OSDDID TERMS MASTERLIST

ENDOS / NON TRAUMAGENIC "SYSTEMS" DO NOT USE THIS CARRD. IT IS NOT FOR YOU.

GENERAL TERMS

Amnesia - A partial or total loss of memory. Amnesia occurs when switching or due to past traumas, due to the brain feeling as though, in order to protect the body, it needs to forget and store these memories away until it is time to process and heal. This mechanism of hiding the memories away until it is time to process them can backfire, leading to flashbacks.
ㅤ↳ Dissociative amnesia - Amnesia caused by the act of dissociating. It occurs due to the fact that dissociation causes disruptions to the functions of consciousness, memory, identity, etc, and can lead to a loss of control over mental processes including memory and attention.
ㅤ↳ Generalised Amnesia - When someone fully forgets everything about themselves, or has no recollection of what, where, or who they spoke with. Commonly called a ‘blackout’.
ㅤ↳ Localised Amnesia - When someone is unable to recall specific events from a whole, despite remembering or partially remembering the whole, creating an incomplete picture of the situation, i.e. remembering childhood but not remembering the abuse that happened during childhood.
ㅤ↳ Selective Amnesia - When someone is unable to recall only some parts of what happened. They grasp the basics of what happened, but do not remember it in its entirety, i.e. being on the phone and being aware that you were on the phone, but being unable to recall what was said. Commonly called a ‘greyout’.
ㅤ↳ Emotional Amnesia - When someone has an intact memory of an event but lacks the ability to describe the emotions that they felt during the event, i.e. remembering a period of abuse but not being able to tell if you were scared, angry, sad, etc.
ㅤ↳ Continuous Amnesia - When someone is unable to recall certain parts of the day, either entire hours or just a few minutes. This leaves many gaps in the chronological timeline of events.
ㅤ↳ Fragmented Amnesia - When someone has fragments of memories, but has no idea what order they go in to create a timeline, causing them to be disjointed and create confusion and difficulty grasping what really happened. Emotional amnesia may be present here.
ㅤ↳ Retrograde Amnesia - When someone is unable to recall information that happened before the onset of amnesia, i.e. being unable to remember if you have a car or what type of car it is, but still knowing how to drive.
ㅤ↳ Amnesia Barriers - When a person fronting is unable to recall another alter’s memories, such as what another alter has done or what trauma they hold - a form of retrograde amnesia. It can also prevent alters from knowing about other alters, often to protect the system. Can also be present in the innerworld, manifesting as the inability to interact with alters that are blocked by an amnesia barrier or inability to visit an area that is covered by an amnesia barrier.Blurry - A term that describes the experience of not knowing who you are due to confusion and disjointed views of yourself. Can be just a single alter who is confused on who they are, or multiple alters being in front causing issues in knowing who is talking and when.Body - Used to refer to the body alters inhabit. May or May not have a separate identity to alters depending on the system.CDD - Complex Dissociative Disorder. Used to describe all complex dissociative disorders, and not just disorders that cause systems.
ㅤ↳ DID - Dissociative Identity Disorder. A disorder caused by childhood trauma; according to the theory of structural dissociation, a person is born with multiple personality ‘states’ that fuse, usually around the ages 6-9, in order to form a cohesive personality. However, trauma during those childhood years can cause dissociative barriers to form in order to protect the brain, causing these states to be unable to form a cohesive personality, leading to the formation of DID or its subtypes. Has multiple ANPs and EPs.
ㅤㅤ↳ C-DID - Complex Dissociative Identity Disorder. Also called Polyfragmented DID. A DID system that involves having a large amount of fragments, complicated splitting patterns (such as mass splits), complicated system structure (such as lots of layers), and lack of non-dissociative coping mechanisms.
ㅤ↳ OSDD-1 - Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder type 1. Often described as a sub-type of DID. Usually very few / only one ANP and a majority of the system being EPs.
ㅤㅤ↳ OSDD-1a - Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder type 1a. Often described as DID with less distinct alters / parts, such as parts acting extremely similar, not feeling as they are fully separated from one another, appearing to look very similar, etc. Can also be referred to / diagnosed as P-DID (Partial Dissociative Identity Disorder).
ㅤㅤ↳OSDD-1b - Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder type 1b. Often described as DID with less amnesia between alters, often experiencing greyouts or emotional amnesia rather than blackouts.Flashbacks - When someone involuntarily re-experiences trauma through visualisation, sensations, emotions, etc. Some flashbacks may be triggered by an outside source, such as seeing something that reminds the brain of the trauma; and since the brain hasn’t processed the trauma, it believes it is back in the trauma and tries to process it once more by causing the memory to be re-experienced, but some flashbacks may not be triggered at all.
ㅤ↳ Emotional Flashbacks - When someone involuntarily re-experiences the emotions that they felt during trauma, such as dread, fear, pain, etc with the knowledge that it’s from the period of trauma or caused by the trauma that happened to them.
ㅤ↳ Visual Flashbacks - When someone involuntarily re-experiences trauma through visuals that cause distress, such as picturing the abuser, picturing what happened during the abuse, etc.
ㅤ↳ Somatic Flashbacks - When someone involuntarily re-experiences the somatosensory feelings that they felt during trauma, such as someone touching their neck, their thighs, feeling the pain of being punched, etc with the knowledge that it’s from the period of trauma or caused by the trauma that happened to them.
ㅤ↳ Sensory Flashbacks - When someone involuntarily re-experiences the sensory feelings that they felt during trauma, such as the smell of someone’s cologne they wore during the abuse, the taste of something, hearing the voice of an abuser, etc with the knowledge that it’s from the period of trauma or caused by the trauma that happened to them.Splitting - Splitting is considered the opposite of fusion. Splitting happens when dissociative barriers are created due to extreme stress or trauma, causing a new alter to form.
All new alters come from other alters themselves, i.e. an emotional protector who holds a specific emotion splitting off an older protector who originally didn’t hold that emotion in order for the system to cope with it.
Splitting can be visualised as taking a plate and smashing it on the ground. The gaps between the pieces of the plate being the amnesia barriers and the pieces of the plate being the alters. New splits are formed from breaking an already broken piece of the same plate.
ㅤ↳ Split tolerance - Split tolerance is used to refer to how easily / often a system splits. If they split very easily and due to things others may not consider traumatic or stressful enough, they may have a low split tolerance, if they split very rarely and only due to things others may consider traumatic or extremely stressful, they may have a high split tolerance.

HEALING

Dormancy - Dormancy is when an alter is unable to communicate / chooses not to communicate with the system and / or goes into some sort of ‘hiding’. Dormant alters are not dead, and are not gone forever. Dormancy can last for a few months to a few years. Usually, dormancy happens when the alter's purpose is not needed anymore or has been fulfilled, i.e. an emotional protector who split to protect the system from a specific abuser going dormant after the system left the abuser, however they can come out of dormancy once / if they are needed again, i.e. the same emotional protector coming out of dormancy if the system comes into contact with the abuser again or is abused by someone who is very similar to the first abuser.Integration - Integration is the lowering of amnesia barriers, meaning that the system starts to heal and process the trauma and abuse that has happened to them and being able to integrate it into their worldview and view of themselves. It can be described as the opposite of dissociation. This should not be confused with fusion, while both involve the lowering of amnesia barriers, integration on its own does not involve two parts becoming one, while fusion can happen during the process of integration, both are separate parts of the healing process.
ㅤ↳ Fusion - Fusion is when amnesia barriers are lowered completely between two or more alters, causing them to act as if they are one whole, or perceive themselves to be a whole. Fusion can mean two parts literally combine into one alter, or simply just two or more alters losing the idea that they are subjectively separate. Fusion can happen to any kind of alter, although the healing journey mainly starts with fusing fragments together. Alters can still split from the fused part.
Fusion may feel like two (or more) parts “stitched” together, two parts melded together, two parts stuck together with one half taking up a majority of the form, two parts completely merged into a new form, two parts “glued” together, etc.
ㅤㅤ↳ Final Fusion - A term used to describe when a system chooses to have all their alters fuse into one part. This does not mean that the system cannot split again, though.
ㅤㅤ↳ Functional Multiplicity - A term used to describe when a system chooses to live with their alters as a functional being, although they may use fusion in order to get alter count down - especially if they have a large alter count or large amount of fragments.

ALTERS

Alter - Someone in the system. May also be called a ‘part’ or ‘headmate’ depending on the system.
ㅤ↳ Fragment - An alter who isn’t fully formed and lacks a sense of identity outside of doing one thing / holding one thing / etc.
ㅤ↳ Fully Formed - A fully formed alter. May have multiple roles, a good sense of identity, hold multiple emotions / traumas, etc.
ㅤ↳ Apparently Normal Part (ANP) - Alters within the system that deal with everyday life, do not hold any emotions in regards to trauma, and do not have extreme reactions to knowledge of the trauma that happened, and may react in a 'positive' way when exposed to triggers related to said trauma. Positive reactions may include not reacting at all, dismissing the trauma, being confused about the trigger, etc.
ㅤ↳ Emotional Part (EP) - Alters within the system that deal with the emotions of the trauma, such as flashbacks and memories. They may hold more extreme emotions or very specific emotions that are directly related to trauma, they may hold memories of the trauma / trauma responses, and react in a 'negative' way when exposed to triggers relating to trauma. Negative reactions may include flashbacks, spiralling, breaking down, nightmares, etc.
ㅤㅤ↳ Apparently Normal Emotional Part (ANEP) - Alters within the system who handle everyday life just like an ANP does, but also experience the 'negative' reactions towards trauma found in EPs.
ANEPs form usually due to trauma that began at a young age, or trauma that bled into everyday life and was so intertwined with everyday life that the brain could not make the normal distinction between ANPs and EPs.Little / Syskid - An alter within the system that is a child / young, usually holding trauma related to childhood or memories from childhood. Some systems may also consider this a role name.Ageslide / Ageslider - A term that describes when an alter’s age isn’t static and changes over time. This may be between two set ages (Such as 20 and 14 - where their age can either be 20 or 14 years old), or between an age range (Such as 12-20 - where their age can be anything between those two). Sometimes, it can be a mix of both (Such as 20 and 12-17 - where their age can either be 20 or anything between 12-17).Brainmade - An alter whose identity is completely made up.Introject - An alter who takes the form, name, identity, and sometimes memories (called pseudomemories) of an external source.
ㅤ↳ Fictive / Fictroject - An alter who is an introject of a fictional character.
ㅤ↳ Factive / Factroject - An alter who is an introject of a real person.Fusion - An alter who is the result of two or more alters fusing together.Role - A label that defines what an alter does / holds / is able to do / their job / their state of being etc.

INTROJECTS

Source - The fictional character / real person an alter takes the appearance, name, identity, and sometimes memories from.Pseudomemories - Memories that are from an alter’s source, such as them remembering talking to another person from source. These memories did not happen and are a cover-up for actual traumatic memories or mirror traumatic memories / trauma that happened to the system in order to hide the trauma from the system / make it easier to cope.

SYSTEM FUNCTIONS

Fronting - The term used to describe alters being in control of the body.
ㅤ↳ Co-Fronting (Co-Front / CF) - When alters are in front, but are not the ones in the main control over the body.
ㅤ↳ Co-Conscious - When alters are near front, but are not physical in it. They may be able to induce passive influence or communicate with those who are in front.Switch / Switching - When one alter takes the place of another in front, being given control over the body. This can be forceful - when an alter takes control by force, natural - when an alter organically takes the place of another, or by accident - when an alter is triggered out or moves too close to the front, thus taking full control. Switches can be slow or quick.
ㅤ↳ Forced Switches - Switches that are forced, such as an alter taking control of front without consulting the others and without consent, or when an alter leaves front and another alter is forced to take their place. These switches are usually more ‘aggressive’ than triggered switches.
ㅤ↳ Consensual / Natural - Switches that happen when two or more alters agree to switch, or when alters organically take the place of the other.
ㅤ↳ Triggered / Accidental - Switches that happen when another alter is triggered to front, or when an alter accidentally takes control by getting too close to front. These switches are more passive than forced switches.
ㅤ↳ Rapid Switching - When switches are happening in rapid succession, causing disorientation for the system.
ㅤ↳ Hard Switch - Switches that are usually obvious and very quick.
ㅤ↳ Passive Switch - Switches that happen over a long period of time, possibly without the alters even realising that they are switching.Passive Influence - When the alter/s in front is affected by the emotions, knowledge, opinions, or memories of another. The other alter can be in front, or close to front / co-conscious.Front Triggers - Triggers for a specific alter that causes them to front almost immediately. They can either take over front or get triggered into co-front or in-front. These do not have to be trauma related, although they can be.
ㅤ↳ Positive Triggers - Triggers that cause positive reactions, such as making the alter happy or excited and causing them to front.
ㅤ↳ Neutral Triggers - Triggers that cause neither positive or negative reactions. The alter is just triggered to front. This is usually the kind of trigger that coincides with their role / job (Such as a protector having a neutral trigger of ‘being confronted’).
ㅤ↳ Negative Triggers - Triggers that cause negative reactions, such as causing an alter to have a panic attack or an uncomfortable reaction, causing them to front due to holding / having memories related to the trigger. This can coincide with their role but doesn’t have to. These are usually triggers that are related to trauma.

THE INNERWORLD

Innerworld (IW) - The place alters go when they aren’t fronting.
ㅤ↳ Sub-Group - A group of alters that are separated from other alters via amnesia barriers.
ㅤ↳ Sub-System - A group of alters that act similarly to a system, such as having alters ‘switch in’ while fronting just like the system as a collective does. They can present as literally being multiple alters in one body or by just being a group of alters. Sub-systems can have a host, a co-host, etc that are separate to the overall system. Some may also call this a sub-group.
ㅤ↳ Layer - A section of the innerworld separated by extreme amnesia barriers. Can present itself as being underneath or above a section of the innerworld, however that is not necessary for something to be considered a layer. A layer may be a way to ‘store’ alters from various stages in life, specific types of memories (i.e. memories to do with school, home life, etc), or other various things. Alters can usually not traverse between layers unless they are a higher up. Layers may appear to be / have multiple locations (Like a town, for example) or be one location that is unable to be accessed by others due to amnesia barriers.NPC - A person / animal / entity that exists in the innerworld that appears to function as a part, but cannot actually front and is not conscious, similar to an NPC in a video-game. NPCs can be pets, imaginary friends, workers (Such as those operating stores, cafes, bars, etc. in the innerworld), etc.

SYSTEM COMMUNICATION

External System Communication - How alters communicate between one another externally, whether by leaving notes, talking out loud, or using apps such as PluralKit on Discord or Simply Plural to talk to each other.Internal / In-System Communication - How alters communicate between one another internally.
ㅤ↳ Collective Knowledge - General knowledge that the entire system - or at least a large majority - knows, such as their name, birthday, family, etc. Knowledge that is deemed important enough that the brain does not store them behind amnesia barriers. Collective knowledge is important in order for the system to function and mask as a whole person.
ㅤ↳ Collective Memory - General memories that the entire system - or at least the large majority - knows, such as how long they’ve been friends with someone, or someone’s identity (such as pronouns and name). Memories that are deemed important enough that the brain does not store them behind amnesia barriers. Collective memory is important in order for the system to function and mask as a whole person.
ㅤ↳ Emotion Sharing - When one alter shares their emotions with another, making both alters feel the same emotion towards one thing.
Memory Sharing - When one alter shares a memory with another, allowing the knowledge of the memory for a short period of time. The memory usually ‘disappears’ or becomes more vague after a while due to the alter not needing the memory anymore.
ㅤ↳ Internal Talking - Talking / Conversations that go on between alters in the innerworld or while fronting.In-System Relationships - Relationships that are between two or more alters within the system. Relationships can be used to cope with a certain type of trauma (i.e. past abusive relationships) or to help cope with certain issues (i.e. being sexually repressed), but do not always have to have some trauma-based reason behind them.

ROLES

Some systems may make up role terms if they feel as though alters do a specific job that isn’t listed here, and that is completely okay.
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Host - The alter who fronts the most. Usually the alter who others mask as, so as to not raise suspicion.
ㅤ↳ Co-Host - The alter who fronts the most, but alongside the main host. Will usually take over front if the host is unable to front for whatever reason.Caretaker - Alters who take care of other alters, such as an adult looking after a little, or another alter looking after an alter who is impaired in some way. Can be looking after them when they front or in the innerworld, or both.Emotion Holder - Alters who hold specific emotions, and express them more / feel them to more of an extreme than any other alter. Emotions may or may not be related to trauma.Gatekeeper - A catch-all term for alters who have special abilities, such as being omnipresent, being able to come into front whenever they want, or holding more knowledge than the average alter / knowledge that only they know.Persecutor - Alters who purposefully harm the body or others in order to ‘protect’ the system. Can be internal (Harming those within the system) or external (Harming those outside the system).Protector - Alters who front to protect or help the system, such as when the system is in a tense situation / argument, a protector will take over before things get out of hand.
ㅤ↳ Emotional Protector - Protector sub-type. An alter who fronts to protect from emotional dangers such as emotional abuse or being abandoned.
ㅤ↳ Physical Protector - Protector sub-type. An alter who fronts to protect from physical dangers such as fights or physically abusive people.
ㅤ↳ Sexual Protector - Protector sub-type. An alter who fronts to protect from recurring sexual trauma or sexual situations such as being intimate with another person due to the system having sexual trauma.Sexual Alter - Alters who hold sexual feelings (arousal, sexual attraction, etc), and / or participate in sexual activities (masturbation, sex, etc).Social Alter - Alters who front in social situations, usually because they are more able to hold a conversation and appear ‘normal’ to the outside world.Symptom Holder - Alters who hold or show more specific symptoms / traits of various issues. The entire system has these disorders or issues, some alters just exhibit more obvious signs and make the symptoms more manageable for others.Trauma Holder - Alters who hold knowledge of trauma, trauma memories, emotions relating to trauma, or flashbacks.