newbee, dropping in to say "hi"

[Marley]

Hi All

Don't know how much to put in this introduction, sorry, it has got quite lengthy.

If we post or start a thread, it will be honest, if we agree or think something is great, it will be honest, we will not say we agree with something we don't, that does not necessarily mean we will always post in disagreement. we will not post either just for the h... of it. we accept and respect opions can differ. we do not represent anybody other than who We are. We may, but do not intend to trigger or be offensive.

we live in a shoebox in a block of shoeboxes with shared tissue thin walls and 'natural' ventilation in "affordable" housing.

We are non American, and live in a place where FMS is the therapeutic mantra.
Other 'real' Multiples are hard to find. We can be judgemental in this post of those who manipulate or claim DID, only to be "cured" or "integrated" when the novelty wears off. It is these who whether officially diagnosed, claim to be officially diagnosed, or self diagnosed, feeds the FMS/iatrogenic (therapist induced) mantra. So 'real' Multiples, go underground as do therapists who would never openly admit to working with one.

Anyway, we have always been an Us. It took attending a community "isolation" group (yeh, as they were called for people who were isolated either by circumstances or lifestyle choices) when we discovered people with Depression were different from Us, but didn't know why, so we researched and read the DSM to find a 'fit' anything BUT MPD (not Us!) and found everything 'fit,' so denial collapsed and researched in earnest. Read everything available from therapy manuals, professional literature, obscure, and mass produced literature, completely immersed in educating about this "extremely rare" condition, and we still read, but not so obsessively, and much more discerningly.

we have attempted to train many therapists, some more successfully than others, we have had boundries violated, digressed and unethically abused by therapists. it is a massive investment but there is little option. Experience has taught us much.

We firmly believe we are not a diagnostic label, and deserve to be treated as a person and respected not as a hampster, guinea pig, or fascination point. By necessity we need to 'smile' for a biological irl Mother who is toxic and infected the family believing DID is iatrogenic and FMS, but for her to accept Us it would create discord in what she wants to believe was a wonderful childhood, she also believes she had a 'normal' childhood. Neither is accurate, but it is as she remembers it and denies/dissociates anything different. We live with this, we live in a singulars' world, and currently, although at College, we are incredibly erratic, lack continuity, and dysfunctional.

We opened by writing we are a non-American. As such, we can have different and controversial perspectives and views. This is not to indicate that we are in anyway anti-American, just that we can see things differently. We respect there are many American researchers and therapists who profess to be experts. We believe each and everyone of us can learn from therapy and therapists, as they can from their patients/clients, just as we can learn from each other. Each and every one of us is different, and what works for one, might not work for another, what works this moment, might not work the next. It is what makes us unique, it is what is DID therapy.

Ok, we are hoping to learn from and contribute to posts within this forum.

Thank you for reading.