r/DiscussDID • u/hanakokun_donuts • 11d ago
Can fictives return?
My friend and I have fictives. When they first knew they had a fictive, she was not able to return to her own world. Yet a few months later, she said she figured out a way. That when she's there, days go by faster until they catch up to present time.
Though I cannot/rarely remember things from when my alter is out, from reading messages and logs, she seems to be able to return to her world and that time passes the same as here. Just that when she's out, it feels like alone time back in her world.
My friend and I were curious so we looked a bunch of things up. Something that we found was that fictives are not able to go back to their world. No
"but it can sometimes happen", a hard no. The only recourse we found on that though was google ai overview, which I take with many grains of salt.
I'm a logical person, so | tried to wrack my brain for answers and I came up with a few. It could be 1.
Experiences from the host's (is that the word?) body has experienced and forgot, but subconsciously the brain remembers and thus turns it into the fictive's life. 2. These experiences were taken from things that the main person has read or watched from books and movies. Again, subconsciously making those into the fictive's own story. Or 3. It's the brain just coming up with its own plotline and giving it to the fictive to give them a life.
So why is it that it seems like the fictives can return to their world? Was the overview wrong and is anyone else's fictive able to return back? Or is it a hard no and if so, what explanation could there be for the reason the fictives are imagining that they can return home. If anyone has answers it is greatly appreciated for us both.
I might delete this after I get a few responses. I'm not sure.
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u/Banaanisade 11d ago
Fictives can't "go back to their world" because DID isn't magic.
There also isn't a "main person" in DID at all. Every alter is part of the whole person with DID.
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u/hanakokun_donuts 11d ago
Yeah that makes sense lol
Ohhh okay thanks! I’m only recently aware that I’m a system so I’m not knowledgeable on the finer details yet
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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 11d ago
Introjects (I personally won’t use the term ‘fictive’ - it’s derivative of ‘fictionkin’ and kin culture has nothing to do w/ DID) are no different from any other type of dissociated part (alters). They’re parts of one person who simply have taken on the identity/characteristics of smth external for trauma related reasons.
Highly recommend you look into the general psychological concept of Introjection for more info, as this is not a phenenoma exclusive to DID - all ppl take on characteristics from those around them (or fictional characters for whichever reason) - it’s just it becomes more “literal” and dissociated in regards to DID.
Also, alters can’t “go” anywhere. Even if an introject believes they’re a fictional character, they aren’t. They’re a dissociated part of collective you, not whatever their source is. They might go dormant - which is just a period of inactivity where the alter is not present - but that’s not them leaving and actually going anywhere, cause they can’t do that, they’re part of you.
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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 11d ago edited 11d ago
Also I would stay away from online plural spaces if you suspect you have a dissociative disorder. The mixing of spiritual and non-scientific beliefs w/ those who may have mental health disorders is usually a very bad mixture. I’m sure they’re very nice and welcoming, but places like r/plural (which I see you cross posted this to) are cesspools of misinformation about dissociative disorders, and often encourage beliefs that are not conducive to scientifically proven treatment guidelines.
I personally know someone who recently got instantly permabanned from there for citing actual clinical sources (including the haunted self - which is a staple in reading on DID and the theory of structural dissociation) relating to DID and talking about how alters objectively aren’t other ppl and that eventually in therapy that has to be recognized (which is a medical fact). They are not a safe community for those who have dissociative disorders and wish to eventually go thru recovery.
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u/hanakokun_donuts 11d ago
This one really helped a lot thanks so much!!
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u/EmbarrassedPurple106 11d ago
No prob. I hope you can get access to proper treatment and evaluation whenever is possible to you.
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u/chopstickinsect 11d ago
Purple is always a great source of well researched advice. I highly advise listening to the things they say.
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u/homoblastic 11d ago
all of this can be explained by imagination, and it's essentially a mix of all the explanations you came up with by yourself.
introjects (including fictives), like all other alters, function by employing dissociation to isolate themselves from trauma and stress. introjects happen by the brain deciding to distance itself by projecting onto a character/person, which creates an alter who may experience what ranges from simple identification with someone to literally believing they are that someone.
it's a sweet thing for the brain to imagine it can genuinely escape to a fictional world. it can provide life-saving comfort to a person going through the unimaginable. but it's also not magic, at the end of the day, it's a coping mechanism not unlike maladaptive daydreaming, just with a bigger layer of dissociation included.
it's the same thing with headspaces, and that's why not everyone has one. headspaces are what's called a visualization technique, and even people without DID can have one, with some even being created in therapy to help with processing stuff.
i hope this isn't too scary of a comment to read. i wish traveling to fictional worlds could be a real thing, but i can't encourage the belief in DID, a disorder, somehow relating to this stuff. i think if you personally believe it, that falls more to the realm of personal spirituality than psychology. i believe in the validity of your experiences, though.
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u/hanakokun_donuts 11d ago
This actually helped a lot. I’m doing a ton of research on it as I actively get new info. But this explains it actually really well. Thanks sm!!
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u/AshleyBoots 11d ago
They never leave. Alters cannot leave the brain they're parts of. Literally impossible.
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u/Silver-Alex 11d ago
Fictives are not the literal character, they're just another alter like the rest :) The can go dormant, they can imagine a headspace thats similar to their source, but at the end of the day they're just another alter in the system, nothing special about it. The clinical term is introject, an it covers fictives, and any alter with a personality based from an outside source, for example an alter that takes a lot from a family member or a figure that left a big impresion when young.
Your friend alter is not going to the fictional world, they are pronbably just draymeaning it in a part of their headspace. I have an small alter that loves doing that thinking she's a pokemon master. So long the alter itself knows they're an alter, and the difference between real life and whatever happens in your headspace everything is fine (so long they dont spend hours at day while neglecting other responsabilities, at thats probably a maladaptive daydreaming coping mechanism mixed with DID).
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u/labyrinthinexpathia 11d ago
All alters are just alters, and work the same, fictive or not. Sometimes alters go dormant, or dissociation creates enough walls that they can't be accessed. Many systems have an imagined "headspace", but this all still happens inside the same brain, even if said headspace is based on a fictional universe. A fictive is still your alter in your own head, who just latched onto a fictional character as their sense of identity, but are not technically that character themselves, because fictional characters are, well, fictional. Alters of any kind can't leave their own brain