Plural identity

Mental health

Multiplicity has been proposed as an "extreme form of identity splitting" present in individuals with symptoms of DID. A study by Turrel et al. reported that many they interviewed with plural identities said they felt disconnected from their body in experiences that matched dysmorphia and gender dysphoria, while additional stigma derived from popular media which often portrays those with plural identities as dangerous. Alternatively, recent clinical research has questioned whether identifying with multiplicity or plurality necessarily leads to distress. Indeed, some people with plural identities do not agree with, or seek, a DID diagnosis, instead rejecting the suggestion that there is anything inherently pathological about their experiences. Clinical scrutiny of plural social media content has generated backlash from some plural community members who view what they call the "system medicalist" or "sysmedical" approach to be gatekeeping or undermining their lived experience. By contrast, a different, largely DID-diagnosed sub-group within the plural community has been known to "call out" others they believe to be fabricating their experience of plurality. This sometimes includes arguing that the plural community should exclude those who are undiagnosed or identify as endogenic (believing that their identity does not arise from trauma).

A rise in self-diagnosed DID cases has coincided with a growing popularity of social media content relating to DID and plural identities, a development that dovetails with ongoing concern over links between social media and mental health, particularly in relation to TikTok communities. Some professionals also worry that online spaces could sociogenically exacerbate adverse effects of DID. In the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Salter et al. hypothesized that the rise in the 2020s of social media self-diagnoses was the result of multiple intersecting factors including undiagnosed neurodevelopmental issues, social isolation, and hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing a parallel to the significant increase in tic-like presentations to Tourette syndrome clinics during this period. The publication also warned that distinguishing genuine DID cases from malingered, factitious, or imitative DID is difficult. On the other hand, most members of the plural community who identify specifically as endogenic systems reject the DID label and do not claim the diagnosis.

Other reports suggest that participation in plural communities might remedy some aspects of social isolation arising from DID. According to The Plural Association, a Netherlands-based nonprofit founded to "empower Plurals, no matter the words or labels they use to define their unique and individual experiences", "[d]enying the existence of separate experiences can be harmful and may not facilitate healing. Acknowledging and respecting the multiplicity-plurality of individuals with DID is essential for promoting understanding, acceptance, and support." The extent to which adopting a plural identity can be regarded as a healthy way of coping is under-researched, though Ribáry et al. noted that all interviewees in a 2017 study reported that discovering the notion of plurality and participating in related communities was "helpful and therapeutic" to them. On a further note, Elizabeth Schechter, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, reported that the related practice of tulpamancy was used as a coping method during some practitioners' mental health crises. She along with religious studies PhD student Elizabeth Hale at UC Santa Barbara equated such practices with praying, noting that they could potentially impute therapeutic benefits for mental health and wellbeing.

Glossary

Fronting

The act of controlling the body.

Co-fronting

When two or more headmates are fronting simultaneously.

Fronter

The headmate that currently controls the body.

Switching

When the fronter becomes a different headmate.

Headmate

One of a system's distinct identities.

Headspace

The concept of a mental world in which headmates interact together. Similar to tulpamancy's wonderland.

Multiplicity

A phenomenologically defined version of plurality.

Singlet

A person that does not experience plurality or is not a system.

System

The collective term for all of a plural person's headmates.

System name

A name that represents the system as a whole.

Traumagenic

Forms of plurality caused by or rooted in psychological trauma.

Endogenic

Forms of plurality that have non-traumagenic roots.

Notable people

• Akwaeke Emezi – Nigerian writer and video artist (born 1987)