When just about anyone finds out that they have a disorder, one of their first questions is “What are my treatment options?”. With Dissociative Identity Disorder, there are ultimately two treatment options: integration and becoming a cohesive team. If you’ve been diagnosed with DID, this article will go over the two treatment options so you can all make an educated decision on what to do next!
Table of Contents
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER
Because of the nature of D.I.D., it’s possible that something in this article could be triggering to your system. Please use caution and your best judgement when reading this article. Safety first!
Disclaimer: We are not doctors, therapists, or mental health professionals. We’re just a bunch of alters that are speaking from personal experience to help other systems live their best lives.
Integrate
When it comes to DID, integrating means to attempt to merge all of your alters into a singular identity. Therapists that heavily believe in this model will frequently refer to alters as “parts” because they believe each alter is a “part of a whole person”. Because of this, integration is the attempt to create a whole person from an assortment of “parts”.
In order to integrate, each alter will need to remember or relive their trauma and fully come to terms with it. From there, each headmate will be encouraged to say goodbye to their individuality so that they can mesh with the rest of the alters in the headspace. If any alter refuses, the process will not be complete. Once this has been done with every alter, the belief is that you will be cured because you will be fully integrated back into a singular being.
**Pro tip: Please be aware that there are many professionals that do not believe that integration is truly possible. They think that what is most likely happening is a temporary heightened state of coconsciousness between alters that will be dissolved with any significant stress.
**Pro tip: The systems that run this site do not agree or believe in integration. If you’d like to know why, please check out this article about why we choose not to integrate. As with all things in life, this is ultimately your choice.
Become A Team
Alternatively, you and your headmates can choose to become a unified team. This entails meeting your alters, learning how to share the body, discovering how to get along, and all around working together as a loving group.
With this route, no one has to relive their trauma and no one has to merge with anyone else. Every alter can maintain their own personal thoughts, feelings, and desires.
With this model of treatment, your body isn’t seen as “broken”; it’s seen as having a highly evolved coping mechanism and you’re treated as such. Each alter is treated with equal respect and admiration for what they have accomplished and for who they are becoming.
Your traumas, if they are ever visited, are not seen as events that broke you and stole things from you. They’re seen as adversity that each of your alters powerfully overcame. You’re not a victim; you’re a victor.
Because you’re not seen as being sick or broken, there is no “cure”. There are just adjustments to your team’s structure as life ebbs and flows.
**Pro tip: Because of the focus of this site, we’re sure you can tell which way we lean! Our personal opinion is that becoming a team with your alters is an incredibly beautiful life experience and we sincerely hope that every system will at least give it an honest try. At the end of the day, this is your system’s choice.
How To Decide
The most important thing about deciding which treatment to pursue is finding out what your system wants. No matter what your system picks, it needs to be a group decision that includes each and every headmate.
In order to make an honest and consensual decision as a system, at the bare minimum, your system needs to be able to speak with each other in a safe and loving manner.
Once your system is able to communicate in an honest and kind way, here are some things for each alter to think about when trying to decide what to do:
- What are MY dreams/hopes/desires?
- What do I think I was created to do?
- What does my highest self look like?
- Which option would bring me closer to my dreams/what I was created to do/my highest self?
When each alter has thought about these things and has found answers that deeply resonate with them, it’s time to have a team meeting to see which direction everyone is thinking. From there, your system simply need to (LOVINGLY) talk things over with the headmates in the minority until everyone is in agreement.
What Next?
Now that your system knows about the two treatment options, what is the next step? If your system is still on the fence about if you should integrate or not, read this article about why our DID system chooses not to integrate our alters. If you’re ready to meet you headmates (to get either treatment started), check out our course, Meet The Alters. This course will help you to find your headmates, start talking to them, and to begin to develop a relationship with each of them!