Forum
Discussing Dissociation Conference in Phoenix Arizona, Aug 2020
Discussing Dissociation Community Forum
DDCF is our community peer support forum. It’s a fantastic group of dissociative trauma survivors, having very genuine, very real conversations about living multi-faceted lives with lots of inside parts. The privacy features of this forum allows the DDCF members to have honest, and supportive conversations with each other, kept safely away from the public view.
Discussing Dissociation Educational Forum
DDEF is our newest forum addition. Right now, the Educational Forum is available only for members of the Community Forum. The Educational Forum has that emphasis — to teach more about DID, and to answer questions that dissociative survivors have, to share an informed understanding of what happens during the DID treatment process, and to explore how to get past barriers or roadblocks in the treatment process. Both Laura and myself participate in this forum, and we share our years of experience with the DDEF members.
Discussing Dissociation Conference in Phoenix Arizona, Aug 2020
More details about the Phoenix Conference are about to be released, so check this space soon. What are you doing August 28-30, 2020? We will be teaching mental health professionals about the dissociative therapy process and the effects of trauma for one full day. The second full day is a special workshop, specifically designed for dissociative trauma survivors. If you want to learn more about DID, either of both of these days will be a great opportunity for you.
What can you do to advocate for DID Awareness Day?
I encourage every single one of the dissociative folks that I know to do something today, on March 5, to advocate for Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Here are 10 suggestions.
- Do something kind and wonderful for your DID System today.
- Give your system members something to show your appreciation for each of them.
- Pick out your favorite article about DID and forward it through your social media to advocate to the public.
- Write your own thoughts and feelings about DID and send it out.
- Support a friend who is DID. Show them you care. That they matter.
- Tell someone in your local community about DID — teach them what dissociation is.
- Add your thoughts and comments to any Discussing Dissociation article.
- Make a video about DID and share what you know about DID to the world.
- Reach out to the dissociative community by supporting treatment resources.
- Post the Dissociative Identity Disorder Awareness Ribbon!
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/
Appreciate your inside people, be really kind to them, celebrate your AWESOMENESS, and I hope you have a REALLY good day today.
I wish you and your whole system the very, very best in your healing journey.
Warmly,
Kathy
Copyright © 2008-2020 Kathy Broady MSW and Discussing Dissociation
I always mess up this form. I will learn.
I am a senior citizen. One part of me thinks I am too old and too useless to work for. I was first diagnosed 30 years ago. I was hospitalized and when I was released I had continued with a therapist I had met before going into the hospital. She knew more about me than I did. So as much as I liked her
I never got to know a lot about myself. I had nothing to compare my feelings to. I had no one in my family I could talk to, even though I knew they knew what had happened. But I did not go forward. So here I am having the hardest time with depression and suicide desires. Just a month ago my family dr. said he did not believe DID existed, and my Psychistrist laughed when he heard my diagnosis. After those two encounters I decided if I wanted help I would have to learn all I could to help myself. Probably all along I should have been learning. But I was doing well and I never told anyone and just kept trying to live a life. I married, raised four children, worked a full time job. It was hard and lonely. Now I am old, I have never told friends about my history, and no one is around I can share with. I tried about 4 weeks ago to share with a friend and she thought I was telling a story. When I told my Dr about about the encounter, he laughed and said ” how did that go? Not well I said. My friend has not spoken to me since.
I have just started to read this site. My therapist challenged me to write something so here I am. I truly enjoy reading the articles and this one about depression and DID fits me to a tee.
I wish I had known that this kind of site existed, I would have joined and not lived so lonely all these years. Maybe a younger person will read this and reach out to others before it is too late.
Thank you for the chance to share my thoughts.
Cathy
Hello Cathy! We are glad you came here! I think a lot of us are in the “older” boat…..We just kept pushing through life …doing what NEEDED to be done and didn’t have the time or space to figure out WHY we were the way we were…..WHY we felt so different…..I have been in your situation a number of times….reaching out to someone I thought might be safe to “explain” me even a little bit – and then they shut down on me….That confused “lost” feeling is NOT fun in any stretch of the imagination….but still we keep hoping someone will “hear” us……We DO feel heard here – so THAT helps!….We don’t feel so much like a misfit here…….Glad you got “brave” and wrote what you did!…..
MissyMing
07/13/20
Hello MissyMing: Thank you for your reply. I never thought anyone would be in the same spot that I am in life.
We are having a very hot summer. I like sitting out in my backyard in the shade of our old maple tree Yesterday, while enjoying the weather, my neighbours were having a pool party. I was listening to the laughter and talking. I like listening to people talk to each other and share what they are doing in their life. Well all of a sudden a girl came over to my yard and asked about her bird? I was like what bird, there were many birds enjoying my tree. It turned out that she had come to pool party with her parrot. The parrot was just a baby and she had be showing it off and carrying it on her shoulder. The parrot had flown away because of all the people and the noise. Her mom and dad were with her and they had seen the parrot in the Maple tree. I invited them over and said they were welcome to look for the parrot and try to catch her. The name of the parrot was “Lulu”. Before long the girls’ father and the girl were climbing the tree. For such a young bird he had flown up to the top of the tree and it is a very big tree. But they could not attract its attention. I found them long pipes, and nets, and other things to help them.
After 3 hours the bird came close and then the daughter caught it, I found them a bag and Lula was safely trucked in the bag safe and sound but not too happy yet. They had also brought over her cage. Once back in her cage with water and food her family took her home very happy! It was nice to watch that family, calling Lulu, and saying they loved her and trying to get her to land on their arms or shoulder.. Such fun. They thanked us so much for helping them to get back their family pet. I hope they remember to keep her in her cage.
Do you have any pets? I have a cat named Sam. He is a big fluffy Maine Coon. And it is nice to cuddle with him and fall a’sleelp at night. I hope you are having a nice summer.
Cathy
I am SO glad that they got Lulu back! So glad that they had built such a bond with her that she was able to get past her fear and confusion enough to get back to safety – and you got to watch that! Sounds like you have an awesome yard to sit in! We don’t have any critters anymore – and I miss them terribly! We have had quite a number through the years – every one was very special to us! We have always dreamed of having a Maine Coon but it hasn’t happened YET….there is always hope that one day hubby will give in and let us have another….Sam sounds like a super awesome buddy….Our critters have always slept with us, too!
MissyMing
07/28/20
Thank you MissyMing for replying. I was excited that I saw a reply. It made me feel that somewhere out there is hope. Are you having a good summer? We are having a very hot summer. Last Saturday our neighbour was having a pool party. Lots of kids and lots of noise. I was sitting outside listening to the laughs and squeals as the kids were thrown into the pool by an adult. The laughing and splashing was fun to l isten to. I like to listen to people laughing and trying to be best.
After listening for a bit a young girl and her mother came over to my yard. In a few minutes her father came over. When they came to the party they had a young parrot and they were showing the bird around. The parrot’s name was Lulu. I guess with all the noise and splashing Loulu flew away from her shoulder. Lulu flew through the party, across a fence, then another, and then into my yard and landed at the top of a big maple tree in my yard. Then they came into my yard. They asked if they could look for their bird. I told them to go ahead. That was when her father came over to help. They looked all around the tree and saw Lullu. They were excited and kept calling to the bird, come here Lulu, land on me (and they would hold out there arms and hands to accept the bird. After quite a while of looking and calling the girl was up the tree, called the bird, caught it and held it in her hands. I got herr a bag and she put the bird in the bag and handed it down the tree to me. I took Lulu over to her cage and put her in the cage and shut the door. What a soft warm feeling that was to hold scared little Lulu.
While this family was looking for Lulu they kept saying, come Lulu, we love you, please come back. They were loving people. They helped clean up under the tree where branches had fallen,as they climbed all over the tree, and it is a very big tree.
As they left they were full of hugs and thank yous for us.It was a lovely afternoon finding Lulu. I think I will paint a picture of Lulu ad her family.
What a lovely afternoon.
I hope you are having a wonder summer and that with the summer you get a little rest and lots of sun beams to bring you joy.,
Cathy
I am glad you got to be a part of rescuing Lulu!…that is such a good feeling! We have tried to help critters, too, as best as we can…..finding ways to reach them – to connect with them – so they can understand we want them to be safe…it can be an interesting journey of trial and error til we get it!
Sooo – you can paint! How awesome! We can paint “in our head”… not so much on paper…. :)…Thank you for the “rest and lots of sun beams”! They sound awesome!
Don’t worry about “messing up”! We don’t always get it right either!
MissyMing
07/28/20
Wow … there is day devoted to DID awareness! I really love the fact that the first two items on your list of suggestions Kathy are ones devoted to showing our insiders kindness and appreciation. Understanding and awareness does start with us and our insiders. From there we can grow our dedication to teaching the folks in our face-to-face world what DID really is all about by not being afraid to speak up and out. My gut feeling has always been that society does not want to recognize DID because it does not want to acknowledge its shameful neglect of child abuse.
I just want to give a shout out here to the memory of one of our great ones who we lost — All the Jill People/Participating Parts. She so courageously put herself out there to teach the world about DID and I will always carry a deep respect and debt of gratitude in my heart for her.