Multiplicity - Tumblr Posts - Page 2

Someone in our system made a userbox, I feel like this is one worth sharing for anyone who would find it useful. Enjoy. Feel free to use it.

We have complicated opinions on syscourse lol.

*Talking with therapist*

"...Who's fronting? shit's all foggy and I keep feeling interruptions"

*noise*

"..guys.."

*more hubbub*

"fine, write your names down"

*gets six names*

"awesome"

[perks of being a protector]

"He goes through mitosis every few weeks"

This was one of our friends completely unrelated to multiplicity, but I think it fits way too well

Lying to keep your system safe.

I've lied to multiple agencies stating we have OSDD rather than DID.

Our local support agents, especially financial ones, tend to label DID as clinically insane and unsafe; we say we have DID and people often make up their minds based on inaccurate and outdated stereotypes. We don't waste our breath advocating for ourselves when we will only meet someone once or twice and opinion is already set in stone based on a three letter acronym.

Our psychologist encourages us to do so. He's written letters on my behalf with the same set of information/symptoms/reccomendations, but saying OSDD & PTSD rather than DID & PTSD. The slight seperation in social perception between 'this person has multiple personalities' and 'this person has periods of disassociation and these other symptoms' is often enough to prevent stigma filled responses.

Other situations where lying or changing details may be wise

If a stranger is being overly pushy regarding your system information especially if they are targeting vulnerable alters.

Online - often avoiding posting full alter counts or details that may trigger others (positive or negative) to front is wise, especially on public forums like Reddit and Tumblr

As many of you know, we use psyudeonums to avoid any links being drawn between our online presence and our private life. Singlets use psyudeonums, as can systems/individual alters.

Stating system origin and syscourse stances can, and unfortunately often, leads to harassment and unfair treatment from all sides of the conversation. Sometimes it's safer not to state it.

If someone is making you uncomfortable with questions; you are well within your right to block them. Minors especially, if your gut says no, listen.

You don't owe the world your system's information, and omitting the truth can be the safest way to keep that private. Hell, we can count on a hand how many people know we are a system in our personal life.- let alone anything more detailed.

In an ideal world, no system would have to do that.

We aren't in an ideal world.

So I leave you with this: sometimes it's okay to lie or omit the truth to keep your system safe. Especially in places where stigma runs rampant or you don't know who you're speaking with very well. Just, do me a solid and try not to lie to your psychs, 'kay?

Sending love and hugs,

System dad, Kyle 💜

Yo, we do that! On discord we have our own plural kit profiles, as well as a "multiple people said this" profile and a "no clue who said this" profile. We used to try to figure out who said what all the time, but it's so much easier and less stressful to not do so.

we've made a discovery about ourselves recently and I just wanted to make a public post about it in case a fellow p-did system could find it useful. or even other systems!

tl;dr is in bold, but context of the whole post is also necessary

The thing with being a Partial DID system, is that there is, most likely, only one frontier and others are only able to take control of the body while the host is still fully conscious. at least that's the case for us. And training ourselves to be like other systems with distinct switching is a Long and Frustrating effort

we think a lot about the "influence on host" part of it all, and I think we came up with an alternative that works for us. 100% we're not the first and won't be the last to come up with this, but of anyone finds this Helpful it's worth talking about it

the long and short of it is: if you as a system struggle with letting others front, but find yourselves doing/saying some things in unison with no clear distinction of who takes "credit" for the action, this might be a good alternative to being fully in front.

we call this blending, speaking in unison, or speaking in legion! what happens to us is that, me and someone who fronts mix together on a conscious level (while still being two distinct alters, we're not blurring or fusing exactly). and just allow ourselves to do something at the exact same time without figuring out Who exactly thought of this first

it's kind of a very uneven mix. we can tell when someone's speaking separately too, so this Somehow doesn't make us doubt ourselves (so far). additionally it puts the weight off others shoulders when it comes to joining external conversations all on their own.

we think this might be a Very Good way of allowing others to take control and have a say in our collective life, and it might help other systems too

If you need to hear it from a Medically Recognized, Traumagenic HC-DID system:

Non-traumagenic systems are chill!

Non-traumagenic systems are wonderful!

Non-traumagenic systems are neat!

Mixed origin systems are great!

Mixed origin systems are cool!

Mixed origin systems are rad!

Systems who don't want to disclose origins are awesome!

Systems who don't want to disclose origins are hella sweet!

Systems who don't want to disclose origins are beautiful!

Your system is VALID. You're NOT faking. You're good just as you are. Don't feel pressured to change.

Sysmeds don't fucking clown on this post.

We would send an ask, but school computer blocks go brrr and we cant verify our email atm, SO!

Could you maybe do a BATIM/BATDR source call/positivity post? We have found one sourcemate for Demo (Who's a splitroject of like 7 different people, but mainly Bendy), @the-lucky-clutter and Demo's pretty damn excited about that, but in general BATIM/BATDR introjects/fictives don't seem to be all that common, at least from what we've seen

Hello!

We wanted to reiterated that we do take positivity requests! So if you’re looking for some love or haven’t been able to find positivity that uplifts you, feel free to send us an ask!

We also were wondering if we should start doing source calls for fictives/introjects. Would that be useful in this space? We’ve never done a source call before, but if helping connect fictives to sourcemates would help bring some positivity, we’d love to do that!

Thank you so much! ^^

AHHHHH YESYESYESYESYES <33 - 🖋 (Demo, the resident splitroject of several people, but is mostly Bendy)

Here’s some positivity/a source call for fictives from Bendy and the Ink Machine and Bendy and the Dark Revival!

All fictives, regardless of their source, are welcome on this blog! Whether you’re from BATIM or BATDR, whether you’re a major character or a minor one, whether you see yourself as your source or see yourself as separate from it, you belong in this space and are a welcome part of the plural community.

It’s okay to be a fictive from a source that hasn’t been released yet! It’s okay to be a fictive from a video game! You are loved and cherished, and we are so proud of how far you’ve come!

Fictives from Bendy games who are looking for sourcemates, please comment on or reblog this post to help find other fictives from your source!

You can learn more about the Bendy games and the studio that makes them here!

Good luck - we wish you happiness, positivity, and connection with your sourcemates!

Requested by: @asphyxiation-and-wither-roses

We are always accepting positivity/source call requests! :)

Tumblr is a bit weird in regards to what posts show up in the tags, we've heard a few different reasons why some posts may not show up in tags. But, on a side note, we found your blog through the plural tag! It was the post with the writer anon.

Come on tumblr, why arent you showing our posts in the tags :(

Started this Tumblr💖 7/6/2023

1/18/2024

Hello 👋 | We Love New Friends😊

Simply Plural is Ashla-Interweb-bois | Pexels has free to use photos. Some uses these 😊

We are a OSDD-1b now leaning towards more DID System because of discovery but still not sure🧡 Discovered on 11/29/2022

The Ashla System🧡 aka Interweb bois🌙 -🖤🌙

Not diagnosed Professionally📝

Majority of Us are Christians and God and Jesus Makes Us Happy☺️ and is 1 of Our Main Coping Mechanism other @mental-health-and-jesus ✝️ 1/17/2024

☺️Personal Blogs

And a new blog @co-conscious-culture ⭐️3/14/2024

Hope You Have Fun wiTh Me @steven-granty-boi 💚01/19/2024 :)

Hang out with yours truly @jake-in-the-know 💜5/06/2024🌹

Orange Cat & Guitar in hand @llewyn-with-a-cat 🩵6/01/2024🎸

A Bookmark 🔖 in Moi Hand @levy-with-a-book 🩶6/08/2024 ^_^

Apps That Help Us🧡

•Simply Plural 🏹 •Pexels 🖼️ for Non Copyright Photos •GIF Maker🤳🏻 •Pinterest ✂️ •YouTube ❤️ for the Playlist •Alarm Clock ⏰ •Spotify 🎶 •Notes 📝 •Google Slide ✍🏻

Our Hyperfixations are :)

Star Wars💫 especially Rebels⚡️

Moon Knight🌙 of Course (How We Discovered Being Plural✨)

Ultimate Spider-Man🕷️ (2012-2016)

Sherlock Holmes 🔎🎻 (reading The Complete Sherlock Holmes)

Wonka 🍫 & the Soundtrack🎶

The Chosen✝️

Disney🏰 and Pixar🖼️ especially Monsters, INC. franchise🧢

Night at The Museum🌕

Brooklyn Nine-Nine🕵️

What We Love to Do🫶 Our Interest🎶

Playing the Guitar🎸 and Singing🎼

Everything about the Filming Process🎥 Voice Acting🎙️ Psychology🧠 Writing✍🏻

American Revolutionary Era🇺🇸

Bible Era

Egyptian Mythology

Songs🎧

Taylor Swift | Disney | Old Songs | Musiclas | Orchestra | Religious

Our Playlist Mix 💿

1st Taylor Songs Thus Far 2nd Jesus Music 3rd Source Music Isaac🖤☺️

YouTubers❤️ We Watch

•McJuggerNuggets •stampylonghead •PopularMMOs •JStuStudios •Watcher •Taskmaster •Kendall Rae •BOZE vs. the WORLD •Patty Mayo •Matt Rose •Scott Cramer •Pente Patrol Star Wars •Dry Bar Comedy •The Chosen •Heart Dive with Kaneo Gibson •Saturday Night Live •Karen Puzzles •So Uncivilized •And DID/OSDD Content Creators🎥

System Members Who Are Comfortable Saying Who They Are✨

Our YouTube❤️ Channels🎬

YouTube

Alice83ashla

Alice/Ashla🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸🇯🇵love Star Wars, Moon Knight, Film, Voice Acting/Acting, Singing, Instruments, Animals. Be My New Friend And Let’s Go On A

Description Semi-Fictional Interject are Parts at the Beginning didn’t Identify with any look and or a Fragment that turned into an Alter by adopting a body :)

💫🌙

Body’s Info

Age: 20 in 2023

Birthday: 11/22

Race: Half Japanese🇯🇵 & American🇺🇸

Language: English🇺🇸 & Japanese🇯🇵

Most of Us identify with being Japanese and American🇯🇵🇺🇸🇬🇧

Religion: Christianity

Gender: Non Binary Presenting

Pronouns: Mostly They because Co-Con a Lot

Sexuality: Gynesexual for Outside Folks

💫🌙

Alice🩷 Identifying with Body

💫🌙

Ashla🧡 Collective Name

Host/Adult

Doesn’t feel Emotionally Attached aka The Face

💫🌙

Isaac🖤

Fictional Interject/Adult

Fictive: My Virtual Escape/ The Devil Inside S1

Age: 20 in 2023

Birthday 10/29

• Edgy Humor •Punk Rock •Kinda with Steven💚 & Llewyn🩵 & Levy🩶 | 8/01/2024 Dating💝

💫🌙

Steven💚

Co-Host/Subsystem/Semi-Fictional Interject/Adult

Fictive: Moon Knight

Age: Late 20s

Subsystem with Llewyn🩵 and Levy🩶 and Co-Host also with Levy🩶 •Watches over Marc 💙

•Makes Us Laugh •Old Cozy Songs •Kinda with Isaac🖤 8/01/2024 Dating💝 (The Relationship in the Marvel TV Series Universe of Steven, Marc and Jake are really different in Our System💫 It’s more separate and it’s more after Season 1)

💫🌙

Levy🩶

Co-Host/Subsystem/Semi-Fictional Interject/Adult

Fictive: Scenes from a Marriage (Haven’t actually watched all of it sooo)

Age: Late 30s

•Sophisticated •Taylor Swift •Has a Daughter in System •With Alicia🍯 taking care of Littles🌸 / Co-Parent

💫🌙

Llewyn🩵

Subsystem/Fictional Interject/Adult

Fictive: Inside Llewyn Davis (Doesn’t identify with from his source but the covers the Littles love 🍊)

Age: 20s? 30s?

•Lyrical •Kinda with Isaac🖤

💫🌙

Marc💙 (Woffie❄️ might have fused with Marc? Still figuring things out) | /Marcy🌨️

Semi-Fictional Interject/Adult

Fictive: Moon Knight

Age: Late 20s Early 30s

💫🌙

Alice💖

Identifies with the Body but younger than the body.

💫🌙

Woffie❄️ (might have fused with Marc? Still figuring things out)

Non-Human

Wolf

Age: Age Slider not sure exactly but it’s a pretty wide

• Loves Snow •Mountain’s with Snow (pretty much Snow haha)

💫🌙

Lucy🌺

Age: 17

•Daughter of Levy🩶 •Can’t really interact with Levy🩶 •Book lover

💫🌙

Jake💜

Semi-Fictional Interject/Non-Human/Adult

Fictive: Moon Knight

Age: Late 30s

💫🌙

Alicia🍯

Age: 30s

•With Levy🩶 taking care of Littles🌸 / Co-Parent

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful." COLOSSIANS 3:15✝️

“That there should be no schism in the body; by that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Corinthians 12:25-27✝️

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. For if one falls down, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to help him up! Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; but how can one keep warm alone? And though one may be overpowered, two can resist. Moreover, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12✝️ [5/07/2024]

YouTube

Videos for Family Members & Friends🧡 The Ashla System💫

Hello👋 from The Ashla System🧡 These Videos are to Help You Understand What We Experience🖤 💚 Types of Alters in Our System Are ANP/EP/Mixed A

⬇️ It’s kinda weird that We created this Spotify Playlist before Knowing that We’re a System💫🌙 now of course adding way more to it

Top made by @sysboxes and bottoms Hehe made by @zero-templates

Like every System Parts there’s always a reason, for their looks, names, ages, gender, se*uality it’s never random and connected to the body’s story thus far but for Us it’s probably because getting vulnerable just like in Moon Knight it represents having siblings, twins because for me my mom had a few miscarriage before and after me and one of them was my twin 🥹 so that’s probably why and also Oscar Isaac talks about in Saturday Night Live “They all deal with pain loss and confusion” 🧡

Video That Help Us🧡

YouTube

Fronting out of Foggy moment Communication🧡💫 | 5/14/2024 11:25am

Fronting out of Foggy moment Communication🧡💫 | 5/14/2024 11:25am

List Of Dissociative Identity Disorder & Otherwise Dissociative Disorder -1 & Post Traumatic Disorder | DID , OSDD-1 , PTSD

YouTube

DID/OSDD/PTSD🧡

DID | Dissociative Identity Disorder💚 OSDD | Other Specified Dissociative Disorder🧡 PTSD | Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder🩶 | Newest to Oldes

1/2 THE DEVIL INSIDE SERIES | by McJuggerNuggets 4 Seasons in total

Dissociative Identity Disorder Coded

I “remember” (I don’t hold the visual memory of theses) watching S1 right after it came out and going into S2 knowing about the concept because watched some of episode 2 so let me break it down in TDI S1 Jesse Ridgway when he snaps 🫰 his fingers he switches into a different ‘character’, all these characters are from Jesse’s different series that he created and some from childhood. All these characters have different memories but most of them have the same name Jesse, they don’t know what they experienced, their source memory is a source memory. Now Jesse can’t control these characters, when they come out they don’t want to go back (switch out) or they have no idea that the other exist and they came out of their source memory / Inner World in which they call the mirror world or the Hub. Because Jesse can’t control what’s happening and he doesn’t want to be out at all, this one character became like the Host because Jesse was holding a lot of depression and he couldn’t do it anymore so for the next 6 months everyone thought this person is Jesse even though he wasn’t. What’s Ironic is the first season I saw it in like a week I think and being like this is all relatable with every season (these series takes place between 2017-2022). In the end of 2022 that’s when I discovered I might be in a System, when watching Moon Knight being like brooo I can relate. And I stoped watching McJuggerNuggets video around S4 of TDI because I was like no, every time I look like this guy I’m depressed, I’m dysphoric. So I deleted most things, and throw away most of his stuff which I still feel bad about. (He’s okay about it, he said because he also kinda did that when he first split like throw away all my stuff but it’s cool). When watching Moon Knight (someone also holds those memory’s) I forgot about TDI and still figuring things out. Was like of If this is real why is their 2 fictional interject from these 2 sources? Then diving into them they are like 2 sides of the same coin 🪙 to the DID and to the story itself. Gonna post the second video which I’ve rewatched in December of 2023 and being like oh yeah I’ve always related to these series and never knowing why. 

The Devil Inside

2/2 The Devil Inside by McJuggerNuggets (2017-2022) Dissociative Identity Disorder Coded

:we found something in the psychopath room…

Always related to TDI before knowing about maybe being a System. In TDI there’s co-con, switching, source memory, inner world memory, parts reliving the same thing again and again on repeat, others now knowing their part of Jesse, others know. Most of them have the name Jesse some have totally different names.

Each of Us matters and makes the One Body :)

#Bible - Verse of the Day | 1 Corinthians 12:

12:14 12:20-21 12:23-27

by the way happy trans day of visibility to all the trans systems out there :)

whether you’re a trans headmate or your whole system collectively identifies as trans, we’re out here, we’re beautiful, and we make both the trans community and the plural community more vibrant just by existing in these spaces.

keep moving and shaking things up. keep reaching for your goals and accepting yourselves unconditionally. keep creating and trying new things. keep unabashedly being yourselves. keep your chin up when things get tough. keep shining!

we know it’s not always easy, but we see you, we care about you, and we are so very proud of you. also, we believe in you and know that there are great things in store for you.

trans lives are magic. trans joy is eternal. we hope you can take some time to revel in your own majesty today. we love you. 💙💗🤍💗💙

Here’s some positivity for those with imagination-based plurality!

Even within different kinds of plurality, individual experiences can be amazingly diverse! Those with imagination-based plurality deserve to be celebrated and understood within the plural community. This post is for every system with imagination-based plurality, and to those whose plurality played a role in their system’s or headmate’s creations!

☁️ Shoutout to systems who use imagenic or imaginagenic labels for their system, or who identify their headmates as imaginatives, imagians, or imaginary friends!

🍀 Shoutout to systems whose imaginary friends from childhood later developed into headmates, or whose imaginary friends always caused them to feel plural!

☀️ Shoutout to mixed origins systems, who may have traumagenic origins or some other origins for their headmates alongside their imagination playing a role!

🌷 Shoutout to systems and headmates who formed via paracosms!

🌙 Shoutout to disordered systems whose plurality was caused or influenced by maladaptive daydreaming, a harmfully overactive imagination, or some other maladaptive, imagination-based coping skill!

🌿 Shoutout to willogenic systems, parogenic systems, paromancers, and thoughtform creators whose imagination played a big role in bringing their headmates to live!

⭐️ Shoutout to gateway systems with walk-ins from imaginary worlds!

🌺 Shoutout to imagination-based systems who worry they won’t be accepted in plural spaces due to being nontraumagenic!

✨ Shoutout to those who have difficulties understanding whether or not their imaginary friends are headmates!

🍃 Shoutout to those with poor or weak imaginations who still strive towards creating an imagination-based system!

🌻 Shoutout to those whose imagined headmates have positively impacted them, saves their life, or helped them change for the better!

Imaginations can play a vital role in a system’s functioning, and this is especially true for those whose plurality was formed through their imaginations! The imagination can be a powerful tool that can aid in or even guide the process of creating systems and headmates.

Imagination-based systems have always been and will always be a crucial and cherished part of the plural community! Your bright and beautiful creative spirit shines brilliantly throughout your system - please don’t ever be ashamed of this fact! Know that there will always be a place for you and your system here, just the way you are! Thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful day!

(Image ID:) A pale orange userbox with a cluster of multicolored flowers for the userbox image. The border and text are both dark orange, and the text reads “all plurals can interact with this post!” (End ID.)

Tumblr Post of our Endogenic and Non-traumagenic Plurality Research

Google Docs

Endogenic & Non-Traumagenic Plurality Links

Endogenic & Non-Traumagenic PluralityBy Guardians System, a diagnosed traumagenic DID system with PTSD and CPTSDFor use by everyone, to be

Endogenic & Non-Traumagenic Plurality By Guardians System, a diagnosed traumagenic DID system with PTSD and CPTSD For use by everyone, to be read by EVERYONE Brought to you by sysmeds who say “I’m not reading all that” (/j)

Feel free to DM on Twitter at GuardiansSystemOpen for anonymous questions on Tellonym also under GuardiansSystemOtherwise, just comment! :)

Lists of Links Put together by community members! (Not thoroughly checked)

Plurality/Multiplicity + Syscourse Resources and Findings Pastebin by ButterflyBlood - contains info from the DSM-3 to the DSM-V, medical info, community info, Tulpa info, syscourse info, and a video

Cambrian's Thread of Experts Thread by the Cambrian Crew - contains info from Dr Eric Yarbrough (Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association), info from Dr Nijenhuis and Van Der Hart (two of the writers of the Theory of Structural Dissociation), info from the ICD-11 and DSM-V-TR, and an interview by Dr Richard Loewenstein (lead editor of the DSM-V’s section on DIssociative Disorders)

Studies into non-disordered and/or endogenic plurality Pastebin by Oliviaset - contains multiple science/government links and a video

Collected Plurality Info - 8 pages of resources - Fractal System Document by The Fractal System - contains explanations on multiple types of plurality and references links to each, contains community info, history info, academic info, and more

Scientific Papers on Endogenic Plurality - r/Plural Post and comments by numerous systems/supporters - contains a massive amount of uncategorised links to all types of information on non-traumagenic plurality

Multiplicity Links - SARAH K REECE Site by Sarah K Reece - a previously diagnosed traumagenic DID system that no longer fits the criteria but is still a system, links focus mainly on general helpful system information

Scientific Articles on Nondisordered Systems Document by Tabellenblatt1 (?) - contains info specific to non-disordered plurality, including the interview by Dr Richard Loewenstein

Ex Uno Plures - Articles Community site by Plures House - contains explanations on plurality, info on living plural, info on personal experiences, medical info, philosophical info, social info, and syscourse info

An Endogenic Proof Masterlist - Plural Anomaly Document by Plural Anomaly - contains community info, academic info, and criticisms on the Theory of Structural Dissociation

Plurality Studies - Multiplicity and Plurality Wiki Wiki made by numerous community members - contains uncategorised abstracts from medical info and info on Tulpas

Non-Traumagenic & Endogenic System Information General medical/clinical studies and research

It's just a body: A community-based participatory exploration of the experiences and health care needs for transgender plural people Study by numerous people including a system - repeatedly references and explains multiple types of plurality, both traumagenic and non-traumagenic

Multiplicity: An Explorative Interview Study on Personal Experiences of People with Multiple Selves Study by numerous people - uses some outdated language, however, explores how systems exist both with and without Dissociative Identity Disorder

Conceptualising multiplicity spectrum experiences: a systematic review and thematic synthesis Study by numerous people - explores how multiplicity exists outside of Dissociative Identity Disorder in a medical context in order to recommend appropriate health services

Critiquing the Requirement of Oneness over Multiplicity: An Examination of  Dissociative Identity (Disorder) in Five Clinical Texts (Alternative Link) Study by Kymbra Clayton - explains how multiple selves can be healthy without the need for singularity

NORMAL DIMENSIONS OF MULTIPLE PERSONALITY WITHOUT AMNESIA Study by multiple people - uses slightly outdated language, describes how multiplicity can be considered natural without the dissociative disorders, and how the dissociative disorders could simply be expanding upon multiplicity

Cognitive processes in dissociation: An analysis of core theoretical assumptions Study by numerous people - discusses potentially healthy dissociation and the existence of dissociation without trauma

MODES OF EXISTENCE: TOWARDS A PHENOMENOLOGICAL POLYPSYCHISM Study by Mick Cooper - discusses alternative ways for multiple selves to exist

A plurality of selves? An illustration of polypsychism in a recovered addict Study by Peter T.F. Raggatt - discusses the normality of non-traumagenic multiplicity and different ways for natural plurality to exist

A Jungian Perspective on the Dissociability of the Self Study by Brian R. Skea - includes multiple mentions of Freud, extremely explicit and triggering language, and repeated use of outdated terms, however helps to provide an understanding of much older views on non-traumagenic dissociation and plurality

TRANSGENDER Mental Health - chapter 11 Book by Dr. Eric Yarbrough of the American Psychiatric Association - states repeatedly throughout the chapter that plurality is only a part of dissociative identity disorder and exists without the disorder, as well as trauma only being reported in some cases of plurality and that trauma is not the only cause for plurality, and states that plurality itself is only a collection of alters

"I've Learned to Treat my Characters like People": Varieties of Agency and Interaction of Writers' Experiences of their Characters' Voices Study by multiple people - describes authors’ common experience of accidental multiplicity caused by their characters gaining autonomy

Dissociation in Trauma: A New Definition and Comparison with Previous Formulations Article by Ellert R S Nijenhuis and Onno van der Hart (two of the writers of the Theory of Structural Dissociation) - page 27, at the end of the article, they recognise mediumship and similar practices as a “division of personality,” which is what they refer to the dissociative disorders as

Exploring the Experiences of Young People with Multiplicity Research by Zarah Eve and Sarah Perry - begins with multiplicity only sometimes being applicable for a DID/OSDD diagnosis, and continues that multiplicity itself and the dissociative disorders are not the same, as well as some respondents not associating their multiplicity with trauma alongside the dissociative disorders not applying to some of the respondents, and having a section for some multiplicity not being based in trauma

Comparison of Brazilian spiritist mediumship and dissociative identity disorder Study by multiple people - in comparing Dissociative Identity Disorder with Brazilian Spiritist Mediumship, it was found the two shared very similar results, only that the Mediumship results appeared slightly healthier than DID

Tulpamancy Studies and research specifically on Tulpas, though can apply to other plurality

Tibetan Buddhist with a Tulpa - Opinion on Plurality Post by Dharma Yokeyodasampa - a Tibetan Buddhist with a more traditional Tulpa asking community members for questions, discussions include what they think about plurality, western Tulpamancy, how their Tulpa feels, and the difference between western Tulpamancy and the Tibetan practice. (This is a post compiling and explaining most of it, with a response from Dharma.)

Personality Characteristics of Tulpamancers and Their Tulpas Study by multiple people - examines and explores what Tulpas are, what they do, their role, Tulpa experiences, some history, and more

Sentient companions predicted and modeled into existence: explaining the Tulpa phenomenon Study by Kaj Sotala - describes a theory on how Tulpas may be psychologically caused via “feedback loops” (can also be applied to various other types of plurality, such as multiplicity caused by authors/artists and caused by other disorders)

A Time for Tulpas Thesis by Nick Stager - discusses what a Tulpa is, experiences with Tulpas, the development of Tulpas, how other practices may be similar, how an author can accidentally create Tulpas, and more

Tracking the Tulpa - Exploring the "Tibetan" Origins of a Contemporary Paranormal Idea Book by Natasha L. Mikles and Joseph P. Laycock - explains what Tulpas are, how Tulpas are created both intentionally and unintentionally, some of the history behind Tulpa, and Tulpas based on theosophy instead of the Tibetan practice

Tulpas and Mental Health: A Study of Non-Traumagenic Plural Experiences Study by Jacob J. Isler - explains what Tulpamancy is and how it can differ from Dissociative Identity Disorder but still be plural 

Paranormalizing the Popular through the Tibetan Tulpa: Or what the next Dalai Lama, the X Files and Affect Theory (might) have in common Article by Ben Joffe - explains what Tulpas are, how Tulpas develop, Tulpa experiences in the outside world, the difference between Tulpamancy and the Tibetan practice, some of the history behind Tulpas, Theosophy-related Tulpas, and Tibetan Sprulpa experiences

Making Friends - Transcript of a Podcast on Tulpas (Slightly incorrect: more info here) Discussion by multiple people - explains multiple personal experiences with a Tulpa, actions of a Tulpa, accidental creation of Tulpas through writing, Tulpas taking over the physical body, Tulpas having a different identity, purposeful creation of Tulpas, discussions with professionals (Richard J. Loewenstein,) the difference between Tulpas and psychosis, the similarity between Tulpas and Dissociative Identity Disorder, how without distress then it can’t be disordered, and more

Daring to Hear Voices

Dalai Lama - Buddhist practices are open to those who need them

Clinical Information Helpful medical information not specifically related to non-traumagenic systems

DID Brain Pattern Study Doesn't Measure Up - December 2018 Critique by Spot&Cerberus - discusses the multiple flaws with the MRI scan on DID patients

Moral Status and the Treatment of DID Study by Timothy J. Bane - discusses the current known treatments for DID in the context of integration being commonly used, how it may be unethical and unhealthy to force integration, and that a multiple can healthily exist

DID, OSDD, and UDD Diagnostic Guide (NZ) Diagnostic guide by ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) - the New Zealand guide to diagnosing patients with DID, OSDD, and UDD, includes history of the diagnosis, problems with the diagnosis, alternative diagnoses, requirements for a diagnosis, what to avoid in a diagnosis, what to look for in a diagnosis, and similar

The Theory of Structural Dissociation Theory by multiple people - the most commonly used theory to explain dissociation, often specifically related to dissociative disorders

Problems with the Theory of Structural Dissociation Research by multiple people - discusses multiple problems with the Theory of Structural Dissociation, including it being a theory, the discarding of derealisation, depersonalisation, dissociative fugue, dissociative amnesia, the lack of association with trauma and PTSD in the DSM-V, and proposes some different ideas

ICD-11 for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics Book by the World Health Ogranisation - Dissociative disorders on 6B64

DSM DID ALTERATIONS

DSM-V-TR

DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) Book by the American Psychiatric Association - Dissociative Disorders on page 336

DSM-IV-TR

DSM-IV

DSM-III-R

DSM-III

DSM-II-SPECIAL

DSM-II

DSM-I-SPECIAL

DSM-I

Plural History Explanations and references to different parts of plural history

Plural History - 1811 Collection by Lb Lee - contains multiple parts of history in which systems of all types have existed (there are 4 different chapters)

A Partial History of Plural Self-Advocacy Collection by Alt H - describes times in history starting from 1987 when non-traumagenic plural advocacy was recorded

It's Not Just a Tumblr Thing - Kerry Dawkins Article by Ex Uno Plures - contains references in history to plurality outside of and before Tumblr

A Brief History of the Use of "System" in a Non-DID Space Collection by Lb Lee - describes the history of the word “system” being used to describe those with multiple selves, and how it isn’t a disorder-specific term

A Quick'N'Dirty History of "System" as Plural Slang Collection by Lb Lee - explains the history of the word “system” and the different uses

"Endogenic" was not coined by Freud Collection by Sophie in Wonderland - a discussion on the anti-endos claim that “endogenic” was coined by Freud

Origin of the term Endogenic Explanation by the Lunastus Collective - details how the term “endogenic” came to be created, what led up to it, and what happened after

I saw a post saying we should just believe RAMCOA surivors... okay... so how about this one? Explanation by Sophie in Wonderland - describes how and why anti-endos think “system hopping” was stolen by endogenic systems from RAMCOA systems, including an explanation from the RAMCOA system that anti-endos reference

Community Explanations Explanations on endogenic plurality by community members (sources are used)

Debunking the Anti-Endo Carrd - Guardians System To be updated

What do Sysmeds say That is Transphobic/TERF Rhetoric? Post by multiple people - a discussion on the comparison of sysmeds and transmeds, and how their arguments and the language they use is the same

Why Not Just Use Thoughtform? Collection by Sophie in Wonderland and Olivia Set - describes why some parogenic systems prefer using Tulpa over Thoughtform 

Debunking Sysmeds - Claims and Rebuttals Carrd by Ozymandias& - lists claims that anti-endos make against endogenic systems, and critiques the claims alongside referencing studies

I would define a plural system as having multiple, compartmentalised, self-conscious agents - SophieInWonderland Collection by Sophie in Wonderland - an explanation of the validity of endogenic and non-traumagenic systems complete with referenced research and studies

Studies and Research into Endogenic and Non-Disordered Plurality

Masterpost - Academia on Endogenic and non-traumagenic plurality Post by Inclusive Syscourse - contains an explanation on the validity of endogenic and non-traumagenic plurality complete with referenced research

Claims There is No Research On Endogenics Post by Unknown - a list of research on endogenic and non-traumagenic plurality alongside explanations and descriptions

Origins of Plurality and Levels of Dissociation Study by The Phoenixes - uses the DES to gain insight into plurality not caused by trauma

The Tulpa Carrd - explain the nature and origins of Tulpamancy and what surrounds it Carrd by Unknown - lists an explanation and some history of Tulpamancy alongside references to research

Likely Origins of "Tulpamancy is Cultural Appropriation" Post by the Dragonheart System - critiques a Carrd claiming that Tulpamancy is cultural appropriation, referencing research and studies

Resources General helpful resources for all systems

Multiplicity Wiki - A wiki by plurals and multiples, for plurals and multiples Wiki by multiple people - contains terms, definitions, and general information on all types of plurality and multiplicity

Layman's Guide to Multiplicity Guide by Unknown - contains terms, definitions, information, explanations, and experiences on multiple types of plurality

The Plural Association - For Dissociative Identity Disorder & all other forms of Multiplicity under the Plural umbrella Organisation by the Stronghold System (?) - contains help sites for all types of struggling systems, alongside helpful information and articles on multiple areas

Pluralpedia - the collaborative plurality dictionary Dictionary by multiple people - contains a massive amount of information on the majority of plural terms and history

Endogenic Hub -  a site dedicated to endogenic plurality Hub by the Hordes System - contains information and experiences on multiple types of non-traumagenic plurality, alongside explanations of what plurality is

More Than One - Plurality (or multiplicity) is the existence of multiple self-aware entities inside one physical brain Site by Unknown - contains information on terms, different system origins, denounces myths about plurality, and different plural experiences

The Dissociative Initiative - For, by, and about people with multiplicity, dissociation, and amnesia Run by Sarah K Reece - a support group for systems that contains different information and resources on plurality

Tulpa Info - "For Science" Guide by Unknown - multiple different languages, explains what a Tulpa is, why they can exist, and where to begin when making a Tulpa

FAQ If you’re a sysmed, you might end up here! Congrats if you do!

What is a system? A system is anyone who has more than one entity/identity in the body/brain. 

What is plural/multiple? They mean pretty much the same as "system", only "plural" was made exclusively to be inclusive of every experience that involves many in the same body. E.g. if someone is an anti-endo or sysmed and uses the hashing "plural" to find friends, they're going to attract inclusive folks who support endos.

What is DID? DID stands for Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is a disorder in which a system experiences severe dissociation that heavily impacts their life on a day-to-day basis.

What is OSDD? OSDD stands for otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder and is used when they experience similar symptoms to DID but are missing one of the diagnostic criteria. E.g. OSDD-1A is used when there's a lack of distinct identities or no identities. OSDD-1B is used when there's a lack of memory gaps. (The separate OSDD categories don't properly exist as a diagnosis themselves - they are carried over from DDNOS.)

What is UDD? UDD stands for Unspecified Dissociative Disorder. It's often used as a placeholder diagnosis by professionals to say that although there is a dissociative disorder, they're not sure what it is.

What is a non-disordered system? A non-disordered system is a system without DID, OSDD, or UDD. They don't experience the disorders or do not fit the criteria. 

What is traumagenic, endogenic, mixed-origins, etc.? Traumagenic is a system that is formed from trauma. Endogenic is a system that is formed without trauma. Mixed-origins is a system that has multiple origins, E.g. some alters came from trauma and some did not.

What is a Tulpa? A Tulpa is a created identity that comes from repeatedly feeding information on one character or multiple characters into the brain. It can be purposeful or accidental.

DID/OSDD/UDD are trauma disorders? The diagnostic criteria for the disorders don't include trauma being necessary, nor does it anywhere else in the category. Trauma disorders and dissociative disorders are also categorised separately, and there are past studied cases of DID that weren't caused by trauma. The DSM-V-TR also includes a section that states trauma isn't necessary for a diagnosis.

You need trauma to be a system? The DSM-V specifies that a diagnosis of DID cannot be applied to cultural plurality. Culture-related plurality has existed and been documented for centuries, erased by colonisation and racism. Common cultural plurality includes Tibetan Buddhism, many Two-Spirit folk, medians, and mediums. These and more are all plural.

Dissociation is a trauma reaction? You’ll find nearly every if not every professional refers to some dissociation as “trauma-related dissociation” - take, for example, Kathy Steele, one of the writers of the Theory of Structural Dissociation, whose work consists almost only of “trauma-related dissociation”. That wouldn’t be necessary if dissociation only came from trauma. Dissociation is commonly shown to exist both inside and outside of other disorders. It’s especially common in BPD, ADHD, MADD, autism, and a few other disorders.

So only cultural and spiritual plurality can be non-traumagenic? They’re the most well-researched, but not the only non-traumagenic plurality. There are a few different theories as to how other plurality can form. Many experience their plurality caused by mostly unrelated disorders - autism, ADHD, BPD, Bipolar Disorder, MADD, etc. Others report accidentally creating alters, especially those who focus on characters, such as writers, artists, and authors. Yet more simply say they were born with their plurality, or grew up being plural without trauma being the cause. We believe plurality that hasn’t existed since birth could be caused by a “feedback loop” (here) in which one’s brain, after being fed repeated information, begins to predict the information, therefore creating actions to fill that prediction. This could be used to explain Tulpamancy (repeated info), artists/authors/writers (repeated info), ASD (masking and special interests), ADHD (masking and hyperfixations), BPD (splitting and more), MADD (repeated info), Bipolar (different states), and so on. 

Endogenic systems harm traumagenic systems? We and others have asked multiple times for sysmeds to tell us why they think endogenic systems hurt them, and every time we’ve either received silence or something that’s already been covered. Besides that, anti-endos hurt other traumagenic systems with their BS far more than endogenic systems might hurt them.

Anti-endos hurt traumagenic systems? Yup, and very frequently, considering sysmeds repeat the exact same information. Sysmeds say you have to be disordered to be a system - traumagenic systems exist without being disordered. Sysmeds say endogenic systems stole traumagenic terms - a mix of the communities coined the majority of system terms, and “endogenic” was coined by a traumagenic system. Sysmeds say what someone went through isn’t traumatising or horrific enough - traumagenic systems can be caused by any amount of trauma, no matter how “insignificant” it seems. Sysmeds repeatedly tell endogenic systems they need to have trauma - telling someone they have to have trauma when they either don’t or have amnesia around it can be incredibly damaging and has hurt many traumagenic systems. Sysmeds say they need to go to a psychologist or a therapist and be diagnosed - many traumagenic systems can’t be diagnosed. Many endogenic systems have trauma, just know they weren’t formed from it, and anti-endos repeatedly mock them about having trauma. There’s much, much more, but to end it, as a traumagenic system, we’ve personally been assaulted, harassed, threatened, told to kill ourself, and had our trauma completely invalidated and discarded by anti-endo traumagenic systems.

Expired Links Looking for alternatives

Endogenic Research (Text Form) - NightFallSystem

----------------------------

Hey everybody.

This is a list of the research and resources we've compiled over the last year or so that refers in some way to plurality, especially in the context of being endogenic and non-traumagenic supportive.

We often argue this subject on Twitter, alongside (hope you don't mind the tags) @cambriancrew and @sophieinwonderland . We've included a few of their posts in this, as they do share some wonderful information. Sophie deals in mainly Tulpamancy, we believe? And Cambrians does a wide range of things. They've both been incredibly helpful, so big credit and massive thank you to those two (and anyone else in this document) :)

Feel free to link this post or the document itself to anyone. Link it everywhere. Feel free to tag us too, as your friendly neighbourhood endo-friendly traumagenic DID system with PTSD and CPTSD. Our collective pronouns are phe/phex/phins, and we're collectively called Guardians or Guardians System.

Hope this helps some folks! If anything's wrong in this post, mention it in the notes (we think that's how Tumblr works?) and we'll adjust it in the Google Document. Alternatively, if you'd prefer to remain anonymous or would like to talk to us directly, you can check our LinkTree at the top of this page. We're always open to feedback and new research! We're especially interested in making our document more reader-friendly, as it can be a bit of an eyesore. but we're not the best at formatting documents.

If we do receive updates to edit some information, we'll be doing so on the document, so always double-check there in case there's been a change. If there are enough updates, we'll redo this post, but hopefully, that won't be necessary for a long time, because formatting all this in Tumblr is more than enough for us.

Thank you for reading!

-Rakan (not Marcus, fuck you Marcus)

DID/OSDD Glossary

These definitions are all just what I understand of them. I am not a medical professional, just a system posting stuff for systems. I'm definintely not the first person to do this, but this is mostly just for me personally, as most dictionaries/glossaries pertaining to osddid aren't the most helpful for me. These are terms that we as a system often use, and that may be good educational material for singlets. I didn't put in any controversial terms (I believe), because I'm not well educated on them. Some definitions were taken from this very helpful dictionary, make sure to check that out too as it has even more terms!

A lot of text is after the break.

Aa

Age Regression - A coping mechanism that both singlets and systems are capable of. The brain regresses back to a younger stage of life in an attempt to relieve stress. Often involuntary.

Age Slider - Someone who's perception of their age changes. They can regress (feel younger) and/or progress (feel older).

Alter - A part of the system. Each alter is a unique individual inside of one collective body.

Amnesia - Memory loss, which can have many different causes and can be seen in many different forms. (See: Emotional Amnesia, Grayout). In DID, there's often amnesia between different alters.

Archivist - See Historian

Bb

Blurry - The experience of not knowing which alter is fronting--the current fronter not knowing who they are. This could be because they are a new alter, or they are in a depersonalized state.

Cc

Caregiver / Caretaker -  (1.) An alter who's role is to take care of other alters in the system, often older alters taking care of littles. (We personally use "caregiver" for this term so as not to be confused with the other definition). (2) An alter who's role is to take care of the body and perform tasks of self care. (We personally use "caretaker" for this definition)

Co-Consciousness / Co-Fronting - When two alters are in control of the body and interacting with the world. Oftentimes one alter is more "in front" than another, but both are actively present and in most systems are capable of communicating with each other.

Consciousness - To be "there" and actively attentive the the world. In DID/OSDD, an alter can be unconscious while another is conscious, and the conscious alter is thought of as the one fronting.

Collective - Alternate term for system

Communications Manager - A term that likely only we use for one of our alters who manages communication between alters and made it possible for us to hear each other and interact more easily. See Internal Self Helper.

Cross-Gender - An alter who's gender is different from the one assigned to the body.

Dd

Depersonalization - Detatchment from oneself, described as feeling like a 3rd-Person observer of one's own life. Can also be a state of blurriness and not knowing who one is.

Derealization - When the world around someone is foggy/seemingly unreal. Experiences feel altered and warped. 

Dissociation - A mental disconnection from the world that can result in the loss of time, memory, thoughts. etc. 

Dissociative Amnesia - Memory gaps involving the inability to recall important personal information that wouldn't typically be forgotten, often due to a state of dissociation.

Dissociative Identity DIsorder (DID) - A trauma-based disorder that is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identity states that can take control at different times and experience varying amounts of amnesia between switches. 

Dormancy - When an alter is in an inactive state, unable to front or communicate with others. Can be thought of as a nap or break, though dormancy can possibly be permanent.

Driving - Another word for fronting.

Ee

Emotional Amnesia - Inability to associate emotions with certain events, having memory of an event but having no personal emotions connected to it. Another alter may hold those emotions if they experienced the event.

Ff

Faceclaim - The way an alter percieves themself in the innerworld.

Factive - An alter who's based on a real life person, because that person carries traits that could be helpful to the system.

Fictive - An alter who's based on a fictional character, because that character carries traits that could be helpful to the system.

Fronting - When an alter is in control of the body and actively interacting with the world.

Frontlocked - When an alter feels stuck fronting, and can't seem to switch out even if they'd like to.

Fusion - When two or more alters fuse into one. Final Fusion is a newer term used to describe all alters in a system fusing into one individual to become a singlet.

Gg

Gatekeeper - An alter that controls switching or access to the front.

Hh

Headmate - Another word for alter.

Historian - An alter who has access to all memories in detail, but they may often have emotional amnesia.

Host - An alter that fronts much more often than others and often takes care of day-to-day tasks. There can be multiple hosts in a system.

Ii

Innerworld / Headspace - Both singlets and systems can have innerworlds, but it's not guarunteed for either. The internal world is used as a place where alters are thought to be when not fronting, and where they can all interact with each other. The fronting alter can sometimes visit the headspacen through meditation or dreams. Innerworlds can be as small as a few rooms to as big as mutiple universes, it all depends on the system.

Integration - When alters reduce barriers between each other. This is overall a helpful thing for the alters and improves communication.

Internal Mapper / Scout - An alter that explores and maps out out the system's innerworld. 

Internal Self-Helper - An alter with an extensive understanding of different alters and how they work together, and other systematic knowledge. They work to maintin the stability of the system, and usually don't front.

Introject - An alter who's faceclaim, name, personality, and/or role is representative or an outside source. Not all introjects are very similar to their source, though some can be. Fictives and Factives are two kinds of introjects.

Jj

N/A

Kk

N/A

Ll

Little - An alter who's age is considered very young / a child alter. Usually considered to be 10 or younger.

Mm

Masking - When an alter acts differently, and more like how an oblivious person would expect the so-called "main personality" to act; see Presenting Self

Multiplicity / Multiple - To be plural, another way of being a system. To be multiple is to collectively, as a system, have multiple identities.

Nn

NPC - "Non-Playable Character" - a filler person in the innerworld, serving a mundane purpose. Not an actual alter. 

Oo

Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) - Dissociative disorder with multiple subtypes. Considered to be "almost DID," as it meets almost all critera to be DID.

OSDD-1a - Alters are all quite similar, often being different ages or "modes" of the same person. Amnesia is often experienced

OSDD-1b - Distinct alters that don't experience amnesia between switches (can experience emotional amnesia). 

Pp

Part - Another word for alter; a member of the system.

Partial DID - Disorder that is like DID, but one alter is dominant and normally functions. Other less dominant alters may front at times, but their executive control is limited and short-lived.

Passive Influence - An unintentional effect on thoughts, emotions, or actions of an alter who is fronting from one or more alters not fronting.

Persecutor - An alter who is known to cause harm to the system and others around them. The negative behavior isn't always on purpose, and is often just the effect of the alter being hurt by trauma. 

Personality - Outdated term for alter, no longer used because of connotations leading people to incorrectly believe that alters are less than people.

Plural - Another word for multiple/to be a system.

Polyfragmanted - Commonly used to describe a system with a large number of alters (50/100+). Also used to describe systems that may have a lower stress tolerance, mass splititng, subsystems, complex internal worlds, etc.

Presenting Self - (1)The so-called "main personality" that alters attempt to act as, trying to convince others of being a singlet. (2)The alter that presents itself to the system's medical proffesional/therapist.

Protector - An alter whose role is to protect the system and each alter. There are many different kinds: Emotional, physical, internal, etc.

Pseudomemories - Basically fake memories. Things that an alter (fictive or not) can recall despite them never happening. Not system-specific, I believe, but our osdd has caused some pseudomemories so we thought it would be nice to put.

PTSD/C-PTSD - [Complex] Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing a traumatic event. They can be triggered into having flashbacks of events, and this can include physical and/or emotional reactions. DID/OSDD is often connected to this due to both being disorders that result in trauma.

Qq

N/A

Rr

N/A

Ss

Selective Mutism - A severe anxiety disorder where a person is unable to speak in certain social situations. Some alters could be selectively mute while others are not.

Singlet - Someone who is not a system, and whose personality states all merged normally. They do not share a body with any other identities, and function without alters.

Split - When the collective is facing a large overwhelming situation/trigger (stress, memories, traumatic events, dissociation, etc.) and to deal with it and function again, a new alter(s) splits off. This is involuntary. 

Subsystem - Used to describe a group of alters within a system. 

Switch - When an alter switches out with another alter, changing who is fronting.

System - A term for all of the alters collectively in one body/mind.

Tt

Therian / Nonhuman - Someone who is aware of being in a human body, but who feels connected and like an animal in every other way, and will behave like one. Alters can be animals or hybrids, and their faceclaims can reflect this. 

Trauma - A very distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual and stunts their functionability until they can recover and work through it (not get rid of, trauma can not be disposed of, only coped with).

Trauma Holder - An alter who holds memories and is attatched to trauma that may have caused a split or the initial forming of the disorder.

Trigger - (1) Anything that can set off any thoughts that can disturb a person or bring them back to some part of a traumatic experience. (2) Anything that sets off any kinds of thoughts, depending on if the trigger is positive or negative. Causes for an emotional and sometimes physiscal response from whoever is being triggered. (3) In DID/OSDD, a trigger can cause a certain alter to front, whether it be positive or negative. 

Uu

Unspecified Dissociative Disorder (UDD) - flexible diagnosis either meaning: (1)A temporary diagnosis for when an exact diagnosis is unknown or can't be said a the time. (2) Disorder with many OSDD/DID criteria but not actually fitting into any category

new name for systems just dropped /j

-Monet

@funnier-as-a-system

#multiplicity not exactly. #night #clone #multipleperspectives

Is That a New Guy or Am I Losing My Mind; or, A Beginner's Guide to Finding Headmates

Written by Roger de Camden of the Draconic Wizard Workshop

Hello, everybody! This is an essay for both plurals who might struggle finding, identifying, or confirming headmates, as well as people who are questioning whether or not they’re plural. Certain pieces of advice may apply better to questioners than established systems, and vice versa, but rest assured, it is intended for both!

This essay will be broken into several sections for various “phases” of discovery and working things out, but a disclaimer before we get to that: this is heavily based on our own experiences. This is not a one-size-fits-all kind of guide. I’m going to try to make it such, but, well, I can’t make any promises, because there are infinite ways of being a system out there, and everyone’s a little different. This is just what I’ve found works for us, and, to a large extent, many of our system friends! That being said, if you try to start syscourse or invalidate other systems for any reason in response to this essay, I’m going to block you and that’s that.

Also, sorry if I go between spellings for words. I’m English, but the body is American and that means that I don’t know how to spell certain words anymore.

So! Onwards, towards discovery!

Step One: Getting an Inkling

The first step to figuring out whether or not you’ve got a headmate (new or otherwise undiscovered; I’ll mostly be calling them “new” as in “new to you”) is having an inkling that one might exist. This is mostly a passive process, and you’re probably familiar with it if you’re reading this guide. Maybe you felt something scuttle through headspace (if you have one) or through the back of your mind. Maybe you felt a presence looming behind you, mentally, that bolted when you “looked.” Maybe you had a very strong emotional reaction to something that makes no sense for you to react to, but would make sense for a character you’ve been really attached to in a show. Or maybe you slipped into an unfamiliar accent, had a loss of memories and woke up with nail polish on in a colour you hate, or just felt an opinion about something that doesn’t match your usual one. Sometimes, you may even “hear” comments about things going on in your mind.

There are a lot of little things that can tip you off. Most of them are going to be things that are misaligned with your own perception of yourself, your opinions, and your behavior. This is usually a sign that someone is co-conscious or co-fronting with you without you being aware of it. Some headmates are very sneaky this way, and some may not realise that they exist at all while doing this! Don’t hold being hard to notice or get a hold of against your headmates—many of them don’t realise that they exist, don’t know how to not be this way, or are doing it for what they perceive to be a good reason (this last one is especially common in disordered systems). Maybe they’re scared, or just not ready to be confronted yet. Don’t worry—remember, you have your whole lives to figure out everyone who’s in there, and the time will pass anyways! Take it easy.

One specific thing that tends to tip us off to a new fictive is that we realise that… no one is aware of running a character that we’re playing in a tabletop roleplaying game. Maybe someone started off running them, but they sure seem to be doing their own thing now! That character may be hard to “turn off” or “put on the shelf” when you stop playing them—and they may continue to make comments and have opinions about things in your life. This is a dead giveaway! Sometimes when we think about a character, we feel a “movement” or interest somewhere in our mind that doesn’t match anyone else’s pattern of thinking or interests, which also can be a giveaway that they’re scuttling around somewhere. Also beneficial, for us, is our synesthesia—every headmate has a colour associated with them, and when we get a thought pattern that seems to match someone but the colour is off, it can make us realise that maybe there’s someone else in here. For example, if someone were to be really interested in jellyfish, we might think that it’s Caspian, but if the colour comes back as red and not blue, then we know for certain that it’s not him.

This first inkling of a new headmate may be obvious or it may be subtle. You may question yourself repeatedly, but remember: if you feel like you are “accidentally faking,” that’s not how faking works. Faking must be done intentionally and on purpose. You could be wrong, yes, but being wrong isn’t inherently bad. It’s just that you were mistaken about something. Nothing wrong with that! We’re all mistaken about all kinds of things every day! Be kind to yourself while trying to figure things out.

Step Two: Are You There, Headmate? It’s Me, Your Other Headmate

Steps two and three are interchangeable in order, but I thought I’d put this one first because it tends to be the one that’s hardest and most distressing, rather than step three, which is about identifying who the hell your headmate is. We’ll get to that, never fear!

So, let’s say you think there might be someone in there. How can you tell for sure? How can you open communication? How can you get them integrated okay?

The bad news is that this depends heavily on the system. The good news is that there’s no need to panic, rush, or be afraid, because once again, you’ll figure it out eventually, and it will be okay!

My first suggestion is to take note of everything that’s made you think there might be someone else in there. Write it down, if that helps! Write down everything that seems to get the entity’s attention, if anything. Write down anything that might help you identify who it might be! In some instances, you might have a character that seems a little independent but you can’t tell whether they’re really a headmate or not. In my experience, this is often how many non-disordered systems (but it’s not exclusive to them!) realise that they’re plural. Knowing who it is will make this step easier, but it isn’t necessary! After all, if you know who it is, you can also write down things that might bait them into responding. Interests and friends of theirs are good examples.

Your goal in this step is to try to draw them out into doing things, speaking, or acting in ways that will give away that they are for certain there. For systems with heavy amnesia or dissociative barriers, this might be significantly harder, but my best suggestion there is to jump straight to trying to communicate, however you can—and this isn’t a bad approach for other systems, either. You can try internal communication, although you might get no response, or an abnormal one, if the headmate is new. For example, with us, new headmates usually respond to direct queries with anxiety—which, while not good for communication and not ideal for the headmate in question, does help us key in on the fact that they definitely exist. You can also try external communication, if internal communication isn’t working or is difficult for you. Write a note in a journal or a sticky note, or even in a notes app or a private Discord server. Sometimes, headmates can find replying over text to be easier. If you’re a high-dissociation and high-amnesia system who is trying to figure out if it’s someone old or new who is fronting and doing things while you’re unaware, leaving sticky notes places asking people to write down who’s fronting when they see it (if they even know who they are) might be helpful. Keep experimenting, and do what works best for you!

As a last resort for uncertain, new, or inexperienced systems, you can try something called “puppeting” on a suspected headmate, especially if you know who they are and just aren’t sure whether or not they’re here. A warning: this is rude and not advised under most circumstances, but sometimes it’s the only way to make absolutely sure that someone is in there with you, especially when you’re not used to it. Have an apology ready and mean it. Puppeting is when you try to force a headmate to do something, especially something unusual or out of character for them. For example, if I thought I might have my character Gorka as a headmate, but I wasn’t sure, I might try to call up a scenario involving Gorka and then try to imagine her doing something wildly out of character, that she would never, ever do. If I couldn’t get a response out of that, or if I had no idea who this new headmate might be, I might just try to make them physically do something—strongly imagining them doing a stupid dance or similar! No response doesn’t necessarily mean you do or do not have a headmate, but a strong response—usually of anger, offense, or “slapping” your “hands” away—indicates someone separate from yourself! Apologize immediately and then attempt to engage in communication once they’ve calmed down a little, or try to transition into it through an explanation. 

There are a lot of reasons that a headmate might not respond to puppeting, though. They might be non-confrontational, or hiding their presence from you intentionally for any number of reasons. (Maybe they’re nervous, not ready to exist yet, afraid of how you might respond, afraid of accepting that they’re in a system—it could be anything.) In cases like this, you might just get discomfort instead of a strong response, which is easy to confuse for being your own rather than theirs. Try to sort out whether you just feel strange doing it, or if it’s someone else’s discomfort bleeding through. I know it’s hard, but that’s a difficult thing to give advice for, I’m afraid! Other reasons may be that they just dip from the front when you try (removing themself from your sphere of influence completely), or if they’re a character you frequently play, they might be so used to being pulled around into doing things that it doesn’t bother them, or bothers them so little that you don’t notice.

Usually, if you’re at the point of trying puppeting, there’s enough signs that this person really is a headmate to dissuade you from trying it once you’re a little more used to it. It’s a temporary and unideal tool that should leave your toolbox as soon as you become confident enough to identify new headmates without getting grabby with them. Undoubtedly, trying to establish communication is a better approach, if you can get it to work.

Usually, once we’ve properly spotted a headmate and made it clear to them that we know they’re there, one of two things happens: either they come sit in the front for a few days or weeks to settle in, let us identify them, and get used to being a full active member of the system, or they realise that they exist and have a panic attack. This “new headmate panic” can last anywhere from a few minutes to multiple days, and may fluctuate in strength. Sometimes, a new headmate might seem fine early on, but have this panic after a few days, weeks, or even longer. Be gentle during this time, especially if you yourself have a strong reaction—be gentle with both, or all, of you! Realizing that you’re in a system can be very distressing, as can realizing you have a new headmate, so try to be gentle, let yourself feel what you’re going to feel, and work through it in the best way you have. Try not to direct any anger or negative feelings towards anyone else in your system during this time, and just let the storm pass before really trying to get to know each other.

Step Three: Who Is This Guy, Anyway?

Once again, you can do this step before or after step two, but I put it here because I decided to include some tips for getting to know your headmate, not just identifying them (if there is anything to identify). If your system is introject-heavy, or if you’re asking yourself if you’re just really interested in a character or if they’re a new headmate, this is an important step! Who is this? Are they an introject of some kind? Are they something or someone else? Is there anything to identify, per se, or is it just a situation of getting to know a whole new person? This is a very, very different step depending on your system, and is going to skew very much towards my own experiences. I’m sorry about that, but I will do my best!

If you’ve already established communication with this headmate, even if it’s shaky, you can try to get information from them that way. They might be willing to give you a name, a code name, a colour, an aesthetic, likes or dislikes, something you can use to familiarise yourself with them or identify them from a list of “suspects” if you have such a thing. (We always do, because we’re almost all fictives, and we know our own patterns at this point.) For us, new headmates almost never actually identify, and just sullenly sit while trying to figure themselves out and will only confirm who they are once we figure it out. It’s sort of like playing a mystery game, assembling clues based on a myriad of factors. If you have some suspicions, just like the previous step, you can try to bait out responses by doing things that might interest who you suspect this headmate might be.

Again, I suggest writing things down! Write down likes and dislikes, things that get their attention, interests, even things that make them anxious or afraid. Whether it’s a case of identification or just getting to know them, this is invaluable information for interacting with someone sharing a head with you, and it may even be helpful for them as they get their feet under them.

Another invaluable tool is talking to people outside of your system. They can help you identify when you’re acting unusually, when you might have someone unfamiliar riding co-conscious, and even who that person might be. You may be too tangled up in your own feelings, your dissociation, or the desperation to understand who is in your head with you. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds and lose sight of the big picture, but another friend, especially another system that knows you well, can be extremely helpful! One of our system friends has clocked many a headmate of ours before we were even certain they were there—just “hmm, you’ve been very much like X lately” and they were absolutely right. 

Regardless, taking notes on your new headmate, asking them about themselves, and sharing things about yourself are all important steps to getting to know them! They may be uncomfortable, they may distrust you, they may be afraid—or they could be friendly and excited to be here! It really depends on who it is and their comfort level. Don’t push—if they’re not comfortable talking yet, don’t make them! Let them adjust at their own pace and get to know them as they’re willing to let you. I know it can be distressing to have a totally unknown entity co-fronting with you, but sometimes it’s one of those things that you have to take a deep breath and carry on through until they’re willing to talk. I know you can do it! Talk through it with someone outside of your own head if it’s difficult to give yourself some fortitude if you need to. I know it helps me.

Step Four: Now What?

Let’s say that you’ve confirmed that you do have a headmate, and either have or are on the road to identifying them, if applicable. Now what?

As I’ve said before: be gentle with yourselves! Especially for a new or inexperienced system, and especially for someone who is just realising that they’re a system, this can be overwhelming, distressing, or any other number of emotions. Remember that having or gaining headmates isn’t inherently a bad thing, and while this all might take some getting used to, it’s going to be okay. You’ll figure out an equilibrium eventually, and it is absolutely possible to live a long, happy life with your headmates. Remember that you’re all in this together, and you’re a team.

People may not want you to notice them, may not want to be in the system, or may avoid attention as best they can for a lot of reasons, and trying to make them feel at home, or at least more comfortable, is essential. It can be scary being in a system all of a sudden, especially if they’re an introject or otherwise had a life outside or before this one. Maybe they don’t like the body, or are afraid of another headmate, or are terrified of a negative response from you or someone else. Don’t force these people into situations they’re not ready for! If you’re looking for someone, trying to identify them, or trying to help them, and you’re just causing a lot of distress, back off for a while. Let them calm down and come to you in their own time. Sometimes, you have to do the system equivalent of leaving cookies out on a plate and turning your back to them so that your new headmate can take them without being watched. Take things at the pace that you’re all the most comfortable with, and as always, be kind.

I really do suggest talking to someone about this process, if you can. Journal if you’d like, especially if you can’t trust anyone with this, or don’t feel comfortable doing so yet. Getting your words out of your head helps you sort them out a lot, especially in the case of systems, where a lot of people’s thoughts can get jumbled together. Writing them all down, even if you don’t know whose they are, can be helpful. We find that talking to other system friends is of the most benefit, and our new members are far more likely to speak to them first rather than us, because there’s a degree of separation and that’s more comfortable for them. Whatever works for you, do it! The idea is to get comfortable with each other, and with being here together.

Find things that your new headmate likes doing. Goratrix has a whole panel about this aimed at fictives, but essentially, if your new headmate doesn’t have reason to front and isn’t interested in anything, you probably won’t see much of them, and they may end up miserable. Make sure you engage with them and their interests. Let them make friends if they’d like. Get them snacks. Again: whatever works! This is going to depend very heavily on your system, so follow your gut instinct on this one, I think.

Absolutely essential, though, is to not repress anybody. I know sometimes getting a new headmate can be scary, especially if they’re unfamiliar, frightening, seemingly monstrous, or a persecutor, but remember: they’re probably just as freaked out as you are, if not more so, and they need patience and understanding. Statistically, if they’re doing something troublesome, they’re trying to help and just don’t know how, or are misguided on what “help” looks like. Be kind, and try to find a solution that works for everyone.

Past that… just get to know each other. Figure out how to live together and how to make your combined life the best life it can be. For us, there’s so many of us that someone new can almost always find a fast friend in someone else, and sticks with them for a while until they’re more used to the system and more confident fronting and doing things without their buddy. Other systems may be able to mimic this approach, or may need to do something very different. Again, again, again, do what works best for you! If parts of this guide seem unhelpful or counterproductive, ignore them! This is based on our experience of plurality, not yours. Always do what’s best for you, what helps the most of you, and what causes the least distress while still letting you function as much as you need to.

Being plural is a very personal experience, in a lot of ways, which is pretty funny because sometimes that personal experience is spread across two or twenty or five hundred people. It’s also a very personalized experience, meaning we’re all quite different. Your “now what?” might look very different from ours, and that’s okay. We can only do our best, and that’s always good enough.

I hope this is helpful to someone! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask, and I may edit this guide in the future if it seems that I left something out or think of anything to add. =)