Sunday, April 10, 2011

They Call me 'Ms. Creativity' Or, An Introduction to Anna

My name is Anna. I am twenty one years old, and I share my body, my life, with other people.  Some people talk to hear their own voice; I talk to find out whose voice I hear. I have dissociative identity disorder, one of the most misunderstood conditions in the field of mental health. In the hopes of raising awareness, of lessening the sense of isolation, I will share my experience with anyone willing to know more.

My life is full of confusion, uncertainty. Time lapses and contradictions and the occasional fit. Very few people are willing to understand and accept all facets of ME, and those who do are inexpressibly special to me. While not everyone will or should be subjected to the nastier parts of my selves, I think it's time to come forward with the basics.

DID is portrayed as a very black-and-white condition, a Jekyll and Hyde (or Tyler Durden and Jack, for that matter) case of good versus evil fighting in one body. In reality, dissociation is complex, a truly remarkable means of coping, or perhaps more accurately, avoidance. They call me 'Ms. Creativity', presumably to credit the highly imaginative degree of elusion I have crafted. My alters are each unique and voluminous, and have comprehensive personalities complete with a full range of emotions and individual needs and desires.

I am still struggling to better understand all the aspects of living with dissociative identity disorder, and refuse to do so in solitude. DID is very real, and it's more common than one would assume. I hope that this collaborative endeavor will help to bring truth to what it really means to be affected by DID.

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