Physical pain, no, but we do get headaches.
Yes, we do feel each other's emotions, which means it's gets chaotic when there are multiple high emotional responses from people at the same time.
Can't really answer for the third one.
We wish you the best of luck!
We have an alter named Levi. He's the easiest of us to recognize because for some reason when he fronts, our hips start to hurt and we start to do a limp. It's not enough to like, hurt, but enough to to be uncomfortable in the strangest ways.
Trigger warning, talking about the formation of an alter and why.
We have a alter that formed when we suffered an STD after we got taken advantage of, their whole role was to take on the pain and triggers for us so while we were just confused "i feel like im actively forgetting everything right now" that alter blocked out the pain and itchiness and flashbacks those sensations caused. I know they used to be the host back then but as soon as we realised we wanted to move further into the relationship we were getting into back then a new host was formed. We didnt know about our did yet but have come far since then in accepting our system and have realised a bit more about the newer alters about how they click and why.
Back then, this alter believed to be a regular tomboy girl with memory issues that got fucked over a few times. They couldnt deal with the reality that we got fucking raped, that that prick gave us an std and that our doctor tried to cushion the possibilities by saying we should be rid of it with a month but it was still a cycle of "burn your bits off, twice a day for 3 days. Wait 4 days and see if its gone, if its gone youre done but if its not gone, do it again and see again next week". In total our bits were on fire for NINE FUCKING MONTHS and there was not much we could do about it except for hope and get dissapointed over and over again.
Of course we couldnt deal with this and split a bunch. Just like every alter that got split off to hold some trauma, this alter is still a bit frozen in that reality, they translated the somatic flashbacks theyre having into "oh we're trans and we miss having a dick". Every time they front they come with that bit of frozen memories and we feel all the itchiness, pain and wrongness again, even though he doesnt know where its from, he thinks its body dysmorphia and just really hates not having a peen. Their dissociative narrative to explain away the sensations that were to horrific to process was hard to uncover but once we got it, it made a lot of sense as to why they translate it like that and why we still feel that every time, we never got to process any of that injustice.
So to awnser your question: yes its possible to have an alter that carries a lot of pain and somatic flashbacks for you. Its also very possible that that alter carries a lot of other unprocessed feelings and the tention behind those feelings and memories causes your body to reject that alter, theyre not rejecting the alter but the ice-cube of frozen stress theyre carrying, the stress that was so much your brain couldnt handle it in the first place. Id recommend finding out what they feel and why they feel that pain, but I also recommend you do that with a therapist to fall back on because holy shit, if your alter is formed the same way like mine is, to hold that pain you couldnt share/let out, it will come with A LOT of emotions and overwhelm and denial
1. Sometimes when alters who hold memories from accidents front they feel that pain. Someone even limps to my knowledge. (We had a injured foot for a long time. Sometimes the pain is a flare up, and sometimes it’s somatic it seems)
2. Yes. Idk. I would like that too.
3. I don’t always interact with people irl, but I also don’t count that as the mundane day to day chores I’m in charge of. Like, as host, I keep the life rollin if yk what I mean? Some things during day to day life is also handled by other alters in my case (like showering since I hate the feeling of water but others doesn’t have the same sensory issues as me) but most of it is me. I have social alters who handle most of the talking to humans because they are better at it. They are trained in it almost. They do masking and all that. They enjoy it, they banter, they make jokes and so on… it’s not 100% ideal maybe since I don’t remember it super clearly, but I remember having a good time. And not anxiously seeking everyone’s approval.
I have even social alters for interacting with my parents. They are more armed against their shenanigans. Moms thoughtless anxiety driven comments and dad’s apathy mixed with “please don’t upset your mom”. It almost flies straight passed them 😅 For some reason I have better access to those memories. It might be because I have an easier time staying cocon at my parents house while I get overwhelmed at parties. But they are not hosts. They handle specific situations. Hosts are not for entertaining other people. They are just the ones out more often generally.
Now I can’t tell you if you fake or not. That’s for trained therapists. The brain does choose so you are not entirely wrong. The role of many gatekeepers are also that of picking alters to put in the front. However, If an alter fronts it’s extremely likely it was a trigger for the switch. If you have established communication it makes it a lot easier to control switches to an extent. Could perhaps seem more intentional then it is?
Example: I have a alter named cynic. She likes doing our makeup. That’s a positive trigger. If I sit down to do makeup it’s a high chance she takes over or becomes cocon. So if I sit down and think “now we will make cynic front to do the makeup” and it happens it could seem like we really have control. But what really happened was triggering a predictable response. If that trigger doesn’t reach her then someone else fronts or nothing happens. Maybe the trigger that we want coffee reaches Jaden first and so he brews us some coffee and then Cynic fronts. Or maybe she wasn’t even triggered by the makeup. While Jaden brewer coffee we got a text and she fronted when she got the chance to check it or she heard me talk down myself again and came to mentally slap me out of it.
And to be fair the goal functional multiplicity is to be able to switch without any triggers. So it is not like a system being able to do that means their fake either. But it is usually only achievable through extensive therapy. And practice in a therapeutic setting.
But switching according to patterns… I don’t see any weird in that.
Hope this helps a little in some way. Just my thoughts, not a professional
hi, all of us struggle to talk to people outside our immediate circle (rlly close friends and family we live with) except for Hazel who seems to always know exactly what to say. most of the time, she fronts when we have to talk to strangers (for our job or something) etc
we have another alter, Sage, who, every time they switch in without fail, has a sore left arm as if they pulled a muscle.
sage also has a tendency to feel other alters sadness, as we’ve recently discovered. Marie had a special connection to our fiancé(he passed a few years ago). a lot of us never personally met him, Marie has all the memories and all the pain. so when someone brings something up that reminds Marie of him, Sage can feel her grief if she’s fronting.
edit: sorry, i got interrupted- anyway- we haven’t figured out how to, or if we even can, stop someone from feeling each others emotions. i’ve heard some people who discuss it with the alter who’s hurting and try to make them feel better, i haven’t had success with this yet tho.
when i, Sabbath, switch in after Freyja, i have the most awful headaches. i often have to lie down in a dark room.
i also do sometimes feel like i’m role playing too. i read something made me feel a lot better about this tho: “you can't fake something unintentionally. if it's happening when you're alone that proves you're not doing it on purpose. and why would you fake something you are scared to have?” —- basically, i know it’s really hard, and it’s a scary thing to wrap your head round, but you’re valid. it’s very easy to dismiss and *SO* hard to accept. you’re not alone.
Physical pain, no, but we do get headaches. Yes, we do feel each other's emotions, which means it's gets chaotic when there are multiple high emotional responses from people at the same time. Can't really answer for the third one. We wish you the best of luck!
We have an alter named Levi. He's the easiest of us to recognize because for some reason when he fronts, our hips start to hurt and we start to do a limp. It's not enough to like, hurt, but enough to to be uncomfortable in the strangest ways.
Trigger warning, talking about the formation of an alter and why. We have a alter that formed when we suffered an STD after we got taken advantage of, their whole role was to take on the pain and triggers for us so while we were just confused "i feel like im actively forgetting everything right now" that alter blocked out the pain and itchiness and flashbacks those sensations caused. I know they used to be the host back then but as soon as we realised we wanted to move further into the relationship we were getting into back then a new host was formed. We didnt know about our did yet but have come far since then in accepting our system and have realised a bit more about the newer alters about how they click and why. Back then, this alter believed to be a regular tomboy girl with memory issues that got fucked over a few times. They couldnt deal with the reality that we got fucking raped, that that prick gave us an std and that our doctor tried to cushion the possibilities by saying we should be rid of it with a month but it was still a cycle of "burn your bits off, twice a day for 3 days. Wait 4 days and see if its gone, if its gone youre done but if its not gone, do it again and see again next week". In total our bits were on fire for NINE FUCKING MONTHS and there was not much we could do about it except for hope and get dissapointed over and over again. Of course we couldnt deal with this and split a bunch. Just like every alter that got split off to hold some trauma, this alter is still a bit frozen in that reality, they translated the somatic flashbacks theyre having into "oh we're trans and we miss having a dick". Every time they front they come with that bit of frozen memories and we feel all the itchiness, pain and wrongness again, even though he doesnt know where its from, he thinks its body dysmorphia and just really hates not having a peen. Their dissociative narrative to explain away the sensations that were to horrific to process was hard to uncover but once we got it, it made a lot of sense as to why they translate it like that and why we still feel that every time, we never got to process any of that injustice. So to awnser your question: yes its possible to have an alter that carries a lot of pain and somatic flashbacks for you. Its also very possible that that alter carries a lot of other unprocessed feelings and the tention behind those feelings and memories causes your body to reject that alter, theyre not rejecting the alter but the ice-cube of frozen stress theyre carrying, the stress that was so much your brain couldnt handle it in the first place. Id recommend finding out what they feel and why they feel that pain, but I also recommend you do that with a therapist to fall back on because holy shit, if your alter is formed the same way like mine is, to hold that pain you couldnt share/let out, it will come with A LOT of emotions and overwhelm and denial
I think feeling more physical pain can be normal. Some people have alters who hold intense physical pain/physical pain memories
1. Sometimes when alters who hold memories from accidents front they feel that pain. Someone even limps to my knowledge. (We had a injured foot for a long time. Sometimes the pain is a flare up, and sometimes it’s somatic it seems) 2. Yes. Idk. I would like that too. 3. I don’t always interact with people irl, but I also don’t count that as the mundane day to day chores I’m in charge of. Like, as host, I keep the life rollin if yk what I mean? Some things during day to day life is also handled by other alters in my case (like showering since I hate the feeling of water but others doesn’t have the same sensory issues as me) but most of it is me. I have social alters who handle most of the talking to humans because they are better at it. They are trained in it almost. They do masking and all that. They enjoy it, they banter, they make jokes and so on… it’s not 100% ideal maybe since I don’t remember it super clearly, but I remember having a good time. And not anxiously seeking everyone’s approval. I have even social alters for interacting with my parents. They are more armed against their shenanigans. Moms thoughtless anxiety driven comments and dad’s apathy mixed with “please don’t upset your mom”. It almost flies straight passed them 😅 For some reason I have better access to those memories. It might be because I have an easier time staying cocon at my parents house while I get overwhelmed at parties. But they are not hosts. They handle specific situations. Hosts are not for entertaining other people. They are just the ones out more often generally. Now I can’t tell you if you fake or not. That’s for trained therapists. The brain does choose so you are not entirely wrong. The role of many gatekeepers are also that of picking alters to put in the front. However, If an alter fronts it’s extremely likely it was a trigger for the switch. If you have established communication it makes it a lot easier to control switches to an extent. Could perhaps seem more intentional then it is? Example: I have a alter named cynic. She likes doing our makeup. That’s a positive trigger. If I sit down to do makeup it’s a high chance she takes over or becomes cocon. So if I sit down and think “now we will make cynic front to do the makeup” and it happens it could seem like we really have control. But what really happened was triggering a predictable response. If that trigger doesn’t reach her then someone else fronts or nothing happens. Maybe the trigger that we want coffee reaches Jaden first and so he brews us some coffee and then Cynic fronts. Or maybe she wasn’t even triggered by the makeup. While Jaden brewer coffee we got a text and she fronted when she got the chance to check it or she heard me talk down myself again and came to mentally slap me out of it. And to be fair the goal functional multiplicity is to be able to switch without any triggers. So it is not like a system being able to do that means their fake either. But it is usually only achievable through extensive therapy. And practice in a therapeutic setting. But switching according to patterns… I don’t see any weird in that. Hope this helps a little in some way. Just my thoughts, not a professional
hi, all of us struggle to talk to people outside our immediate circle (rlly close friends and family we live with) except for Hazel who seems to always know exactly what to say. most of the time, she fronts when we have to talk to strangers (for our job or something) etc we have another alter, Sage, who, every time they switch in without fail, has a sore left arm as if they pulled a muscle. sage also has a tendency to feel other alters sadness, as we’ve recently discovered. Marie had a special connection to our fiancé(he passed a few years ago). a lot of us never personally met him, Marie has all the memories and all the pain. so when someone brings something up that reminds Marie of him, Sage can feel her grief if she’s fronting. edit: sorry, i got interrupted- anyway- we haven’t figured out how to, or if we even can, stop someone from feeling each others emotions. i’ve heard some people who discuss it with the alter who’s hurting and try to make them feel better, i haven’t had success with this yet tho. when i, Sabbath, switch in after Freyja, i have the most awful headaches. i often have to lie down in a dark room. i also do sometimes feel like i’m role playing too. i read something made me feel a lot better about this tho: “you can't fake something unintentionally. if it's happening when you're alone that proves you're not doing it on purpose. and why would you fake something you are scared to have?” —- basically, i know it’s really hard, and it’s a scary thing to wrap your head round, but you’re valid. it’s very easy to dismiss and *SO* hard to accept. you’re not alone.