Supporting those with undiagnosed DID

[LH1734]

Hi everyone,

I'm reaching out to ask for support, advice, or resources that might help me better support a family member who we believe may be living with undiagnosed Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). We're trying to approach everything with compassion, care, and deep respect for their autonomy and lived experience — but sometimes it’s hard to know what’s truly helpful.

If you have lived experience, support someone with DID, or know of any helpful tools, books, websites, or communities, I’d be so grateful if you could share.

We’re especially looking for support around:

• Tips for communicating gently and respectfully with different parts/alters

• Creating a sense of safety and predictability at home

• Responding supportively during switches or distress

• Understanding how to support functional plurality — any advice, examples, or practices that help a system work together and build internal cooperation

• Any inclusive, trauma-informed resources for learning more

Thanks in advance for anything you're willing to share. I truly appreciate your time and experience. We just want to be as supportive and informed as we can be, while also giving our loved one room to define their own experience.

[Till23]

Hi @LH1734 

Does the person see a mental health professional or is willing to do so? I would advise getting trained mental health input, because dissociation is a spectrum and DID is at one end, but within DID there is variation. There are also other things that can have some similar symptoms, so I would think getting a diagnosis will lead to the correct treatment and better outcome.

General resource for trauma is Blue Knot Foundation who deal with childhood trauma. They have a website which has a lot of information and also run webinars

A good resource book for DID is

Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation: Skills Training for Patients and Therapists by 

Kathy Steele, Onno Van der Hart, and Suzette Boon

Another one is:

Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation
Book by Janina Fisher

Perhaps somebody else on here will have some insights or good resources or different opinion