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*Beth*
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Default Aug 22, 2019 at 02:32 PM
  #1
Does anyone else here have an alter or "part" that is almost always asleep?

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Default Aug 22, 2019 at 03:25 PM
  #2
Absolutely. You are not alone.

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My gummy-bear died. My unicorn ran away. My imaginary friend got kidnapped. The voices in my head aren't talking to me. Oh no, I'm going sane!
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*Beth*
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Default Aug 22, 2019 at 03:54 PM
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Absolutely. You are not alone.

Thank you for that.

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amandalouise
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Default Aug 23, 2019 at 09:28 AM
  #4
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Originally Posted by BethRags View Post
Does anyone else here have an alter or "part" that is almost always asleep?
no I didn't have alters that were always asleep. my alters were dissociative related as in when I dissociated (felt numb, spaced out, disconnected) my alters would take control to handle what ever situation was causing me to have my dissociative symptoms, and the resulting alter that took control were the alters that dealt with that specific situation.....

example....

if I was having a problem with intimacy and started emotionally feeling numb, spaced out and disconnected during an intimate moment, my alter Thelma was the one that took control because Thelma was my sexualized / intimacy alter.

one of my triggers that used to cause me to have my dissociative symptoms was rain and storms. when I had my dissociative symptoms due to rain and storms my alter Rainy would take control and handle that situation.

my internal system worked like this where any time I was triggered into having my dissociative symptoms the resulting alter that handled that took control and did what was needed at that moment.

even at night time my system didn't have the element of "sleep" built into it. if I was having a problem at night, and had my dissociative symptoms, which ever alter handled that trigger took control and took care of things.

my therapist and I once had me go through an inpatient observation/ sleep study because she could not believe I could literally go weeks on end with absolutely no sleep, just because I was in a phase where I was having nightmares. the sleep study showed the moment I started getting ready for bed and had my dissociative symptoms an alter took control and that alter did their thing of wandering around to make sure everything was safe and sound then settled down with a book and read all night long, then when it was time for breakfast the alter that dealt with getting up, dressed and breakfast took control to handle the morning routine. then when it was time to go to work the alter that handled the job skills needed for my work took control,.. this went on and on day after day after day where because I was dissociated so the alters did their jobs, purpose and reasons why they were created and handled things.

my system was more natural, as in dissociative related instead of mental rooms, and alters sleeping or playing in mental playrooms.

one of my therapists one time even tried to help me build a mental play/ sleep area in my mind to help me get more sleep. all that happened was normal relaxation visualization where I could use my imagination to imagine and daydream about having such a place in my mind but it never ended up being an actual dissociative space in my mind like others have. I think that the reason why I didn't have a sleep/ play room as part of my system is because during the actual trauma's that I went through I didn't need a mental sleep play room, I needed the alters that handled the trauma's and literally get me out of the mine shafts where the abuse happened and safely home. because my mind didn't create that kind of system I cant create it now. I can use relaxation and visualization through my imagination skills which is different then having sleep and play areas in my brain for alters to sleep all the time.

my suggestion since you do have an alter that just stays inside, never takes control just sleeps. look back on your life and see where that has happened before in your life. DID is a problem that begins in very early childhood so this has been happening for you all your life. you can use your history of this happening to figure it out. check out things like what causes you to dissociate, what your triggers are and when are the times when this alter has just slept. maybe ask inside how and why your system needed to create an alter that just slept.
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Default Aug 23, 2019 at 02:21 PM
  #5
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Originally Posted by amandalouise View Post
no I didn't have alters that were always asleep. my alters were dissociative related as in when I dissociated (felt numb, spaced out, disconnected) my alters would take control to handle what ever situation was causing me to have my dissociative symptoms, and the resulting alter that took control were the alters that dealt with that specific situation.....

example....

if I was having a problem with intimacy and started emotionally feeling numb, spaced out and disconnected during an intimate moment, my alter Thelma was the one that took control because Thelma was my sexualized / intimacy alter.

one of my triggers that used to cause me to have my dissociative symptoms was rain and storms. when I had my dissociative symptoms due to rain and storms my alter Rainy would take control and handle that situation.

my internal system worked like this where any time I was triggered into having my dissociative symptoms the resulting alter that handled that took control and did what was needed at that moment.

even at night time my system didn't have the element of "sleep" built into it. if I was having a problem at night, and had my dissociative symptoms, which ever alter handled that trigger took control and took care of things.

my therapist and I once had me go through an inpatient observation/ sleep study because she could not believe I could literally go weeks on end with absolutely no sleep, just because I was in a phase where I was having nightmares. the sleep study showed the moment I started getting ready for bed and had my dissociative symptoms an alter took control and that alter did their thing of wandering around to make sure everything was safe and sound then settled down with a book and read all night long, then when it was time for breakfast the alter that dealt with getting up, dressed and breakfast took control to handle the morning routine. then when it was time to go to work the alter that handled the job skills needed for my work took control,.. this went on and on day after day after day where because I was dissociated so the alters did their jobs, purpose and reasons why they were created and handled things.

my system was more natural, as in dissociative related instead of mental rooms, and alters sleeping or playing in mental playrooms.

one of my therapists one time even tried to help me build a mental play/ sleep area in my mind to help me get more sleep. all that happened was normal relaxation visualization where I could use my imagination to imagine and daydream about having such a place in my mind but it never ended up being an actual dissociative space in my mind like others have. I think that the reason why I didn't have a sleep/ play room as part of my system is because during the actual trauma's that I went through I didn't need a mental sleep play room, I needed the alters that handled the trauma's and literally get me out of the mine shafts where the abuse happened and safely home. because my mind didn't create that kind of system I cant create it now. I can use relaxation and visualization through my imagination skills which is different then having sleep and play areas in my brain for alters to sleep all the time.

my suggestion since you do have an alter that just stays inside, never takes control just sleeps. look back on your life and see where that has happened before in your life. DID is a problem that begins in very early childhood so this has been happening for you all your life. you can use your history of this happening to figure it out. check out things like what causes you to dissociate, what your triggers are and when are the times when this alter has just slept. maybe ask inside how and why your system needed to create an alter that just slept.
rereading this post of mine I had a thought... your question has the word "parts"...

here where I am and with my therapist alternate personalities with DID is different than "parts".... here in NY and with my own treatment providers having "Parts" is a completely normal thing everyone has, and it does not require dissociation to have them....

example …..

when I am dealing with things as a mother (taking care of my children, dealing with things related to my children) its commonly known as this is the mother part of me.

when I am making judgements about myself or what I did, this is commonly called the inner critic part of me.

when I am at work I am in employee part of me.

when I am having time alone with my wife, this is commonly known as Im in my adult self.

here where I am and with my treatment providers this is considered normal and fully aware / conscious parts of a person that every human being has. the older term for this was and sometimes still used... Roles and Role paying.

in this completely normal sense of the word "parts" I do have times when I want to sleep all the time and before I had children to care for, sometimes I did make the conscious choice to sleep all day in other words being in my sleep part of me.

there is a few different therapies that work with "parts" in this meaning that my treatment providers and I define parts as being.... CBT, DBT and many others. the more recent coming into the news and being thrown around the water cooler at mental health agencies is called IFS therapy, with this therapy you learn how to identify the different parts of your consciously aware self and learn to work with them so that slipping into these parts no longer affects ones life, I have done some "parts" work but not in the same context as the formal IFS therapy. for some with DID it works and for others it doesn't.
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*Beth*
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*Beth* is practicing healthy breathing for brain, mind, body, spirit.
 
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Trig Aug 23, 2019 at 06:25 PM
  #6
Thank you very much, amandalouise. It is meaningful to me that you took the time and energy to share your experience with me.


I have been so busy checking on the sleeping one; there was a traumatic/stressful event that took place; it was severe. In another post here on PC (I don't recall where right now) I posted the circumstances following the traumatic event. What had happened was that (***TRIGGER***)


(***TRIGGER***)


there were too many pills (Klonopin) taken. The purpose of that action was to dull the emotional pain. She didn't take a lot of pills, just enough to cause sleep. Well, she remained asleep for 7 days.

Apparently she had also been asleep for 3 full days a few weeks ago. I told my pdoc it was a bad reaction to a new med, but pdoc believes that some part of me was asleep due to a type of dissociation.

Anyway, I don't intend to ramble on. I have just wondered if others tend to have a part that "goes to sleep" when it is overwhelmed.

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