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
11 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
January 2025
The way we understand dissociative experiences is shaped by the interplay between percepts (raw experiences) and concepts (interpretive frameworks). DID is not the experience itself but a concept that organizes dissociative percepts within a cultural framework. Once adopted, concepts like DID shape how individuals perceive and recall their experiences, reinforcing a feedback loop. Drawing on ideas from William James and Ian Hacking, I explore how the diagnostic label of DID not only describes experiences but actively shapes them. Recognizing this allows for a more flexible, open-ended approach to dissociation beyond a singular framework.
conceptualization culture DID Hacking James philosophy
5 minutes
September 2024
The way dissociative identity disorder is conceptualized is heavily shaped by cultural influences, creating a feedback loop between diagnosis and experience. Drawing on Ian Hacking’s concepts of looping kinds and dynamic nominalism, I explore how diagnostic labels do not merely describe experiences but actively shape them. The classification of DID as an “identity disorder” reinforces a framework where individuals perceive their dissociative experiences through the lens of multiple identities, further entrenching the label’s influence. Additionally, the cultural practice of personifying alters is not an inherent feature of dissociation but a learned framework shaped by media, clinical expectations, and community narratives. Recognizing these feedback loops allows for a more critical and flexible approach to understanding dissociative experiences beyond rigid diagnostic categories.
culture DID dynamic nominalism Hacking identity looping kinds philosophy
10 minutes
June 2024
DID is (mostly) a culture-bound disorder
DID is a culture-bound disorder, meaning cultural narratives heavily shape how it is understood and experienced. While the underlying dissociative phenomena may be real, the “multiple people in one body” model is not inherent but a learned framework shaped by cultural expectations. How one conceptualizes their dissociation influences how it manifests, reinforcing a feedback loop. Given these strong cultural influences, the diagnostic criteria for DID should be reworked to remove bias and better reflect the underlying dissociative experiences.
conceptualization culture DID Hacking identity looping kinds
5 minutes
December 2023
The sensationalized conceptualization of DID
Dissociative identity disorder is often conceptualized through the dominant cultural narrative of “multiple people living in the same body”. However, this framework is not the only way to understand the disorder, nor does it reflect everyone’s lived experience. In this post, I critique the sensationalized portrayal of DID and explore how this narrative has been shaped by therapeutic techniques, social influences, and media representation. I share my personal perspective as someone with DID who experiences dissociation as a compartmentalization of internal experience rather than as multiple identities. By distinguishing between the disorder itself and the cultural framework often used to describe it, I argue for a more nuanced, individualized understanding of DID—one that allows for diverse experiences rather than reinforcing a singular, dramatized portrayal.
autism conceptualization culture DID identity language narrative plurality
15 minutes