Help! Identity Confusion with ASD, multiple personalities???

There is an element of fluidity in being a teenager first of all, have you considered that you may not to subject to multiple personalities and identities, but that you are a particularly agreeable and open individual in a fluid environment..?

Also if ASD is a factor have you considered that you make mask/camouflage/compensation for social impairments and narrow interests that you may have..

Either way the chaos and displacement of going through puberty does tend to taper off from 19 onwards..

Confused Stingray,  you described me to a tee. I have been diagnosed with ASD and many doctors/psychiatrists/psychologists have tried to say I also have Multiple Personalities. The doctors have gone back and forth on the MPD diagnosis. Therefore, there is no set consensus on whether or not I am MPD. 

Thank you =)

check this page out ShooFurfrou093

www.pdasociety.org.uk/.../

For Confused Stingray though (if they're still around) just from the top two symptoms they have listed I would suggest the DID boards.

Oh, thank you. That makes a lot of sense.

I'm a very creative person with lots of imagination, and I remember my "scenarios" starting around the age of 10. This was around the same time I started bed-wetting. I must have been extremely stressed and used my "scenarios" to cope, huh. They started from actual play-time just before going to sleep and evolved into thoughts where I existed in another world. 

When I went to secondary school (the bed-wetting had stopped by then), I would think about my "scenarios" constantly throughout the day as a way to escape the stress of school life. I would make up an alternate life for me during car journeys and such. I went through a period where the main alternate persona was a different person and had a completely different life to me. 

Today, more than a decade since it started, I tend to have my "scenarios" in work when the shop floor is empty bar me; before going to sleep and after I wake up; during travel journeys; while winding down in bed after masking; and while I'm listening to music, also in bed. My bed is my safe space as I grew up having to share a room, and my siblings would take over the rest of the bedroom. I have 2 main people that I have "scenarios" about. One is me, but with things that will likely not happen taking place (like dragons). The other person is not me, but a person of the opposite gender that I created when I was around 14. He has a name and a family and a career. 

The only voice in my head is me, but when I have a "scenario" as him, it's him that is in my head. I'm controlling his life and how he thinks. 

One of my siblings has been diagnosed with maladaptive behaviour and Social Anxiety Disorder. It's from her that I've gotten the word "scenario" from. 

This site defines what maladaptive behaviour is: https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Maladaptive+Behaviors 

=)

also try  https://www.psychforums.com/dissociative-identity/

loads of useful information and people with fascinating systems!

Edited to add, they also have an Autism forum on there under the 'Developmental' tab (top right of page) and have several members who have both Autism and DID.

Hi

Since having to cope with school as far back as I remember I used to 'become someone else' in order to cope with school and social situations. Now I'm quite a bit older than you (in my 50's now) and back then my parents didn't know I had autism. I was in my twenties when I got my autism diagnosis. but even then PDA was not known about or mentioned and I'd always been told not to tell anyone about my 'secret world' I used to fantasize intensely as a child and barely lived in reality. Even the trip to the supermarket was somehow turned into a fantasy to cope with it  I think it was because i had extreme sound sensitivity and the only way I could cope was to shut the world out.

When I got to about 16 I experienced hearing loss due to a medical problem, it was absolute bliss for me! I could function, I could hear myself think and learn! I decided I never wanted to be hearing again. when they gave me hearing aids I'd put them in but leave them switched off or dud batteries in! This triggered the creation of my first full time alter who then dealt with all life expectations (going to college, work etc) for most of the rest of my life.

I don't have a confirmed dx of whether its PDA though I fit most of the symptoms list even from birth (been an extremely passive baby and having developmental and speech delays then suddenly 'catching up' with peers) but then I also fit many symptoms list of OSDD

I'm not entirely sure  if I copied other people's behaviour and mannerisms because it was just an obsession with that person or because their 'personality template' was used to create an alter(as in DID).  If its DID its closer to OSDD where I'm still me but different versions of me in different situations and some major life events triggered major differences in an alters physical abilities too.

What I learned was all children dissociate when very young (think of toddlers pretending to be unicorns or something daft) but they grow out of it by a certain age.  However autistic kids often retain the ability for alot longer to 'live in their own world' and if its a child with average or above intelligence with a rich imagination(due to PDA) the ability to dissociate will then be retained and possibly 'as in my case' used as a complete coping strategy to get round daily demands and situations they struggle with by creating other alters to 'handle the situation for them'.

So I guess technically one can lead to the other!  So you end up having both conditions or it could be just one of them.  If you want a confirmed diagnosis though you're going to need a specialist in BOTH area's to rule one or the other out.

Hope that makes sense

Kit

Ah, no worries =) It's really difficult to find the right place to find things when you're not even sure where to start.

DID is mainly caused by childhood trauma, and can manifest anytime from childhood to young adult. If this sounds like you, then I would definitely seek help from DID organisations. If you're not sure, I would still seek help from them as they may have an inkling about what you're experiencing. 

Feel free to message me if you need someone to talk to =)

Links that might be helpful: to be added later

Thank you so much!!! I really appreciate that you took the time to respond, and knowing that this isn't a normal thing is really useful. The more stuff I can cross off the list of possible causes, the better, honestly! And yeah, not knowing where to look is hard, I've been looking everywhere and this was the first site I found that has given me any kind of helpful response. I'm in the US, but I'm sure that I can find the US equivalents. I didn't know that DID helplines were even a thing! 

It was really kind of you to respond!!! 

I'm sorry, I am in no way the best person to talk to about this but I'll try to help. I've never had another presence in my head, just different versions of me (good me, normal me, evil me) which were likely a symptom of my severe depression.

A lot of disorders tend to manifest around the age of 20, and most of the symptoms tend to overlap each other. It does sound to me like you might possibly have DID/OSDD 1-b, along with your other conditions.

I've found a list of organisations you could contact on the Mind UK website: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/dissociation-and-dissociative-disorders/useful-contacts/ . If you're not from the UK, I can try to find a site that suits you.

The worst bit is wanting help, but not knowing where to get it.

If you need a ear or two, I'll be happy to lend them =) 

Additionally: I would also appreciate people telling me that this is not normal, and that they do not experience it. All data is good data at this point!