Dark Personalities

Take someone of average intelligence, or slightly less.

Add one therapist.

Mix with fairy tales where the witch is always bad, the fairy godmother always kind, and the child always good.

Sprinkle with a handbook on post-traumatic stress disorder.

Set in the forest until half-baked.

Copyright 2006, Lynn lynnsappho@hotmail.com

(This is a quick & dirty article. The author specifically invites comments or additional articles on the topic.)

So your friend/lover/child/brother/whoever has just told you they’re multiple (for the rest of this article let’s call them a Significant Other, or SO). AAAAAAHHHHHH!

Well, first of all, breathe. Your SO may have just told you this, but he (she… they – THEY! AUUUGH! Okay, breathe again) is/are the same person/people that he/she/they were yesterday.

No, really. Yes, they have chosen to share something identity-altering with you, and yes, things will probably change. But if they always leave their socks lying around… they will probably always leave their socks lying around. And if they have held down a job for the last 5 years, chances are they’ll be going off to work as usual. And whatever your connection has been, it’s still there – and is probably about to get stronger, because that’s what honesty and openness tends (in the long run) to do.

What you probably want to know is:

- are they crazy or sick?
- do they love/like me?
- am I in danger?
- what if SOMEONE ELSE wants to talk to me?
- what should I do? what can I do to help?
- what made them this way?

Bear in mind that the best person to be asking is your SO. But you’re here on the Internet for some reason – you want to think, you want support, you want ideas, whatever – so we’ll take you through a few of them.

- crazy? sick?

Well – what do you think? The reason I ask is that there are definitely multiples whose lives are less than ideal – they may be struggling with self-esteem issues, issues around abuse, issues around sexuality, or life skills issues like holding down a job. There are multiples who need a great deal of support, just like there are singletypes (non-multiples) who need it. But there are also multiples who are average, or exceptionally successful.

I don’t know where your SO fits into that. But I do know, from years of meeting other multiples – and a lifetime of being one – that multiplicity is not necessarily the deciding factor.

The process of finding out that one is multiple is like a mid-life crisis on acid – it is possibly making your SO feel crazy and possibly sick. But they’re not automatically that way. I’d ask them, and also observe for yourself. When in doubt, assume they’re not. They probably aren’t either.

- do they love/like me?

Well, probably they all have different feelings about you. But. If they’re sharing this with you, I’d put money that AT LEAST one person really loves/likes and trusts you. Unless they want you to give them thousands of dollars. Then I might be suspicious.

- am I in danger?

Of… what? Oh, okay, let me guess – you’re wondering if a Dark Alter is going to come out at night and kill you, or harm people around you (like kids).

It’s very unlikely that this will happen for a wide variety of reasons that may or may not be covered in a future article. I wish I could say that the answer is unequivocably no, but the fact is that – just like the general population – there are a TINY percentage of multiples who do shitty things. But if this were going to happen to you, it probably already would have. Unless you are finding arsenic in your cupboards, I’d relax about this one.

- what if SOMEONE ELSE wants to talk to me?

Well, most likely they already have and you didn’t know it. See? That was easy.

But now that you know about the possibility, chances are good that someone else – meaning someone other than whoever you think your SO is – will want to talk to you. Otherwise they wouldn’t have shared that they’re multiple.

You may be skeptical about the whole thing and want to prove that they are all the same person, or you may be scared about dealing with people who are different – little kids, for example. Here’s my advice, which is to be taken with a grain of salt: give it a few months. In the meantime, ask them. Say “what if a little kid talks to me?” Let them tell you what they want and need.

What should I do? What can I do to help?
The biggest gift you can give your SO – or SOs, as you may discover that more than one person is already attached to you – is to listen to them and try to get to know them.

If there’s one thing I would like to get across in this rambly piece it’s that they are a package deal. It’s like Siamese twins. You aren’t going to be able to choose who is there. THEY can’t choose who is there.

You ARE going to be able to choose whether you will treat them with respect. And respect is the best foundation going forward. Look for the health in the system. Honour both their similarities and cohesiveness, and separateness and differences. Specifically, it helps to let everyone know that they are appreciated as members of an extended family, so to speak.

Other than that, help is going to depend on who they are, and what your lives are like. Most multiples don’t need help so much as acceptance.

- what made them this way?

Parents especially may be wondering this. To read the literature you would think that coming out multiple means everyone in the family was beating them every day or something horrible like that.

But there are many origin stories for multiples. Some multiples believe they were simply born that way; others believe it’s a function of reincarnation; still others believe they originate in trauma. Some believe all three. No one really knows. Even those who claim ALL multiples are trauma-based cannot explain why some abused kids become multiple and some don’t.

My advice is: unless your SO cares, you shouldn’t either. The important thing is that they are here now.

Copyright Shandra 2006 Email: shandra_lemarath@hotmail.com

A weekend spent with books on multiplicity (reprinted with permission from http://www.multiplicity.ca)

Recently I gave into the urge to spend a few days curled up in bed with an armful of books and just read the weekend away. I had popped by the libary and taken out some of the older books that come up under a search on “multiple personality” so I dragged that pile up and added it to a stack of the books I own on the subject. I read all the library books and flipped through some of the rest.

I regret that Sybil and The Three Faces of Eve weren’t in the pile, but I may add in some thoughts on those later if I uncover some copies.

So I lined them up next to the bed, kind of as follows. I have noted publication dates and which are biographies/case studies and which are autobiographies.

1988 Through Divided Minds by Robert Mayer Case studies
1991 Satan’s Children by Robert Mayer Case studies
1987 Nightmare by Lucy Freeman Biography
1991 Jennifer and Her Selves by Dr. Gerald Schoenewolf Case study
1995 The Magic Daughter by Jane Phillips Autobiography
1991 The Flock by Joan Frances Casey Autobiography
1997 Silencing the Voices by Jean Darby Cline Autobiography
1987 When Rabbit Howls by the troops for Truddi Chase Autobiography
1999 First Person Plural by Cameron West Autobiography

I was struck by how things are gradually changing in the multiple literature. The first that hit me was that the case studies imposed a generally entirely different language on the experience. As one might expect, the language was more clinical. It also tended to be more overblown. The most dramatic example was Nightmare which seemed to be one long dissertation on pitying someone who was multiple. Jennifer was particularly horrifying in that it was really the story of a therapist that crosses the line to enmeshment with a client, and she displays a lot of fake integrations and things to please him. Or at least it seemed that way to me. I had a hard time finishing that one.

However there was some hope in Robert Mayer’s books. While he was clearly under the same influences as other therapists were in the 1980s, he explained how his own perceptions were changed. His look at SRA was particularly touching to me as he was willing to deal with his own doubts very openly.

The autobiographies were also showing some development, at least in my opinion. When Rabbit Howls was about the first and really prescient, if you ask me. The problem with it for me has always been that it’s so open that it’s almost bizarrely hard to follow. Of course this may be me just not following it. But it reads a lot like confusion to me – in other words, it expresses almost too clearly the process it describes.

It is also very much a survivor book, and follows in a way the revenge plot. But it is also just a plain old unique book. More in a minute.

The Flock, Silencing, and The Magic Daughter all to me fit a model which I call the “integration story.” Multiple comes to therapy, discovers she is multiple, and the kind and gentle therapist (this guide is critical) helps her to integrate. All is well. This is not to negate them. The Flock to me is the first book that demonstrates how talented and functional a multiple can be. Silencing was probably the most disturbing — not because of the actual book, but because of the husband’s postscript where he says “I believe my wife split only into as many pieces as she needed to.” Um… all right. How smart of her. The Magic Daughter expresses a lot of day to day struggles, and sometimes comes off a bit whiny. But I kind of appreciated the minutiae of it.

First Person Plural is not a book that I totally enjoyed. I got all wrapped up in how the guy had to quit his job immediately upon diagnosis and how rich he was and how a lot of the book seemed to be an apology to his wife. But after lining up all these books, it struck me that other than Truddi Chase’s book, it is the only one that offers no integration – and no apologies.

It also is a book where the protagonist – Cameron – switches therapists several times as a matter of course. The therapist is not as central to the story as the process that he follows. And to some extent the abuse takes a back seat.

Out of this small sample of a small body of literature I got a sense of movement that I’m finding quite empowering.

The first thing is the change of language and description when it comes to members of a multiple system or “alters.” Cameron West’s book opens with a description of “My Guys.” The Flock is again a description of a group of equal members. In the earliest or therapist-based literature there is a frequent tendency to impose a hierarchy, to talk about alters and memory traces/keepers, and blah blah blah. So in a way things are moving away from putting people in boxes like bacteria.

The second is the loss of the therapist as central. In the earliest literature it seems that the therapists were the writers. Then the clients started writing as well. Finally the therapist drops out as the critical catalyst. The multiple system itself becomes the star of the show.

The third is the role of abuse. Understandably, a lot of the literature focuses on tracking down “WHY am I multiple” and walking through the horror of memory. But gradually a sense emerges of the present; the multiple as a way of living now, as opposed to a series of puzzle pieces to the past.

Through all this, Truddi Chase’s book remains a kind of enigma, for here her system has chosen to describe the inner world without a central narrator (that’s easy to find). The result for me as a reader is distraction; I’m obsessing with point of view and chronology. However it may be the most authentic. I think this took unique courage and really incredible talent. I am a bit uncomfortable with it though because I think it has set public perception on edge a bit. It’s hard to understand… therefore they may have stopped listening, at least up to First Person Plural. This is in no way the author’s responsibility. But for me as a reader who has a personal stake in the multiplicity, it makes me uncomfortable.

So I left the weekend with a sense of movement. I think that the transition from therapist written literature to first person literature has been largely a positive one that is nearly complete. I also felt that the sense that one started to develop about multiple systems being in a sense self-driven towards health – that it didn’t depend on one therapist dragging them along kicking and screaming – is hugely positive. It gave me a sense of hope that more stories will continue to be told that express the fullness of multiplicity and not just abuse, abuse, hardship, integration.

And so, dearest reader, when you venture forth into the literature may you find truth and good writing, in that order, and keep your critical hat on.

Copyright 1999 by Teresa

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“But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself and, by heavens I tell you, it had gone mad.” – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

Darkness is the jungle with its poisonous vines and snakes; rare flowers and waterfalls. It is the night with its secrets. It is permissive, destructive, lust-filled.

In many models of multiplicity, those individuals who are ‘dark’ are those who do not adhere to the view that one must be good. They may be ruthless, savage, and brutal. They may also be tender, resolute, and loving. What they are not is willing to conform to a particular ideal of behaviour.

Some therapists and their clients have thought to banish such people: to surround them with rules and cages, or in some cases eliminate them. Others have denigrated them as posturing, goth-addled fools.

Dark Personalities was begun by the Anachronic Army to provide a space where all in a multiple system might express themselves without fear of being banned for saying what often goes unsaid; to eliminate the idea of a “safe” place for discussion and instead discuss that which is not safe.

Although the list is as fluid as its members and trends come and go, it remains committed to freedom of expression. We continue to invite those who are dark to exercise their voices, alongside those who are not. The results are not always pleasing, but they are often authentic.

copyright Lynn Sappho, lynnsappho@hotmail.com

Simply put, multiplicity or being multiple is about having more than one person inside one’s head.

Of course that is not an entirely simple concept.

More than one person – the question of belief
The Catholic Church, among others, has stated that there may only be one soul within a body. This is one of the strongest statements of the “one-to-a-body” rule that dominates society, particularly Western society.

Additional beings may be considered demons and exorcised, or in the case of a few religions, gods and welcomed as co-inhabitants (the loa of Voudoun being an example), or dismissed as fantasy.

In modern secular Western society this view essentially comes down to either:
1) More than one person to a body is a mental illness (the medical model)
2) People who think they are more than one person are deluding themselves, have been deluded by someone such as a psychologist, or are deliberately deluding others for attention (not only a popular view, but one also held by many health professionals)

All of these are questions of belief. There is no way to prove or disprove that there are or are not several people in a particular head, never mind whether they “ought” to be there. One may observe external behaviours (such as changes in manner, speech, personality, and abilities) and interpret them: delusion, possession, simple fact. But to date there is no litmus test to give to a large statistical sample to discover who is alone in their head and who has company (if any).

A word of caution here, however. In attempting to understand multiplicity many compare it to a creative process, such as writing or roleplaying. To quote one of my system mates, the difference is between “a character who would never wear clothes like yours, and a character who physically throws out your clothes, runs up your credit card buying their own, and writes for a fashion magazine during those Sunday afternoons you find go by so quickly.”

Inside one’s head – the question of disorder, or, whose head?
Being multiple is considered disordered by many professionals and most of society: formerly called (and still called in some countries) multiple personality disorder (MPD), this state is now called (in North America) dissociative identity disorder (DID).

The use of DID to describe a state of multiplicity is inherently biased towards a particular world view: it presumes that there is one person (the one-to-a-body rule) who is deluded into a belief that he or she is more than one person, or dissociated from his or her self.

Because traumatic events have been shown to cause dissociation and depersonalization (producing post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD), it is often presumed that any “one” (group of people) who considers him/her/themselves multiple has experienced trauma, particularly childhood trauma related to abuse.

Also, it can be difficult to understand how a group of people sharing a body may live in what is considered a coherent, joyful manner – even to those who are working to do so.

In the quest to normalize human experience to “one-to-a-body,” many people – professionals, significant others, and multiples themselves – have grappled with the question of how to find “THE” person who owns the body/life/car (if there is a car). This leads to pressure to find “the host” (whoever runs daily life); “the core” (the first person); and “the alters” (all the rest), and to get rid of the alters however is most convenient.

The experience of being
While there are many who will agree to one degree or another with some of the beliefs presented above, there are also many multiples who believe:

1) they are multiple (share their body) which may or may not be as a result of trauma
2) they do not need to change that particular fact

This site is generally biased towards that viewpoint.

My particular name is Lynn and I have been considered an “alter,” a “dark alter,” an “aspect,” a “cult-loyal part,” and a delusion. I am only rarely the public face of my system and most people who interact with us do not know me very well. I am certainly not the original child, if there would be such a person. I am also a poet, singer, mother, lover, and someone who makes a good cup of cappucino.

The following list, except where noted, is reposted with permission from http://howlingthunder.net/defining/terminology.html. As terminology is an ongoing discussion we invite comments and have added other definitions.

There are a lot of terms used on this site and within the multiple community which you might not be familiar with. I’m going to attempt to define them for you now. This list was originally taken, with permission, from The Anachronic Army at Dark Personalities. [Their site is no longer extant.] I have made some changes to make this list more reader friendly and have even made some additions to it.

Please note…this is just a guideline and is by no means meant to be the ‘rules’. If the multiple you are involved with uses different terminology or is not comfortable with the terms here … DO NOT …. tell them they are wrong or that they cannot use the terminology they are happy with. And PLEASE, if you are not sure what they mean by a term they use, ASK … I really think they will be thrilled that you care and I see no reason why they won’t explain it for you.

Age Slider – Person in a system whose age changes. One day they might be eight, and the next they might be 23.

Alter – Term given for a person in a multiple system. Is considered to be very derogatory by many multiples. Maggie from House of Ghosts posted the following to a list we are on and I think it gives a VERY good reason for why this term should always be used with care: “If alter is used because it implies equality with who the main fronter (host) is switching with, as I feel “to alternate” does, using the word alter is in no way stuck up thinking. If alter is meant to imply lesser than the main fronter (host), it is a gross and disgusting word.”

[comment: Lynn - "Consider whether a sibling would wish to be known as "the other one."]

[Added: Lynn]
Astral – A disputed term for “headspace” that is shared by people outside a multiple system – there is one’s own private thoughts and or personal inner world, and there is external reality, and then there may be a shared place in between. [end of addition]

Being Out – The experience of being the one in the body at the time. The person who is out may or may not be co-conscious with others in the body who are near the front.

Blurring – When one’s identity feels uncertain because of the potential of others in the system being close to the front. May occur during co-consciousness.

Channelling – Allowing a spirit or other entity to speak through a person. People who channel may or may not be multiple, but there are certainly crossovers between multiplicity and channelling.

Claudia – (noun) – Term given to children in a system who have the mentality of adults. They might say they are are 7 or 8 years old, and yet have been that age for decades, with enough life experience to make them adults mentally. I, personally have not found this term to be widely used and do not use it in reference to my own system.

CO-conscious – The state where two or more people in a multiple system have a telepathic link with each other, and are able to share some things or everything, almost as if they were one person. Not all systems achieve co-consciousness and others seem to come by it either with a lot of work and effort or quite naturally.

Co-present – The experience of more than one person fronting at once; more than one person forward or out at the same time, without necessarily being able to know what other people fronting are thinking.

Collective – See System.

Community – See System.

Core – Term used for the person assumed to be the “original” or “real” one. It is not difficult to understand, therefore, why many multiples find this term offensive – particularly systems which started out multiple, rather than one splitting into many. Often singlets assume that the host is the core.

Covert Switching – The act of one person taking over the body without completely fronting. An example is when a member of a system suddenly finds themselves doing something they were not aware of doing … perhaps while swallowing a cup of coffee that someone else within the system got, but left before really completing the act of drinking it. Another example would be someone wanting to turn left, yet finding the body turning right because someone ‘covertly’ took over.

DDNOS – Dissociative Disorder not Otherwise Specified

Dissociative Identity Disorder – A diagnosis given to multiples in therapy. It does not fit multiples who have gotten past the disorder phase, and learned to work together. The definition itself suggests there is only one “real” person who’s deluded into thinking he or she is many.

[added: Lynn]
Dissociation: there is much confusion around this term; it largely depends on one’s point of view. In a dissociative state people often feel that they are not in control; that someone else is performing tasks for them. They may not even remember the tasks or the details. One example is during an accident, people will say that they came to aid victims without consciously choosing to do so, or that nothing seemed real to them (their perceptions were altered).

Certainly being in a multiple system can seem dissociative, if others are fronting. Also, people within a multiple system may dissociate themselves (from feelings or for other reasons). [end of addition]

DSM-IV – Stands for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition. It is within this manual that the diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder can be found. Empowered Multiples have dropped the diagnostic label, as it no longer suits them.

Earth world – Term some multiples use to describe the world they share with those not in their body. It is the world that we share with you, as opposed to our other world.

Empowered Multiples – There is still a lot of debate of what this term means, exactly. Basically, it’s a term given to multiples who have moved out of the victim stance, and into a more self-sufficient and empowered way of living. Empowered multiples are systems who see multiplicity as good and beneficial as opposed to a “disorder”. The are able to self-define and not rely on outside forces for acceptability and to say what is “normal”.

FMS – Abbreviation for False Memory Syndrome.

False Memory Syndrome – The belief that memories recovered during hypnosis in therapy are false. People who believe in False Memory Syndrome tend to believe that multiples are not real. This belief is based on the assumption that all multiples claim abuse histories, that all multiples are in therapy, and that all multiples have had their memories recovered via hypnosis. There are plenty of sites which debunk False Memory Syndrome, which isn’t even a real syndrome in the DSM-IV.

Family – Some systems and therapists refer to a system as a family but since there are way too many adults in some groups, that does not fit for them – still implies that there should be one or two heads of household.

Fluffy – Derogatory term used to describe multiples who need to be heavily protected from the outside world using spoilers and trigger warnings.

Fronting – Being at the front; act of being out in the body. E.g..”John was out in the earth world, so he was fronting.”

Group – See System.

Host – 1. Term given to the person who is at the front the most. It is considered derogatory by many in the multiple community. 2. In the otherkin community, host is the term used for multiples in general. Rather than using the term to imply one person who leads the show, it means the entire collective. If you get confused at the usage by a group of multiples you encounter, ask them for clarification.

Household – See System.

Implings – A term coined by the Bravadai system for the kids in their system. I like it, I use it, so I’m including it. I kind of hope it catches on. It’s much better (in my opinion) than “littles” but with more personality than “kids” or “children”.

Inner World – See Other World. Some people see “inner world” as inaccurate, because it implies something that is imaginary or only in one’s mind rather than an alternate reality. Hence the reason many multiples are calling it an other world rather than an inner one.

Integration – A controversial act where all the people in a multiple system merge into one. This is a heated issue in the community, but most feel it should be a unanimous decision of everyone in a particular system whether or not to integrate or stay separate. Either way, this is probably not a subject that should be dealt with when a multiple is in the beginning stages of discovering themselves.

Introject – A person, real or fictitious, from the earth world which is internalized by the multiple system and becomes a part of their world. May or may not have as much substance as the other people in the system. The term is considered derogatory by many multiples.

Labelhound – Any ‘expert’ book writer who just LOOOOVES the labels and is openly publicly disdainful of the empowered or even the self-supporting multiple community. See quote from Kluft, in Ian Harkings book about MPD.

Lil – Slang for ‘little’. A person under the age of 13 in a system. Most feel this term to be derogatory, and would rather refer to their children as kids.

Little – See lil.

Losing Time – The experience of being inside while someone else was out, and missing the chunk of time that they were there. Losing time can also occur when a person in the system is out, but cannot retain memories of events.

Merge – See integration.

Mid-Continuum – Being somewhere on the spectrum between multiple and singlet. Since many people feel the idea of a continuum to be inaccurate, many are seeking a new term instead of mid-continuum.

Mind Control – A process used by some groups and individuals to control or program other people. Often seen with victims of Satanic Ritual Abuse. Abbreviated as “MC”.

Monomind – Self evident- singleton

MPD/DID – Abbreviation for Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder. The diagnosis found in the DSM-IV for multiplicity.

Multiple – Two or more people who use the same body; The experience of sharing the body with others. May or may not be associated with losing time, hearing voices, having an other world.

Multiplicity – The state of being multiple.

Multiple Personality Disorder – See Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Natural Multiples – Multiples which developed naturally without being created by abuse and/or trauma.

Not Switching – Most of the time, multiples actually do not switch overtly. Rather, they commonly experience internal switches where selves influence feelings and actions rather than coming “out” to take full control of the body. This creates sensations like hearing words coming out of your mouth that don’t belong to you, seeing the world as if you are taller or shorter, having someone else’s feelings and thoughts overlapping your own, and so on. This covert, behind-the-scenes action is usually hard for anyone on the outside to notice (although experienced therapists will often say things like “Is there someone behind you right now?”, sensing the hidden influence). For this reason, multiples can realistically go for decades with no one, including themselves, being aware of their MPD.

Otherkin – People in a multiple system who are not human. Often they are walk-ins, claiming to be older than the body in which they reside, and having physical traits very different from the body itself. Multiples are often hosts to otherkin.

Other World – Also known as an “inner world”. This is the alternate reality where people in many multiple systems go when they are not out in the body. It should be noted that not all multiples have an ‘other world’ per se. And many are much more detailed, intricate and large than others.

Outsider – Person outside of the multiple system.

Parts – Very derogatory term in our view- kind of like ‘alters’ but seems to be bandied about alot by people who say that they are DDNOS. Maybe they don’t get the whole being separate thing and can’t imagine that it is real just more of the same of what they live.

Peanut Gallery – I have often heard multiples refer to the ‘peanut gallery’. They, of course are speaking of the peanut gallery within their head. This is something that can be a real issue….it can lead to someone having a conversation ‘with themself’ while you have no idea what they are talking about. Personally, I find it rather interesting to watch (although not always as fun to participate in).

Personality – A word used to describe a person in a multiple system. Many multiples are offended by this term and it is used more by Outsiders than within the multiple community. It is no longer used in the empowered multiple community at all in that capacity. It is now used as something a person in a system has. E.g.. “Daimon of the Anachronic Army has a dark personality.”

Possession – When the body is controlled by some entity or person who did not originate in the body. Often seen as demons, these walk-ins are frequently just people within the multiple system who are unwanted – either by someone in the multiple system itself, or by outsiders.

Riding Shotgun – Sitting directly behind or along side someone who is out front without being co-present or co-conscious.

Satanic Ritual Abuse – Psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault forced on an unwilling victim and committed by one or more Satanists according to a prescribed ritual, the primary aim of which is to fulfill the need to worship the Christian devil, Satan. Also written as SRA.

Sadistic Ritual Abuse – Psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault committed by one or more people according to a prescribed ritual, whose primary motive is to either fulfill a need to abuse others, or to program the victim so that they can be precisely controlled in the future. Also written as SRA.

Singlet – A person who does not share their body with anyone else; someone who is not in a multiple system. Many find this term derogatory, so the term singletype was suggested as an alternative.

Singleton – See singlet.

Singletype – The more polite term for a person who is alone in their body. See singlet.

[added: Lynn]
Soulbond: – A soulbond is an individual with roots in external literature, art, or mythology (for example, if one has a character from a play within one’s system). [end of addition]

Snarfplat – See singlet. A facetious name for singlets which caught on.

Split – The act of one or more people in a multiple system creating a new person, either on purpose or by accident. Considered by many in the community to be derogatory.

Splitting Time – Bodysharing a way for some systems to kind of describe to others their way of living- we splitshift or splittime.

Spoiler – Putting *s in place of vowels of a word. E.g.. G*d instead of God. This is used on many lists and forums to avoid offending or triggering others there.

SPuD – See singlet. Stands for “Single Personality Disorder”. Some people find it offensive, others don’t.

Survivor – Person who has been through abuse and/or trauma and is in the process of dealing with the after affects of said abuse/trauma. These are people who have moved beyond being a victim and are on the road to healing.

Survivor Multiple – A multiple system where one or many people in the system have survived abuse and/or trauma. Again, these are systems who have moved beyond being victims and are on the road to healing.

System – An alternate term for a multiple which is meant to encompass all of those who make up that particular group, rather than referring to an individual within that group. The following are also some alternatives to the term multiple: community, tribe, household, group, collective, house, clan.

Switching – The act of one person in a multiple system going inside the system, while another one comes to the front.

Tribe – See System.

Trigger Warning – A warning placed in the title of an e-mail or post to let possible readers know that the content might trigger them.

Trigger – An object, scent, sound, touch or experience which causes something to happen in the system. It could either cause a certain person to come to the front, or it could cause the person at the front to react a certain way, possibly going into anxiety attacks. However, memories that are stimulated by a trigger can be bad or good.

UIL – Abbreviation for “using I loosely”. It is used when a post or conversation uses the pronouns “I” or “me” throughout, since switching pronouns from I to we might get a little confusing.

Walk-in – A person in a multiple system which came from outside the body. This might be the result of channelling, possession, or unexplained phenomena. Often otherkin in a system are walk-ins.

YUCK – Sound that some multiples make when having to explain for the thirty-third time that no one but us gets to describe our lives, we think that calling us a dissociative identity disordered is rude and NO dissociation does not fit since everyone dissociates but NOT everyone gets to be multiple and how in the heck can someone dissociate and ride shotgun at the same time.

copyright Hyjinx, the Anachronic Army (except where noted)

This is the companion website to the Topica Dark Personalities List and is devoted to multiplicity (multiple personality disorder, or MPD, or dissociative identity disorder, or DID, are other common terms).

Please use the index for a list of titles, or the categories in the right hand sidebar to navigate the site, or the archives to browse chronologically.

If you are new to thinking about multiples you will likely want to start with What is multiplicity? The newest articles will appear directly below this one.

There is a blog for the site located here, where topics discussed on the list are posted as well as a blogroll of participants who wish to have their sites listed.

The main site is also contained in Wordpress format but is designed to store more general information about multiplicity. Comments are welcome on any of the pieces as are submissions. Individual authors retain copyright of their pieces.