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Comforting Your Alters
Learn to help yourself stay calm
Those with dissociative identity disorder (DID) who live with alters sometimes have difficulty knowing what to do when an alter (or more than one, which is common) gets upset or scared. What do you do to calm them and bring them comfort?
This article will focus on soothing your alters fears and anxiety.
What are Alters in a DID System?
Now that you have been diagnosed with DID, you may understand better what you have probably known your entire life: that you have alters. What are alters, and what do they do?
Alters are parts of your psyche that were created unconsciously by the brain to cope with the trauma you were experiencing as a child. These alters have different genders, interests, and ways of viewing the world.
Some people have as few as two alters or more than one hundred, also known as polyfragmentation. People call their alters many names, such as parts, head mates, or self-states.
Alters are heard both inside and outside your head and are often experienced as being out of one’s control and unpredictable before intense treatment.
Learning to Communicate with Alters
