Hey there. This is the one most of you know as “Ian” writing this post. I’m the host of this DID system.

Previously I wrote about what it’s not like being DID. This time I’m writing about what it is like. Again, please understand that DID is expressed and experienced differently in everyone. So I can only speak to what it’s like for me.

Here's what it’s like being multiple:

… it’s being asked lots of questions and addressing lots of misunderstandings. Normally we don’t mind answering questions because that helps us process what we are and how we can function better. So please ask away. If we don’t feel like answering something we’ll say so.

… it’s having a whole internal family with all the joys and challenges of any family. We talk and listen and laugh. We play and work and even do internal housekeeping. We disagree and argue and fight. We sometimes work at cross-purposes and throw tantrums. We apologize and show compassion. We negotiate and compromise. We create a loving, safe sp...

Hi. I’m Erin. I identify as a 17-year-old female. That’s me in the picture with the dark hair. Well, it’s what I see in the mirror when I look hard enough. It’s how the rest of my family sees me on the inside. 

It’s not easy being in the body of a 51-year-old man. It’s hard to think this is my body even though I know I have just as much a right to it as the rest of us.

I don’t know why I was born with the self image I have, or why my inner life is so different from our shared outer life. But that’s how it is.

We have some great friends and a beautiful wife and I get to talk to them. I get to be me with them, using my own name and mannerisms. They treat me like the real person I am, remembering to call me by my chosen name rather than the body's name. That makes me feel really validated. I like them and I think they like me. I’ve helped some of them awaken their own energetic abilities, read their energies, and showed them strength they didn’t know they had. Those things come natural...

Hello again. This is Ian, the host of a dissociative multiple system with at least 16 distinct identities. From now on the blog posts will begin by stating who is writing it and what role that identity plays in the system. Welcome back and thanks for taking some time to learn more about DID and what it’s like from the perspective of someone who lives it on a daily basis.

I know there are going to be lots of questions. I’m okay with that. Right now I am also learning since I’ve only known I am multiple for the last five months so I understand the desire to want to know more. This blog is helping me process my experience as I discover what it means to exist in a multiple system and how I can become a functioning adult and so I'm opening up as way for all my readers to ask questions.

If you want to ask me anything, please send an email to: [email protected].

I or one of my internal family members will try to respond to emails as we are able, but we won’t be able to answer ...

My name is Ian, and it turns out I have dissociative identity disorder. That’s right: I have multiple identities. Seems I’ve had this condition most of my life, possibly as early as 4 years old. Believe it or not, I didn’t know any of this until July 2025 when, at the age of 50, life came crashing down in a manner that left me no choice but to start confronting my mental health.

You might be wondering how I can have multiple identities and not know it. Turns out it’s actually pretty easy as well as fairly common. This condition affects about two percent of the population and most of them are undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. (And yes this means you've almost certainly met people with multiple personalities.)

Prior to my diagnosis, I was just an especially forgetful person with no consistent life narrative and no understanding of what it means to have a sense of self. I had rather eclectic attitudes, behaviors, tastes, and styles. I frequently had gaps in my memory and at times felt like m...