Four Commitments

There are four commitments you should make if you have DID to do whatever it takes to get better. No, they're not simple and it's very difficult. But perseverance, determination and patience do pay off. Some of these extracts were used from the book I have called 'Got Parts? An Insider's Guide to Managing Life Successfully with Dissociative Identity Disorder'. There is a link at the bottom of this post  for those of you who wish to order a copy.

First off it's not just you who has to make these commitments, it's also your alters that have to as well. This can be difficult if you have parts that are saboteurs, misguided protectors, or just plain uncooperative ones. If you can get them onboard through therapy (and sometimes medication alongside this) then you have a better chance. That doesn't mean that you have no chance if these parts choose not to cooperate, it'll just be a little harder.

There are 4 main commitments, but these aren't the total picture. This is the minimum you should try to do, if you can. Remember that if you set your mind to something, things can change.

1) Be honest - even when it's bloody hard!!

There's no time for game-playing. Energy is better invested in focusing on moving you all forward in the helping process, whether that means co-consciousness or re-integration (whatever your choice of an overall goal is). Be honest not only with yourself, but also with the other parts in your system, with your therapist, with any other caregivers and also friends or loved ones who are helping you through the process.

2) Do the work!

This may seem stupidly obvious, but if you don't do any 'homework' your therapist asks you to do, and don't work hard at the issues that come up along the way, successful, healthy, effective and long-lasting change is much less likely.

3) All parts internally need to be cooperative.

When you're part of a group, including a group of alter personalities, you may not always get your own way. Having a strong and successful system involves a lot of give and take. Always remind yourself of the larger goals of reintegration and healthy functioning in the internal and external world. It's important to learn to communicate honestly, work to set ego aside and consider and seek what is going to be in the best interests of the system overall.

4) Stand down and step aside.

There is no place for control freaks, loose cannons, saboteurs, queen bees or lone rangers within a system. Stepping aside is a very extreme challenge to any controlling, bullying, bossy, know-it-all, fearful or head-strong parts - or to ANY part whose speech, behaviours, attitudes etc are not in the overall best interests of the system-as-a-whole.

This is really just the MINIMUM. No one said it will be easy, but it's definitely not impossible. Stay strong my friends. :)

As promised, a link to the book I used as a partial reference: http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Managing-Successfully-Dissociative-Identity/dp/1932690034/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373097482&sr=8-1&keywords=Got+parts%3F