WRITTEN BY BUTTERNUT / SHRIMP SYSTEM
CDDs are not schizophrenia at all. Schizophrenia can involve both auditory and visual hallucinations, but doesn't always include any hallucinations. Auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia are percieved from a voice outside of your head, whereas in CDDs, the voices are heard from inside of your head
Not at all, actually. Split was an incredibly inaccurate representation of DID, especially because it not only demonizes CDDs, but it also plays into the supernatural "multiple personality" trope that a lot of movies play into. CDDs are not supernatural, ithey are trauma disorders.
No, persecutors are not evil. Persecutor alters are misguided protectors. They hurt people, inside or outside of the system, because they are trying to help protect the system from more harm.
Introjects are not indicative of faking at all. Introjects are surprisingly more common than you would think, and, although there isn't a ton of research on the topic of neurodiversity and introjects in CDDs, a lot of autistic/generally neurodivergent systems find that they split more introjects than allistic/neurotypical systems seem to. The running theory on why this is is because neurodivergent people find it easier to attach to media they find comfort in, especially during traumatic and stressful times.
Source does not define the realness of an introject. The source being problematic does not define the realness of an introject. The popularity of a source does not define the realness of an introject.
Every system is different in how much variety there is between alters due to the fact that everyone needs different things to survive traumas. Some systems may have incredibly similar alters because they need to be able to mask, other systems may have completely different alters so it is easier to dissociate. Alters can be very similar, but they can also vary greatly.
I'm sure every system has small disagreements here and there, but nowhere in the DSM-5 does it say you need to argue or have conflict with your alters. Actually, it seems to be more common to not argue. After all, the disorder forms because your brain is trying to survive trauma, it would make sense that if your parts are aware of each other and they aren't persecutors, they would be trying to work together.
There is no such thing as “too many” or “not enough" alters. There is nothing in the DSM or the ICD on how many alters you can have. To give examples of how big or small a system can be, an OSDD-1a system is a system with very similar parts. They often have very small systems because of the lack of diversity in their alters. Polyfragmented systems, on the opposite end, are systems with a very high count of alters. You can read more in the Polyfragmentation section of this wiki. Aside from those 2 examples, I can't emphasize enough: all systems are different. Trauma plays a huge part into alter count, because you split new alters whenever your brain decides you need more for survival. Ability to handle stress and trauma plays a huge part, and other disorders can even attribute to how many alters you split and what kinds you split due to sensitivity and attachment.
No! CDDs (complex dissociative disorders, like DID and OSDD-1) are developed during childhood! Some people are completely unaware of their system until later in life, and some can be aware even during childhood. Alters are present during childhood in all cases, but may hide themselves until the body is in a safer environment, which could be when they are in their 20's, 30's, 40's and so on. You can discover your system at any given time.