DID diagnosis criteria

[MakersDozn]

Great topic, mosaic.

Well, we agree with the last criterion about not being part of a cultural or religious practice, but beyond that....

Brother number one used to be skeptical about multiplicity, especially about the idea of seeing the positives and not treating it as a disorder. We had to explain to him that at least for us, being many isn't the problem. The repeated trauma that *caused* us to be many is the problem.

We realize that not every multiple sees multiplicity in the same way. In talking to people in other areas of the online multiple community, there are in fact quite a few who do believe it's an illness that they need to heal from, or at least get ongoing treatment.

More often than not, these multiples are either relatively new to their diagnosis and/or do not have a high level of internal communication. But there are also those who are quite self-aware, further along in their healing, and still remain focused on a goal of living as one unified being.

Then there are those who advocate that a person doesn't even have to have been traumatized to be multiple, and that some people are multiple naturally. We respect their right to their belief but do not share it.

All of this has taught us to work toward keeping an open mind, just as we want the professional world and the singleton world to have an open mind about us.

MDs

PS: Not too long ago, we took an online version of the DES (Dissociative Experiences Scale) questionnaire. We scored 18. When we told this to some online multiple friends, we said, "We don't dissociate that much anymore, but we're definitely many."