So there is a new movie coming out in January called Split (this is the trailer and could have potential triggers in it, stay safe) feel compelled to talk about. The short of it is a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder kidnaps three teenage girls for reasons not shown in the trailer. Theres talk of “The Beast” but its made unclear if this is a personality or an outside force.
There are several reasons why this movie is offensive to us who have DID, one of the major ones is we are consistently portrayed in a negative light, used for a cheap twist, or heavily dramatized with the main focus being on the “horrific abuse” instead of the person.
I’d ask you not to give money to this film, but if you want to go see it I can’t stop you, I can only inform you of facts about DID and what it is not:
- Dissociative Identity Disorder is formed at a young age (usually between 6-9) before the child really has a defining sense of self. It comes from repetitive, ongoing trauma from one or more perps. It is a survival mechanism so a child is able to function day to day, and so they can attach to their abuser/s or stand to be around them, because very often the child doesn’t have anyone else to attach to. It is essential for children to form attachments.
- DID is typically not noticeable. Switches are not as dramatic as the media would like you to believe. This is meant to be a covert disorder meant to protect the system. Switches can happen for any reason and not just because of a trigger. The alter out could simply be tired, or not want to do something (”I don’t want to go to work”/”I don’t want to clean”).
- Alters are meant to protect and they always serve a purpose even if they don’t “make sense” to anyone who would see them from the outside. Here is a list of alters who can appear in a system. See how none of them appear to be explicitly dangerous the public? Even if an alter in childhood was forced to hurt someone, he/she did it under extreme duress and are ultimately not responsible for those actions they had to take to protect themselves or someone else. Alters who are considered dangerous by any measure of the word are dangerous to the system, not other people. And even then they need to be understood and not feared (as hard as it is). They are doing a function (whether it be self-harm or other dangerous behaviors) which was something they have deemed necessary for survival. Which, again, is what DID is all about. These behaviors can continue long after the threat is gone.
- Sometimes you don’t even black out completely. You can remember pieces of conversation, or you are doing something called “co-consciousness” which allows two or more alters to being out at the same time, doing tasks together in different degrees of co-con.
- People with DID are not any more dangerous than anyone else, mentally ill or otherwise. People who have mental illnesses are actually more likely to be victims of violence than to be perpetrators.
- Here is a page about myths and misconceptions. This website is full of good, reliable info, and is a website created by systems. If you would like a couple informative tumblr blogs run by systems theres whynot-dissociativedegu, if-we-were-to-tell-the-truth, and thisisnotdissociative.
What I’m trying to get across here is the trope of “evil personality” is false. Alters are not evil, they do not exist merely to cause destruction and are extremely unlikely to go out and hurt someone. An alter may have been told they are evil, and state this when they are out, but in reality it is something they were forced to believe because at the time there was no other option.
We are not dangerous. We are just trying to survive and live our life. Dissociative Identity Disorder is not a crutch for a writer to use to create a weak villain, or to do a cheap twist.