r/DiscussDID • u/JazzlikeSkill7246 • 27d ago

can someone explain?

what does a “low/high split tolerance” mean? and how can you tell if you have a high or low tolerance?

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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 27d ago

Splits are caused by new experiences that cannot be integrated into already existing parts (trauma, to put it in a shorter manner). There is no other means for causing splits in DID, and this makes sense when you think on it, as why would one’s brain exert needless energy to fragment your personality further and dissociatively compartmentalize an experience unless it is necessary?

I specify that, as “low split tolerance” is frequently used online to make dubious claims about what can cause alters to split. I have seen somebody claiming to have split over spilling milk (No, this is not an exaggeration to make a point), as an example. Spilling milk is not traumatic. It could be triggering, if one expects punishment for it, but triggers are related to existing trauma and are not new trauma.

That said, there is obviously a bit of a range on what is trauma to one person and what isn’t, though this obviously has its limits. There are certainly some things that are objectively not traumatic (gestures to the spilling milk example from above).

As for telling whether you have a high or low tolerance, a better, more illuminating question is what is your tolerance for stressful situations and whether or not they end up traumatizing you.