I suppose this tip isnt specifically for OSDD systems, but a general tip that we always try to put out there. I have DID & PTSD. Welcome to r/OSDD, a community for those affected by otherwise specified dissociative disorder. And there comes the second fact, I have three ANPs and identify highly with Polyfragmentation, and its a huge mystery to me on if I have OSDD or DID along with that. Are you sure they don't front? Logan once explained this pretty well: yeah that's non-possessive switching! They are not adults pretending to be kids. Thank you for reading our peer article; we hope it was empowering, informative and helpful for you and your System. Hi, for the longest time, I thought that I had OSDD-1b, and its come to my attention that might not be true. Alters who act out like this are deeply traumatized, are confused, feel unheard, etc. You might lose a lot of details or misremember the important bits. Triggered switches are especially likely to be quick, but too many triggers or too much overall stress can also lead to rapid cycling. People with DID/OSDD are on their own spectrum--based on how much amnesia they have and/or how separate and distinct their alters are. they can't front and they're very angry about it, which they take out on me pretty much 24/7. But some people do justifiably feel the need for an official diagnosis for a number of reasons, including the pursuit of treatment on the NHS (although a diagnosis of either DID or OSDD is never a guarantee of appropriate therapy); in order to receive better care from the NHS than the pejorative catch-all personality disorder label will elicit; to justify or at least corroborate a claim for welfare benefits; to negotiate appropriate support from an employer; or to determine the pathway of treatment, amongst other reasons. Ill explain technically what OSDD is in a moment, but a quick (although inadequate) definition might be dissociative identity disorder without distinct parts of the personality. Normally, a reed switch is constructed of two thin metal strips, or reeds, which are sealed in a glass tube. Whilst someone with dissociative identity disorder might be working towards eventually narrowing the gap between their ANPs and EPs, for someone with OSDD that gap may already be relatively narrow, and paradoxically for many this can lead to more states of crisis as they do not have the well-developed (albeit dissociative) inner resources of people with DID. Other specified dissociative disorder ( OSDD) is a mental health diagnosis for pathological dissociation that matches the DSM-5 criteria for a dissociative disorder, but does not fit the full criteria for any of the specifically identified subtypes, which include dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia, and On a neurobiological level, differences can be seen in studies measuring the volumes of the hippocampus, a key component of the brain largely associated with memory formation and retrieval. In fact, there actually isnt a 1a or 1b in the DSM-V, its a community holdover from the outdated terms DDNOS-1a/1b. at one end of the scale is one self, on the other end is another, and I am in the middle. I don't have OSDD/DID, but on two occasions where I was in an unsafe and triggering situation, the first time I turned into this older masculine and calm dude, the second (yesterday ago heh) into this caring 40yo+ female motherly figure. You might have moments where you feel unreal. Certainly where private therapy is being sought and there is no need for a definitive statement on some official piece of paper or medical record, this may be the preferable option for a large number of people. How can you distinguish this from modes in BPD? Dissociative Identity Disorder Information - First Person Plural Although perhaps the most well-known feature of dissociative identity disorder (DID), switching occurs less often than passive influence or other internal manifestations of dissociated parts. For some people, that means rejecting labels altogether. Note: DDNOS (dissociative disorder not otherwise specified) was renamed OSDD (other specified dissociative disorder) in the latest update to the psychiatric diagnostic manual, the DSM-5. I have no diagnosis and have only just begun to realise (in what feels like walking backwards) more and more that I am not who I thought I was But I would love a diagnosis with which I could feel I agreed. I think these lower end spectrum OSDDs/dissociative mechanisms are really hard to recognize and categorize. I too was committed to a psychosis ward and schizophrenia was ruled out. Feeling those feelings, thinking the thoughts of that child and feeling his body as it had been used. Even switching is rarely as blatant or extreme as the media commonly portrays. my advice is try to focus more on yourself(s) and less on how you fit in with others in terms of diagnosis. I appreciate it and will share it on my tumblr. What puts the last D in DID is when systems are suffering from being unable to manage their identities, caused by severe - yet potentially unknown - issues that have not necessarily been identified/addressed/resolved. Put it aside and go to work. Robert Oxnam on relating his experiences with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly MPD), from A Fractured Mind: My Life with Multiple Personality Disorder(pp.4-5), (If you like this post then you might like this other one as well! I find that really confronting and scary because then I can't deny to myself that they are real and separate from me. Furthermore, where there is a high level of co-consciousness between different self-states in OSDD, there is a lower risk of self-harming episodes where the adult host has (dangerously) no awareness at all of what has happened. This of course begs the question of whether OSDD/DDNOS-1 and DID are in fact the same thing, and just different points on a spectrum, and whether the diagnostic criteria for DID are too tightly applied. We were a system of 13-14 alters and from my perspective there was very limited full switching. We will try to explain our experience with . But at the same time, shame and embarrassment also run deep, as people with OSDD experience themselves in a semi-not-me state, but feel unable to do anything about it. For example, ducks at the pond could be a trigger for a 7 year old alter to push their way to front, or someone calling who is a special friend for one alter in particular might trigger that alter to switch out. Clinicians have also noted difficulties that arise in therapy for people with OSDD, as opposed to DID. I like your description DID NOS better than the more formal DDNOS or OSDD; it acknowledges theres fragmenting but not to a full degree. ), Complex trauma is also known as developmental trauma in that it is trauma that is chronic, pervasive, and it happens early in development from, say, birth to teens. Most people who claim that they are endogenic OSDDID systems are: 1. Our works, including resources like this, are only possible because of support from Plurals and our allies. This website was last updated 11/29/2022. You might feel like your body is unrecognizable, unreal, or doesnt reflect who you are. You might have moments where you dont even remember the times you have forgotten things. A mere speck floating in an ocean of pain, sinking deeper and deeper into the waters, only a bare existence was possible. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. which is widely accepted at the moment, endogenic systems, who form later on in life, are impossible. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. As always, we encourage you and your System to follow your own truth, to soul search, to find words, labels, visions, theories and communities that arent only within your values but also match your lived experience and/or long term goals, so that you might find belonging and dont have to try to fit in. Switching refers to one alter taking control of the body, being given control by another alter, or gaining prominence over another alter. I think it would make sense for my experience to be a spectrum than necessarily one or the other. You might have difficulty being aware of your own symptoms or describing the severity of them. This is certainly the view of a number of experts in the field. Switches can be consensual, forced, or triggered. I can feel this happening but have no amnesia , I can also be extremely confident and competent and can do extremely difficult work with ease ..and can feel I am invincible as a professional in my career and the more difficult my work is (others feel I should be stressed) the easier it feels to me ..I can also experience triggers out of my control and extreme anger and emotional stress and hurt which can immobilize me .. It felt like me, and I lost control over the body for a few seconds in both situations, but I was told all this could just be derealization or 1000 other things, and I wouldn't be surprised at all. Both full switches and "partial intrusions" of alters are described in more detail by Dell in the paper"A New Model of Dissociative Identity Disorder". Both can be helped by similar approaches to therapy which encourage neuronal repair and result in brain growth such as increased hippocampal volume. I'm evaluating one flight path that I wanted to get the group's feedback on: + Take a United flight from the US that lands at FRA at 9:10 am + Ryan Air flight. There might be times when you experience intrusive thoughts, visual images, feelings, or urges that dont actually belong to you but to another alter. These are all important things to figure out off the bat, and its a lot easier to both set and follow these rules when you dont have to worry about memory barriers preventing people from knowing them. But also when Im like that, I cant do other things I normally can, like tell the time. But I am somewhat aware that other alters are fronting, but not all the time(I stay conscious throughout others fronting is what I am saying). Wanting to be better but not knowing what was wrong. I hope one day your plurality is something that you can take pride in. Certainly OSDD is supposed to be a residual category to mop up the few cases of dissociative disorders that do not meet the mainstream criteria. Press J to jump to the feed. I just read that even one of my favourite youtube channels, The Rings System, made a shoutout on twitter to non-switching systems. We wanted to help make sysboxes you don't usually see, especially with most system user box blogs run by endos.our main is @friends-call-me-snow-miser (if we reply to comments) and our system blog is @fromthewondersystem mod wonder OSDD is not diagnosed by subtypes, unlike its predecessor, DDNOS, and . I dont related in any intimate way to friends or lovers I remain unattached and dont know how to be intimate or close to anyone .. These alters protect the main identity from awareness of trauma. So if you have DID or OSDD, you will likely heavily dissociate, you'll have alters tied to repeated intense traumas, and even with OSDD-1b it's likely that you'd experience occasional dissociative amnesia/memory issues. You might hear voices, such as voices arguing or commenting on your actions. Most systems will go to great lengths to hide their condition. External signs that a switch may have just occurred include the following: heavy blinking as if the individual is just waking up; mild muscle spasms or jerks; disorientation or visible confusion; checking the clock or one's watch; seeming not to remember anything that just happened; complaining of a mild or moderate headache; adjusting clothing or posture; clearing one's throat before speaking so that the tone or pitch changes; or a change in vocabulary, syntax, preference, opinion, temperament, skills, or general personality. Consensual Switches Consensual switching is when two or more Parts mostly agree before a switch occurs. This seems to me to be a real issue that again the DSM criteria do not sufficiently address. Many people who have what we call complex trauma have had many years of trauma; mostly were talking about child abuse. And very few people with apparently diagnosed dissociative identity disorder that I have met claim to have full memory of their past, with no amnesia at any time which would seem to contradict their diagnosis. There are as many Plural experiences, as there are Plurals. Each person needs to weigh up the pros and cons on an individual basis and do what is right for them. When someone asks you to describe who you are as a person, you might feel at a loss for what to say. Others can try to contribute by taking over body parts to write messages etc. Communication may also be clearer between parts in OSDD-1b systems. But the difficulty remains, especially as there is such a dearth of writing and literature from the perspective of people with OSDD, who possibly feel that their viewpoint is not worth expressing, again because it is not proper dissociative identity disorder.. A voice saying yes there is, yes there is. That is the case with our system and the walls between me as the host and our core - I remember many of her memories crystal clearly and it can be hard to tell if they are mine or if they are hers. As someone who lives in the States, but plans to move to the UK at the earliest availability, this also helped urge us to get our treatment while we can. A body with multiple identities is known as a system. It gives a great summary of all of the research into how DID develops and functions. Your early system days should be spent getting used to the idea of having other people in your head and getting to know said people. We have 19+ alters, and our collective pronouns are they/them. But at the end of the day they are just like you. If you lose control that's like the definition of possession. Although an individual's therapist or spouse may learn to recognize not only switches but specific alters, most others may rationalize away any switching that they notice as the individual with DID being abnormally tired, grumpy, or in a strange mood. And even if it is there is likely a trauma based reason. Also, at one moment, I would be okay with something someone said and then only for me to become intensely furious after an hour. Some individuals with OSDD-1 lack both amnesia and highly distinct parts, and other individuals with OSDD-1 have highly distinct parts but rarely or never switch between . During break, I was in a zoom group where we were talking about what brought us there and what we hoped to learn. You are part of a strong community with a rich history and wonderful people. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Non-switching systems, or partial DID as it's called in the ICD, are systems who have an alter always remain in front, and other alters can "only" exert passive influence and co-fronting. It is a very dark place to be in. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. My body which hurt so, sent away, there but not there. We often simply say we are a dissociative system and nothing more, because our alters are fully fledged and individual (to the extent we recognize as such), but experience hardly any amnesia aside from large portions of childhood. Being blurry is not always a stressful or upsetting incident, this is more dependent on the individual and situation. (the latter will also bring up a lot of worker/management negotiation stuff too. You might feel confused or distressed because you do not identify with the things that people associate your whole identity with such as name, personality, opinions, or preferences. I've had 2 non-switching alters for at least 9 years now. (Disclaimer: I'm not a professional; please do not ask me for medical advice! You might sometimes experience pain or sensations that dont have a medical cause, such asswitching headaches.. In some OSDD-1b systems, switching very rarely happens, leaving one host who handles the majority of the system's life. Other specified dissociative disorder (OSDD) is a dissociative disorder that serves as a catch-all category for symptom clusters that do not fit neatly within another dissociative disorder diagnosis. Most strikingly perhaps, people labelled as OSDD may not feel that their condition is taken as seriously as dissociative identity disorder. According to Van der Hart et als structural model of dissociation (The Haunted Self, 2006), dissociative identity disorder is a case of tertiary dissociation with multiple ANPs and multiple EPs, whereas OSDD is a case of secondary dissociation with a single ANP and multiple EPs. Highly recommend reading. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://twitter.com/theringssystem/status/1325605823373074433?lang=en. Its not like with GPs sending you to the right specialist, no, the mind is somehow way less easy to define than the human body, and way more complex. Only a body, nothing important. And even successfully obtaining a diagnosis can cause difficulties in work situations, in applying for life insurance or even travel insurance, and in the stigma that surrounds so many mental health conditions. 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