April 2025
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
Amnesia in DID is really just disavowal
Dissociative amnesia is often seen as an unavoidable loss of memory, but it is better understood as an active act of disavowal—a psychological rejection of unbearable experiences rather than passive forgetting. By understanding and deconstructing the mechanism behind my amnesia, I was able to significantly reduce it. Healing has not been about retrieving lost memories but about dismantling the barriers that kept them inaccessible in the first place.
amnesia conceptualization DID mechanism narrative plurality symptoms
7 minutes
March 2023
Why do I call myself “polyfragmented”?
The word I like best to describe my flavor of DID is polyfragmented. Polyfragmented is most commonly referred to to mean someone who has a lot of parts and/or splits parts in a complex manner. I believe I exhibit both. In a more traditional case of DID, it is my understanding that a person has a relatively small number parts that are more well defined. They only have a few compartments of memory, thus allowing them to spend more time in each compartment, so each compartment has more time to develop a distinct way of being.
autism DID polyfragmented reddit symptoms
6 minutes
… it’s about childhood trauma. Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) can be thought of as a coping mechanism one may develop when they experience repeated trauma in early childhood. It is arguably one of the most misunderstood and controversial mental health conditions, perhaps because it’s been repeatedly sensationalized in the media. Or, maybe because the name and clinical description of the disorder implies that it’s about having multiple identities or personality states.
6 minutes