It is so fucking funny to see singlets go 'God it felt like I was someone else back there' and you just sitting there with the occasionally someone else disorder like 'Ah yes. No clue what that feels like'
Being a caregiver, I realized that one of the best ways to help somebody without freaking them out even more is by rephrasing your questions and offerings in a way that would give them the choice to choose. It should he obvious that when you ask, for example, "Can I give you a hug?" you are offering a choice, but that's not the case for people who are freaking out or blacking out. It's way better to ask, "Would you like me to give you a hug?" or "Do you want a hug?" instead.
Same with:
⛔️ Can I hold your hand? | ✅️ Do you want to hold my hand?/Do you want me to hold your hand?
⛔️ How can I help? | ✅️ What would you like me to do to help?
⛔️ Can I do X? | ✅️ Do you want me to do X?/Would you be okay if I did X?
⛔️ Can I see? | ✅️ Am I allowed to see?
The more you state it in the sentence that it's in the person's abilities to turn you down, the better. First sentence matters. People who are actively freaking out or blacked out would not care for a long and complicated explanation as to why you said what you said. They most likely can barely hear anything at the moment. And can barely understand anything that's happening around them.
Systems about littles: 🥺they are small🥺they snouldn't be allowed to drink, smoke or go to internet🥺they are so weak🥺can't hurt anyone🥺
And real littles that we've seen: persecuters, most powerfull phisical and emotional protectors, angry traumaholders, literally ready to fight God or become him, uncontrollable pieces of shit
Weak small and cute littes exist, but let every system have their own experience
polyfrag culture is being like "i genuinely dont understand how my life was so bad i developed polyfrag DID" and your friend who youve told practically all the trauma youre currently aware of looks at you in horror
One thing I don't see talked about in the media is how comorbid disorders work with each other. Because they can both make each other worse and better.
We have comorbid BPD (borderline personality disorder) and PPD (paranoid personality disorder), and they very often "work together," so to speak. One starts going on about abandonment, the other backs it up by reminding us that we can never trust anybody, and how can we really know if people aren't doing something behind our back? (And yes, I am talking about them like they are toddler friends)
But just as much as they are working together in their usual destructive manner, they also, surprisingly, calm each other down.
BPD is mirroring other people's behaviors. If the behavior of another person is stable, then we are stable ourselves. If we genuinely see people loving us and communicating with us, being open about their emotions, solving arguments and problems in a healthy, calm, adult-like way, and handling our splits and episodes in a loving way (@the-soup-system), our BPD calms down and goes: "Hm. Maybe they won't abandon us, and maybe they do actually love us! Also, they're so stable, I don't have to walk on eggshells around them. So I'm stable!" And PPD, looking at BPD (metaphorical look), even if it starts going, "but we don't know if it's actually like that!" calms down with our BPD. If there is no reason for abandonment, and if we're stable in mood, then maybe there's no reason to suspect anything else. And vice versa. Both BPD and PPD respond well to other people being open, honest, calm, and loving. So if one has no reason to suspect or fear anything, the other one automatically wouldn't, too.
Some other disorders we have that are comorbid with each other, like OCD and a few others, also work with each other well. Oftentimes, we actually use OCD to calm our other disorders down because if OCD is calm, then others will also slowly calm down with it. The way we do it is by playing organizing games, which we downloaded specifically to calm ourselves down. Just OCD going off? Organizing games that would help it. For autism, those games are patterns. OCD and anxiety disorders are very much comorbid, so these games calm down our anxiety, too.
What I'm saying is, I think the second we started treating disorders like they are a bunch of toddlers who just need to be heard, we figured out who they metaphorically look up to and follow. Comorbid disorders are connected one way or another, and by calming one down, there is a good chance the other one will calm down, too. It's almost the same thing as looking at healthy coping mechanisms and needs for both disorders, but I kinda put it in a different perspective. Obviously, personality disorders or just disorders don't actually follow anybody, but they act like they do, and they affect who you are as a person. When you start working with them, what they need to be is heard and reassured. They have their own needs.
And now realize that I described them as different people who you need to take care of, but all of them are actually you, however many personalities you have. It's you who needs to be heard and reassured, it's you who has your needs.
I suppose the moral of this post is that you don't have to calm every disorder down individually, and their comorbidity might help you more than destroy you. And if you have trouble understanding how to deal with them and help them, imagine them as separate people, preferably toddlers or children, with a desire to be heard, reassured, and for their needs to be met.
haven't been posting very much on here because everything I want to say is too revealing so here's a reminder to tbmc survivors: don't tell people your cues and triggers. don't tell people about your system structure. don't even tell people your parts' roles unless you really really trust them. doing these things will actively put you in danger. stay safe and drink some water <3
There is no such thing as the "perfect system." Your brain developed this disorder in the best way it saw fit to help you survive. As such, your system structure and the way it functions is specific to you, the trauma you underwent, and the way you reacted to it.
You might have more nonhuman alters than other systems, or you might form introjects easier. You might have hundreds of fragments, or you might have none. You might have 2 alters, you might have 10, or you might have hundreds.
Your system is catered towards your specific needs. While we all share symptoms and aspects in common, our systems are unique to us. What that means differs from person to person. Some might have hundreds of introjects, and some might have none. Both system were needed for their body's survival.
Your system is valid as it is, even if others try to tell you otherwise. What your system "should" be like is exactly how it already is because it's your system, and it was made to help you survive.