Hello. I am, at the moment, not a professional writer, but someone who has a story to tell, and who wants to - eventually - publish that story. I am also someone living in the head of a brain suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder, and as such, part of a system of people all sharing the same brain. In addition, we relied on video games and other forms of escape involving fantasy and the like, so, it's no wonder that most of us in here have their own stories to tell from a fantasy world of our own creation, all adding up to a single continuity. Since I'm the one who seems to be fronting the most in our system as of late (regardless of whether or not I want to), and the one who enjoys writing the most, it's basically been unofficially decided that I'll be the one to write the story of us. Before anyone asks about our condition: Spoiler Yes, I do have my own memories of this fantasy world, just like the other people in this head, and my own identity as an individual within this brain is formed by those memories. No, I and the others do not believe that the world that we remember is anything more than fiction, even if the memories from it have personal significance to many of us. No, not all of us remember the fantasy world. Only most of us do. Yes, I am trying to seek mental health services to help deal with the trauma that led to us having DID, and no, I haven't had much luck with finding adequate services in the small town in Central Maine where we live. No, our disorder isn't what you see in horror movies about people with multiple personalities, it doesn't cause hallucinations or delusions (like I said, we know that the world that many of us remember is fiction), it's not a psychotic disorder nor a personality disorder, it's not schizophrenia/bipolar/borderline, it's not fake/seeking attention/something made up by Americans (in fact, my best friends are in a DID system in Sweden), etc.. DID is a dissociative disorder caused by extensive trauma during the formative years of childhood, and can happen in any situation in which someone experiences such things. Yes, we are diagnosed, and yes, we still have difficulties being taken seriously as having DID even after being diagnosed. Yes, we have a high degree of coconsciousness in our system - that is, we are mostly aware of each other, and can even communicate internally to some degree - and no, not all DID systems are like this, since DID is experienced in a multitude of ways by different systems. No, we don't want to integrate into a single identity, though working better together is one of our goals. Again, not all DID systems are like us. Now, then... the story I want to write, based on the memories of those who remember it, is a hard fantasy story which heavily focuses on the internal and interpersonal conflicts of the characters as they face difficult choices with both personal and existential stakes. I don't want to say much more about it here, but details are bound to come up as I ask for advice. Thank you. -Amarin Reyny
Oooh, nice, extra members There's a donation thread going on at the moment, would each of you contribute? I think these days most people on the internet have an extra personality reserved for their online activities anyway, so you'll probably find lots of fellow souls around Do all of you contribute to the same story when writing or is it an individual effort?
We won't be able to contribute... Our body's husband and we (effectively, two human bodies) are living on one SSI check, and a friend of ours is actually having to pay for our internet so we can stay in touch with them. Sorry. Having DID isn't the same as acting differently in different situations (we're basically separate people who happen to occupy the same brain/body), but I'm sure I'll be able to relate to at least a few people here. There have been a lot of times when I've read, seen, or otherwise experienced a story that I felt I really connected with elements of (Neon Genesis Evangelion, El Goonish Shive, etc.; actual books are something we haven't been able to afford lately), and I felt like the author was speaking from their own experiences, in a similar way to what we're doing. As for our writing? I mean, I do most of the work when it comes to actually typing the words, but most of the things I write down are either things the others say, or ideas of mine that they accept. They might remember a lot of things from what we like to call their "old lives," but there are a lot of things they don't remember, so we work together on filling in the gaps. It's kind of strange, the position I'm in - I'm just like them, except... boring. Like I mentioned already in the spoiler block, I have memories from the same fictional setting, and my own identity is based on that, but... I'm not a part of the same story they're part of. If there were a movie, or TV show, or the like, made of our story? My "role" would be that of a background extra who might be on screen for a few seconds. Hence, I mostly let them tell me the story while I just put it together.
