Mechanisms, not metaphors
Conceptualizing dissociation through structure and function
This series rejects metaphor-laden frameworks in favor of models grounded in psychological mechanisms such as disavowal, affect phobia, and compartmentalization. It seeks to conceptualize and explain dissociative phenomena without invoking identity-based language or narrative tropes.
Posts in this series
Amnesia in DID is really just disavowal Dissociative amnesia isn't passive forgetting—it's disavowal, an active psychological rejection of overwhelming experiences. I explore how this process functions, why it reinforces itself, and how questioning memory gaps can break the cycle and promote healing.
The two types of dissociation: detachment and compartmentalization I explain the critical difference between detachment and compartmentalization—two distinct processes often conflated under the single term “dissociation”—and why this distinction matters for understanding DID.
What pathology is the diagnosis of DID attempting to capture? DID is best understood as a disorder of pathological compartmentalization, not as identity fragmentation. The cultural narrative of "multiple identities" has obscured the diagnosis’s underlying structural mechanism.
Coming soon in this series
- Compartmentalization without characters
- Affect phobia and the avoidance of emotional integration
- No alters required: rethinking dissociation mechanistically
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