I’m the founder of the DI, which I started because there are so few resources people can access.
I have lived experience of dissociation, amnesia, and multiplicity. I once suffered from severe dissociation, at my worst I was partly deaf & blind, physically numb and unable to sense heat, cold, or hunger, enduring acute and chronic derealisation, and bewildered by switching. Chronic physical illnesses confused the picture, and it would be many tests, diagnoses, and years of profound affliction before a diagnosis of Dissociative Identity Disorder was made and dissociation was understood to be the mechanism underlying so many confusing symptoms.
Since those days, I have done extensive research in this field, and talked or worked with hundreds of other people who have experienced severe dissociation, amnesia, and/or some form of multiplicity. I’ve become part of the international Hearing Voices network and found their non-clinical frameworks, discussing people’s experiences rather than symptoms, and emphasising diversity and freedom for people to make sense of and navigate their lives in their own way to be liberating and appropriate. I was once described by a psychiatrist as ‘the most severely dissociative patient’ he’d met, I have developed my own understandings and approaches and found excellent supports that have led to massive improvements in my life. I identify as a healthy multiple (not DID), with a system of around 30 of various ages, gender identity, sexual orientation, interests and skills. I navigate study, run my own business, and continue to advocate for better resources and more humane approaches to people.
I also write a personal blog in which I share openly about my life, including my experiences of dissociation and multiplicity. To explore those posts, try:
The Dissociative Initiative 