Diagnosis, social life, and benefits

[MakersDozn]

This is a great topic, and we're glad that you brought it up, Arlen. Since we don't think there's any answer that fits every situation, we'll speak from our own experience.

Our body age is 52. We realized that we were multiple in 1996, when the body was 34. We weren't formally dx'ed; rather, we had been on the Internet for less than a year, and through a now-defunct survivors' forum, we met other multiples, and things started to click for us.

We found a very good therapist in the fall of 1998 and stayed with her until she retired in the spring of 2004. We've been with our current T since then. In the first situation, we began the first session by stating, "I'm a high-functioning multiple." When we began seeing our current T, our former T had briefed her on our situation.

In both cases, our dx of record has been major depressive disorder. For one thing, in New York State, law entitles people with MDD to an unlimited number of mental-health treatment sessions.

Beyond that, both our current T and our previous T have seen no benefit in adding DID/MPD to our formal diagnosis. For one thing, we don't see ourselves as "disordered." We have depression, anxiety, and PTSD, but they do not define us. And the multiplicity is simply our way of living with life as it has presented itself to us.

So....that's why we're not interested in having multiplicity as part of our diagnosis. We do what we can to live our life with what we see as our obstacles--the depression, the anxiety, the PTSD. Those are the things that we see as impeding our ability to function. We have a very good job and we live on our own, but we have few offline friends, no spouse, and no outside children. Living our life as it is presents enough challenges for us.

As we said, though, everyone's situation is unique. Or, as we often put it, "Your mileage may vary." We hope that you find an answer that works for you.

MDs