Question:
So then it sounds like you have used dissociation before the abduction. It is possible you have been dissociative to some extent since you were young and this just pushed it out into the open. That is common. A person can use dissociation for coping in childhood and then, as situations change and the person learns other coping skills, stop overtly using dissociation. But the ’seeds’ are there and the person clearly has the ability to dissociate. Then all it takes is a big enough stressor and the person will revert back to what worked in childhood. Dissociation is _very_ effective as a coping skill during trauma and stress. It is not very effective in coping in normal every day life for most people though, so if you don’t have to use it and can use something else most people do (unconsciously of course, it’s not like you pick and choose 
It is not uncommon for a person to have had alters in childhood and then ‘lost’ them in adulthood, only to have something happen (like the de*th of a perp) that jars them back into consciousness. Several people who post here have reported this. So, in this case you would have used dissociation in the past and this recent event just re-awakened what you already knew how to do in order to cope. Rainbow Colors (Jill) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks, to everyone who has responded so far. Here is some more Bckgrnd info about my question. On Sep 9th 2002, I was abducted and assaulted. I suffered from amnesia. My parents tell me that on the 11th, the day I was returned, I had refused to talk to anybody and perfered to stay huddled up in the corner. They also said that when I did finally begin to speak (that evening), it was in a child’s voice. (I later learned that this was Cassie, a seven year old alter) In the 10 mnths since the assault, I have had a barage of MP’s. Doctors, the police and my parents thought I was faking it to get attention but I wasn’t. That’s why I was wondering if it was possible for a teen to develop MPD/DID. But a few of my alters have told my S.O that they have been with me since I was a young child, even giving details about things I couldn’t remember. IE: class studies, or notes that my teacher had sent home that they hid… they told me where they were hidden and sure enough, there they were. Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
– The colors blend, the edges soften. Swirling and mixing we are becoming white light.
Response:
Thanks, to everyone who has responded so far. Here is some more Bckgrnd info about my question. On Sep 9th 2002, I was abducted and assaulted. I suffered from amnesia. My parents tell me that on the 11th, the day I was returned, I had refused to talk to anybody and perfered to stay huddled up in the corner. They also said that when I did finally begin to speak (that evening), it was in a child’s voice. (I later learned that this was Cassie, a seven year old alter) In the 10 mnths since the assault, I have had a barage of MP’s. Doctors, the police and my parents thought I was faking it to get attention but I wasn’t. That’s why I was wondering if it was possible for a teen to develop MPD/DID. But a few of my alters have told my S.O that they have been with me since I was a young child, even giving details about things I couldn’t remember. IE: class studies, or notes that my teacher had sent home that they hid… they told me where they were hidden and sure enough, there they were. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
Hi Giz. My original traumatic incident happened when I was around six, but factors related to the event kept me feeling afraid for years after. I think it was that continuum of fear that caused me to develop the alternate inner "personalities". milli
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
as far as i know there is no ultimate authoritative answer to that queswtion. but i believe that severe trauma at any time during any person’s lie is a powerful enough impetus for that kind of splitting. also, i subscribe to a bunch of the most recent theoretical work abotu the relatiosnhip between ptsd and disscoiation. i’ve read lots of arguments about it all, however. trill
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience
Yes, it is. Risa People who espouse the virtue of being brutally honest are often more interested in the brutality than the honesty.
Response:
it’s certainly not typical. — astri – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
From my understanding it is not possible for someone so old to develop D.I.D. their sense of self and identity are too well developed. to the best of my knowledge the current thinking is that for MPD to develop there must be severe and porlongued trauma starting at or before age 3. A traumatic event can cause older persons to experience other severe forms of dissociation however such as "dissociative amnesia" or a "dissociative fugue". in the latter a person often assumes another identify rather then dealing with the trauma. Fugue’s are generally short lived and tend to pss once the person has enough distance/saftey to process the event. bear in mind that I am not a professional of any sort.. just a person that has to live with a severe dissociative disorder .. and thus has done a lot of reading on the subject. for more detailed inforamtion I’d suggest either the Sidran institute: http://www.sidran.org/ or the "International Society for the Study of Dissociation": http://www.issd.org/ both have quiet good pages and lots of info on dissociation
Response:
Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
in the news a program was announced for local public schools that will have school counselors working with children because many of the children in the public school system suffer, are suffering right now, from ptsd due to exposure to v*olnce. then they listed many examples of v*olnce. also some examples of different kids and what their symptoms are and how the program, in its experimental stage in one school helped some kids. so i think somebody in this metropolitan area recognizes the rampant and culturally accepted/read "normalized" v*olnce in our culture and the many ways that it damages children who grow up to be us.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks, to everyone who has responded so far. Here is some more Bckgrnd info about my question. On Sep 9th 2002, I was abducted and assaulted. I suffered from amnesia. My parents tell me that on the 11th, the day I was returned, I had refused to talk to anybody and perfered to stay huddled up in the corner. They also said that when I did finally begin to speak (that evening), it was in a child’s voice. (I later learned that this was Cassie, a seven year old alter) In the 10 mnths since the assault, I have had a barage of MP’s. Doctors, the police and my parents thought I was faking it to get attention but I wasn’t. That’s why I was wondering if it was possible for a teen to develop MPD/DID. But a few of my alters have told my S.O that they have been with me since I was a young child, even giving details about things I couldn’t remember. IE: class studies, or notes that my teacher had sent home that they hid… they told me where they were hidden and sure enough, there they were.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Is it possible for a teenager to develop MPD/DID after a serious traumatic experience (IE: Rape)? I’ve heard only little kids can come up w/ alternate personalities. Please reply to question, I’ll explain more about my question. Thanks! Giz
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – So then it sounds like you have used dissociation before the abduction. It is possible you have been dissociative to some extent since you were young and this just pushed it out into the open. That is common. A person can use dissociation for coping in childhood and then, as situations change and the person learns other coping skills, stop overtly using dissociation. But the ’seeds’ are there and the person clearly has the ability to dissociate. Then all it takes is a big enough stressor and the person will revert back to what worked in childhood. Dissociation is _very_ effective as a coping skill during trauma and stress. It is not very effective in coping in normal every day life for most people though, so if you don’t have to use it and can use something else most people do (unconsciously of course, it’s not like you pick and choose It is not uncommon for a person to have had alters in childhood and then ‘lost’ them in adulthood, only to have something happen (like the de*th of a perp) that jars them back into consciousness. Several people who post here have reported this. So, in this case you would have used dissociation in the past and this recent event just re-awakened what you already knew how to do in order to cope. Rainbow Colors (Jill)
I saw my therapist yesterday. She says that I don’t have Dissociative Identity Disorder but Depersonalization Disorder. That’s like when I look in the mirror and I can’t recognize myself. She thinks I started dissociating when I left my biological parents and began transitioning into the life that i have now. B/c like.. I was a little itty bitty kid, only 2.5 and I got confused with what was real and what wasn’t real so I started creating what I thought should be real in my head. She also thinks that the voices I created to help me as a child (IE: Invisible friends) personified themselves after the assault, giving the illusion that I have DID/MPD. Funny thing is, the therapist I’m seeing now is the same therapist I saw during that transition stage. ~Giz
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