thecrystalsyst3m

[thecrystalsyst3m]

i wish that the OSDDID community spoke more about systems who don't always know who's fronting. we sometimes just leave our host as the fronter due to not knowing, and not bothering or having enough energy to figure it out.

there's pressure inside of the community, especially on discord, to always let people know who you are and what you are like.

it's isolating, knowing that we don't fit in even where we were promised that we would.

[thecrystalsyst3m]

DID things people seem to get wrong a lot:

1. It's extremely normal to have no idea who you are, especially the larger your system is. Most people with DID don't always have super clean-cut switches and influence is a thing.

2. A lot of systems have far more than the supposed 10-15 average number of parts.

3. DID isn't that rare; it's got a very similar prevalence rate to BPD and is about 3x as common as schizophrenia. It's underdiagnosed and frequently misdiagnosed as other things by inexperienced or ignorant clinicians.

4. Alters can't die. They can go dormant or fuse but it's impossible for a part of your mind to die.

5. It's extremely normal to have a headspace that isn't that vivid or detailed. Plenty of people can't fully access their headspace, and don't have realistic memories of being there as if it were a real place. For many it's a visualization.

6. Complex relationships between alters are very common, whether they're familial, friendships, or even romantic or sexual.

7. Not being able to remember trauma is basically half the point of the disorder, but it doesn't mean that trauma didn't happen to cause it. DID/OSDD is a medical condition that develops alongside PTSD, not a neurotype.

8. Not all alters will have a noticeably different way of speaking or behaving, particularly to someone on the outside. It's usually covert. Alters do not all have to be extremely different from each other and they usually share traits. They're all parts of the same brain.

9. Most systems do have child alters and it's not weird. The disorder develops during childhood, and parts of the mind get stuck there. "Littles" are not literal children and often do have knowledge and skills beyond the years of a real-life child of the same age.

10. Protectors aren't bulletproof. No matter how "scary" a protector can be, they're still a human person capable of being hurt and they shouldn't be expected to handle everything perfectly.

11. Persecutors aren't "bad" alters and trying to lock them away will only make things far worse.

12. Many systems have more than one host throughout their lives and/or co-hosts. There is also no "core" person who's real while the other alters are made up personalities. "Host" is just a term for the alter who fronts most often.

13. If a system is autistic or has ADHD etc then every alter has it. Things that are structural differences within the brain affect the whole system and can't be contained in one alter, it just may be more obvious/symptomatic for specific alters than others. Personality disorders and other mental illnesses are a blurry line here.

14. Switching is often not obvious nor dramatic. Many systems can switch quickly and fluidly, and no one on the outside would notice. The system themselves may not even notice let alone remember all of their switches. Also, there doesn't need to be a huge trigger to cause a switch. It can happen naturally for all kinds of reasons and most of them are super mundane.

15. Alters confusing themselves for other alters is a thing that happens.

16. Even DID (as opposed to OSDD1B) systems usually don't have complete amnesia between parts all the time. Alters can usually communicate and share memory to some degree, otherwise it would be too overt. But also, many systems don't realize the extent of their amnesia as it hides itself well; they won't even notice nor remember what they forgot.

17. Introjects and non-human alters are a common phenomenon. It's not weird. This does not mean that they're delusional as most know they are not literally that person/thing.

18. Most people with DID don't find out until they're well into adulthood. This doesn't mean some can't figure it out sooner, but since it's usually a covert disorder it tends to be hidden from even the person themselves.

19. DID is not multiple personalities, it's fragmented parts of a single personality.

20. If you have to ask if something is "normal" in DID, or whether someone's faking for some reason the answer is probably that DID is a disorder with very diverse presentation depending on the person. Don't assume.

[thecrystalsyst3m]

If anyone has any types of questions about any part of my identity(Josh or any of the other alters even) feel free to ask, just do it respectfully

[thecrystalsyst3m]

Name: Evony

Doesn't really have a role

Age: 16

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: They/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: Very emo and depressed,actually quite kind, usually quiet but may randomly pop in off and on

Name: Birch

Role: Internal Self Helper

Age: 20

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: They/then, sometimes he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: Loves nature, very intelligent, kind hearted, usually ends up being tired

Hi! We're the Crystal System, the body is 16 and we're at about nine alters but since we are so new, they are quickly appearing randomly lol. Our main blog is @im-just-trying-to-get-bi

Also big trigger warning for knife and blood!

Name: Josh

Role: Host

Age: 16

Gender: genderfaun

Pronouns: he/him, they/them and other pairs that are in my pinned post

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: demiromantic demibisexual

Extra: polyamorous, in five relationships, other stuff is on main blogs pinned post

Name: Dahlia

No known role

Age: 12-13

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: they/them, she/her

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: the twin of Aster, loves makeup, very creative, one of the happier alters in our system

Name: Aster

No known role

Age: 12-13

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: they/them, he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Polysexual

Extra: Dahlia's twin, very artistic, loves painting, very creative, let's Dahlia do makeup on them, also one of the happier alters, has a stutter

Name: Kalek

Role: Most likely the persecutor

Age: Ageless

Gender: Unknown

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Unknown

Extra: He's a real fucking ass hat, we try to not let him front, he is very violent and aggressive, non-human, we all hate him

Name: Kyper

Role: Protector and Caregiver

Age: 19-20

Gender: Transgender

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Gay

Extra: he takes care of the littles, he's very sweet, not entirely human, is always very worried, also keep an eye on the rest of us besides Kalek

Name: Kylex

Role: Trauma holder

Age: 18

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: they/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Demisexual and Demiromantic

Extra: Usually pretty depressed, doesn't talk a huge amount, is relatively quiet, but steps forward when needed

Name: Davin

Does not technically have a role

Age: 17

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: They/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: is basically the horniest alter of the system, but doesn't front super duper often, is surprisingly sweet and kind hearted

Name: C

Doesn't necessarily have a role

Age: 18

Gender: Male(read extra for more of an explanation)

Pronouns: He/him or She/her(read extra for more explanation)

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Gay

Extra: C basically is just an alter that kind of holds a lot of the femininity we have, is a drag queen, pronouns depend on if in drag or not, isn't the only source of femininity/doesn't hold it all, Josh is also quite feminine himself

The littles:

Before we introduce them, we feel safe to do so because they rarely ever front, they are usually taken care of by Kyper, or if he's needed, by the twins. On the rarity one of both of them front, Kyper or one of the twins is usually co-fronting to watch them

Name: Skyler

Role: Little

Age: won't share publicly

Gender: demigirl

Pronouns: she/her, they/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: we believe she is lesbian/that's what she calls herself

Extra: Loves the color purple, she is very sweet and goofy

Name: Shylo

Role: a little

Age: won't publicly share

Gender: genderfluid

Pronouns: she/her, they/them, he/him, pronouns will vary but we don't make her worry about them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: we believe their abrosexual/thats what they call themselves

Extra: is very playful and colorful, super sweet, has vitiligo

[thecrystalsyst3m]

Alters: Who Am I?

Oftentimes with DID/OSDD, it can be difficult to tell who you are. Our system kind of has a list of questions we go through, and I thought I might post them to see if anyone else finds them useful. I’ve added some too.

Do I have an accent/speak a different language? If so, what kind?

What gender feeling do I have (masculine, feminine, androgynous)?

What pronouns do I use?

What age do I feel like (adult, middle, little)?

Am I an extrovert or introvert?

What main emotion am I feeling or goal do I have?

What music do I like?

What’s my favorite color?

How long/what style of hair do I have in innerworld?

Do I feel shorter, taller, or around the same height as the body?

Do I have any pseudomemories? If so, what are they?

Do I seem more like an ANP or EP?

Do I feel non-human in any way? If so, what do I feel about me is not human (wings, horns, etc.)?

What hand do I write with easier?

Do I need glasses?

Am I having any functioning issues (motor, vocal, etc.)?

[Insert things specific to one or a few alters in your system that others don’t experience or do.]

Please feel free to add on with other questions you might use to help yourself distinguish who you are, as this is not an exhaustive list!

[thecrystalsyst3m]

What is DID/OSDD?

DID is dissociation

DID is never being in the moment

DID is seeing life through a fog

DID is feeling like you’re living life in third person

DID is living life in a dream where reality doesn’t even feel real

DID is feeling so disconnected from your body, like it’s not yours

DID is confusion and fear when you look in the mirror

DID is amnesia

DID is not knowing half your life

DID is questioning every picture thinking how could that be me?

DID is thinking you’ve slept through the day, missing important events and deadlines

DID is not knowing what you did today, or even five minutes ago

DID is forgetting who you are, your name, birthday, address, what you like

DID is being bewildered about what life you’ve lived and what life you haven’t

DID is alters

DID is never knowing who you are, just that you’re “you”

DID is confusion about your identity, in a million different ways

DID is not having control over what you do or what you did

DID is never being alone yet still feeling incredibly lonely

DID is denial

DID is questioning if you had trauma

DID is questioning if it was bad enough

DID is questioning if your own memories are hiding something from you

DID is wanting to know what’s hiding but being terrified of the answer

DID is spiraling into doubt because you must be fake, this isn’t real

DID is locking yourself out from spaces and people who could help because of this fear

DID is being worried you actually don’t have it, but just as worried that you do

DID is trauma

DID is having been through so much and wondering if it will ever stop

DID is hating yourself and treating yourself like trash because you were taught to believe it’s what you deserve

DID is having no one to turn to for support

DID is wishing there was someone who would give you unconditional love

DID is never feeling safe

DID is falling into another trauma right after getting out

DID is convos between alters and inside jokes and taking a break from life sometimes or getting to be the happy version of you that never got to exist growing up

DID is terrifying, horrible, sad and angry and hating, confusing, stuck in the bad parts of life you’ve always had to deal with and never knowing anything about anything

DID is meeting others with OSDDID and crying, because oh my god, there is finally someone out there I can talk to, someone who understands what I’m going through

DID is being grateful for this community, even if there are some cracks or flaws, because for once, you don’t feel so alone

[thecrystalsyst3m]

Hi! We're the Crystal System, the body is 16 and we're at about nine alters but since we are so new, they are quickly appearing randomly lol. Our main blog is @im-just-trying-to-get-bi

Also big trigger warning for knife and blood!

Name: Josh

Role: Host

Age: 16

Gender: genderfaun

Pronouns: he/him, they/them and other pairs that are in my pinned post

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: demiromantic demibisexual

Extra: polyamorous, in five relationships, other stuff is on main blogs pinned post

Name: Dahlia

No known role

Age: 12-13

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: they/them, she/her

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: the twin of Aster, loves makeup, very creative, one of the happier alters in our system

Name: Aster

No known role

Age: 12-13

Gender: Non-binary

Pronouns: they/them, he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Polysexual

Extra: Dahlia's twin, very artistic, loves painting, very creative, let's Dahlia do makeup on them, also one of the happier alters, has a stutter

Name: Kalek

Role: Most likely the persecutor

Age: Ageless

Gender: Unknown

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Unknown

Extra: He's a real fucking ass hat, we try to not let him front, he is very violent and aggressive, non-human, we all hate him

Name: Kyper

Role: Protector and Caregiver

Age: 19-20

Gender: Transgender

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Gay

Extra: he takes care of the littles, he's very sweet, not entirely human, is always very worried, also keep an eye on the rest of us besides Kalek

Name: Kylex

Role: Trauma holder

Age: 18

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: they/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Demisexual and Demiromantic

Extra: Usually pretty depressed, doesn't talk a huge amount, is relatively quiet, but steps forward when needed

Name: Davin

Does not technically have a role

Age: 17

Gender: Agender

Pronouns: They/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Pansexual

Extra: is basically the horniest alter of the system, but doesn't front super duper often, is surprisingly sweet and kind hearted

Name: C

Doesn't necessarily have a role

Age: 18

Gender: Male(read extra for more of an explanation)

Pronouns: He/him or She/her(read extra for more explanation)

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: Gay

Extra: C basically is just an alter that kind of holds a lot of the femininity we have, is a drag queen, pronouns depend on if in drag or not, isn't the only source of femininity/doesn't hold it all, Josh is also quite feminine himself

The littles:

Before we introduce them, we feel safe to do so because they rarely ever front, they are usually taken care of by Kyper, or if he's needed, by the twins. On the rarity one of both of them front, Kyper or one of the twins is usually co-fronting to watch them

Name: Skyler

Role: Little

Age: won't share publicly

Gender: demigirl

Pronouns: she/her, they/them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: we believe she is lesbian/that's what she calls herself

Extra: Loves the color purple, she is very sweet and goofy

Name: Shylo

Role: a little

Age: won't publicly share

Gender: genderfluid

Pronouns: she/her, they/them, he/him, pronouns will vary but we don't make her worry about them

Sexuality and/or romantic preference: we believe their abrosexual/thats what they call themselves

Extra: is very playful and colorful, super sweet, has vitiligo

#tw knife #tw blood