May 2025
“If you have alters, you have trauma”: a causal collapse
This post critiques the well-meaning but misleading phrase “If you have alters, you have trauma”, showing how it collapses interpretive frameworks and cultural scripts into a simplistic causal claim. I examine how the concept of “alters” has drifted from its clinical roots into the plural identity framework, and how adopting this framework—especially in online spaces—can lead people to retroactively construct trauma narratives based on the assumption that all multiplicity requires trauma. I argue that “alter” is not a diagnostic marker but a metaphor, and that we must distinguish between interpretive narratives (like plurality) and structural mechanisms (like disavowal and compartmentalization) to avoid mistaking metaphor for evidence. DID is not defined by how we describe internal states, but by how those states are structured and maintained.
compartmentalization culture DID narrative plurality
6 minutes
April 2025
DID without alters: how a misleading framework obscured my dissociation
After being diagnosed with DID, I expected internal parts to reveal themselves—just like the cultural narrative said they would. But those experiences never came. Instead, I faced severe dissociation without a sense of internal others. Over time, I realized my symptoms reflected structural compartmentalization, not multiplicity. This is about how the dominant DID framework can obscure the reality of dissociation when it doesn’t follow the script.
compartmentalization culture DID identity narrative plurality
7 minutes
What pathology is the diagnosis of DID attempting to capture?
Dissociative identity disorder is best understood as a disorder of pathological compartmentalization in which early childhood trauma leads to a structural failure to integrate memory, perception, and emotion. Although the diagnosis became defined through culturally compelling narratives of “multiple identities”, this framing reflects a metaphorical interpretation rather than the underlying mechanism. Over time, that metaphor shaped both clinical expectations and self-concept, reinforcing a model that emphasizes identity over structure. This post traces how that narrative took hold, how it obscures the actual pathology, and why shifting to a structural understanding of dissociation offers a clearer and more accurate view of the pathology the diagnosis of DID is attempting to capture.
compartmentalization conceptualization culture DID identity mechanism plurality
12 minutes
The two types of dissociation: detachment and compartmentalization
Dissociation is often treated as a single, unified concept, but it actually encompasses two distinct psychological mechanisms: detachment and compartmentalization. This post outlines the critical differences between them, showing how each operates, manifests, and becomes pathological in different ways. While detachment involves a disconnection from reality or emotion (as in depersonalization), compartmentalization involves the rigid separation of memory, perception, and self-experience—and lies at the core of dissociative identity disorder (DID). I argue that DID is best understood as a disorder of pathological compartmentalization, not as the presence of “multiple identities”. This distinction is essential for making sense of dissociative experiences without relying on oversimplified or culturally dominant narratives.
compartmentalization conceptualization detachment DID mechanism
9 minutes
February 2025
Can you have DID without “alters”?
The identity-based model is one way to conceptualize dissociation, but it is not the only way. The assumption that DID inherently involves “alters” is a product of the DSM-5 framework, media portrayals, and community narratives—not an intrinsic feature of the disorder. DID is more accurately understood as a disorder of compartmentalization rather than identity fragmentation. Personifying dissociative states as “alters” is a cultural interpretation—one possible framing, but not an essential feature of DID.
Bromberg compartmentalization conceptualization culture DID identity plurality
4 minutes