And Kaboom

[Cammy]

Unlike me, my husband still has many amnesia barriers, some which span many years. When a rememberance is ready to surface, it starts with a weird dream with him. He wakes up remembering the dream and then he starts pondering it. Usually within about the space of a week, the actual memory surfaces, which usually triggers a switch. Unfortunately, once the memory has leaked into his conscious mind, there's no putting it back. The alter that he switches to is 'unpleasant'. It took a while, but he has found that by discussing the dream and then the actual memory with someone he trusts (me), the process of reducing the emotional impact of the memory and placing it into normal memory storage is now much quicker and far less painful than it used to be for him. i don't know if this helps or is really pertinent in any way, but I hope that it demonstrates that a commonality exists among DID survivors in terms of how rememberances manage to creep to the surface and subsequently end up causing a great deal of emotional upset. For him, having someone to discuss things with and put them into proper perspective helps a great deal.