Systems Simplified

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Traumagenic Systems

These systems are those where the origin of their multiplicity is believed to be the result of trauma such as DID, OSDD, Dissociative Subtype C-PTSD, or of-yet undiagnosed systems who understand their plurality to be connected to personal trauma.Traumagenic systems tend to have either one, or a few ‘Hosts’, which are the system members present most often and are responsible for taking care of the body as well as day-to-day life. As in childhood, to preserve their functionality, they are typically unaware that they are part of a system.For a system to ‘emerge’ and the host(s) to become aware, usually events occur where the choices of multiple system members begin to affect one another. This crossbleed of lives and suspicion of something being abnormal may occur gradually over time, or result from a sudden and jarring event.Typically hosts of traumagenic systems struggle against the brain, which in attempting to protect its ability to function, will push narratives of denial on the hosts, and justifications to explain-away the system’s existence, leading to recurring struggles in doubt & validity.

Endogenic Systems

Natural Multiplicity has been documented in history across several cultures around the globe, and denying the existence of endogenic systems entirely, or pushing the notion that they must be traumatized to exist as plurals, speaks over and disregards their experiences. Ultimately whether a system is traumagenic or endogenic is not for anyone outside of the system themselves, and their therapist if they’re seeing one, to evaluate.

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Mixed-Origin Systems

Not entirely falling into Traumagenic or Endogenic, while the system has experienced trauma, they have system members who feels as though their origin is not related to dissociation nor connected to traumatic experiences.

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Depersonalization / Derealization disorder (DPDR / DPD)

DPDR is a disorder where a person has persistent or recurring feelings of either depersonalization or derealization.Depersonalization is the occurrence when someone feels disconnected to their sense of self, either in mind or body. They may feel as though they are a bystander to their life, actions and interests, or as though they are witnessing their existence from a third-person perspective. This feeling might also be described as existing on ‘autopilot,’ and minor instances as such are not uncommon in the general population.Derealization is an alteration in perception of the external world around a person. It may feel unreal, distant, distorted, foggy, or falsified among other things in some way.

Dissociative Amnesia

This form of episodic memory loss exists where someone exhibits an inability to recall personal information usually surrounding traumatic or stressful events. While recollection immediately may be accessible, retrospectively to protect the brain, these events become increasingly difficult to recall, and walled off internally to the person’s recollection resulting in memory gaps.
Formerly categorized as a Memory Disorder, this form of amnesia was later reclassified to being a dissociative disorder.

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Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

A collection or ‘System’ of identities co-existing in one body, divided by amnesiac barriers. They are partitioned by the brain to help protect its ability to function. This disorder is generally covert, and system members will ‘mask’ and ‘act’ as one person to try and seem normal.The system as a whole, or the 'host' (the system member present most often) tend to be kept unaware of the others present in the system, since not-knowing is part of the brain’s defense mechanism to try to keep memories where there may be pain from affecting day-to-day life. Individuals of a system can be incredibly diverse, and in number can range from as few as two minimum, to tens, hundreds, and beyond.Formally considered to be Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD), once it was recognized that the cause behind this disorder was dissociative in nature, it was recategorized.
MPD has not been used as a diagnosis in over 30 years.

Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD)

Where the full diagnostic criteria for any of the other specific dissociative disorders are not met, a person might be diagnosed with OSDD, so it therefore acts as a catchall for this purpose. Often-referred to 'subtypes' of OSDD (1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4 etc.) are not actually given diagnoses, but were spread to the community based on a splice of concepts between OSDD, and remnant carryovers of DDNOS which did have these subcategories.OSDD covers this spectrum of experiences in a similar way to how 'Autism' does, or how ADHD now includes what was ADHD and ADD previously. OSDD exists as a diagnosis to acknowledge that the person is experiencing some form of dissociative disorder.This diagnosis has previously been called ‘Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified’ (DDNOS) and ‘Unspecified Dissociative Disorder.’ (UDD) It is worth noting that similar experiences to OSDD may exist within the Dissociative Subtype of Complex-Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder (Dissociative Subtype C-PTSD), and various other disorders either existing undetected comorbidly (simultaneously present) or misdiagnosed as something else which is also a common occurrence.

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OSDD-1a

Meeting most of the criteria of DID with the exception of the first outlined. Instead of differentiated identities, the system members of OSDD-1a exhibit multiple of the same person, generally presenting or feeling as though they are different ages, or may hold different outlooks or views on the world.

OSDD-1b

Meeting most of the criteria of DID with the exception of the second outlined. Instead of Amnesia between the identities of system members, they may experience lessor / partial or emotional amnesia.

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OSDD-2, OSDD-3 & OSDD-4

These subtypes generally don’t result in Systems but rather singular identity experiences or disruptions. OSDD-2 pertaining to identity change or questioning due to ‘prolonged and intense coercive persuasion’, OSDD-3 pertaining to dissociative reactions to stressful events, similar to DPDR in some ways. OSDD-4 pertaining to dissociative episodes with a strong or complete loss of awareness that would be described as a trance state.

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Full Amnesia

Generally the more well known form of Amnesia. Sometimes described as Time-loss or Blackout Amnesia, this form of amnesia is generally experienced by DID & OSDD-1a systems, although this *doesn’t *necessarily mean that this is the only form of amnesia experienced by those systems, nor the most prevalent in their day to day lives.Full Amnesia is when a system member switches place with another system member, and the one who takes the place in control of the body has no recollection or awareness of what occurred prior to the switch. There is an amnesiac barrier separating the individual’s recollections. While initially developed as a coping mechanism for trauma by the brain, it has the potential to impede heavily on even simple day to day tasks.It’s not uncommon that several members of a recently emerged system may initially believe that overall they only experience Partial or Emotional Amnesia. However, down the line as their system becomes more comfortable with internal communication and willing to trust each other, other system members, known or unknown, may become more confident with sharing more of their particular closely held memories or struggles. For the stability of the system as a whole, the discussion and sharing of traumatic memories is best unpacked together with a Psychologist or Psychotherapist.

Partial or Emotional Amnesia

Also described as Foggy or a Grey Out Amnesia. It’s characteristically difficult to identify because there’s still some form, or possibility, of recollection. Generally, if events were not immediate, they may require prompting by a third party specifically (either another system member, or someone external to the system) to retrace the thread of that memory, like pulling on a string to draw out more information that may have been otherwise inaccessible.Where recollection is ‘freely’ possible, the sensation of these memories may feel foggy, grayed out, or emotionally disconnected. Some may describe these memories as feeling as though they are emotionally ‘third-person’ or that these memories are imported to their head from another being, or recreated by imagination from a story they’ve heard.This form of amnesia is the primary experience of OSDD-1b systems, while also commonly experienced by DID, and OSDD-1a systems.

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Fusion

When the dissociative barriers between two system members drops significantly, sometimes two are able to merge and become one being, who either generally share characteristics from both prior system members, or primarily one with some influence of the other. This can affect not only internal identifying characteristics, general temperament and personality, but also memory.

Integration

This is the cooperation and functional communication between the majority of system members so that collectively, either as a group, or fused as one, they may function together in day-to-day life with minimal or no dissociative symptoms, reconciling their experiences to move forward healthily.Integration thus has two names, Functional Multiplicity, and Final Fusion. Neither approach is bad or wrong when it is the agreed upon will of the system as a whole, without coercion.

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Functional Multiplicity

This approach to integration allows the individuals within a system to maintain their individuality while minimizing dissociation and improves recall of events between system members.There may still be some members who keep aspects of themselves private, but on the whole it doesn’t negatively impact the functioning of the system.

Final Fusion

This approach to integration is where all system members are in agreement that they wish to come together via the total removal of those last dissociative barriers that maintain individuality, and pool their collective being to live as one cohesively.This will be highlighted in other sections of this site as well, but never push Final Fusion as a goal on a system. The expectation can feel tantamount to suggesting murder.

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The Torn Paper / 'Core' Analogy

If you take a piece of paper, and tear it in two, which was the original piece of paper? Technically both are, and you could tear either of those parts several times, and all would still be the original paper. The question and concept of ‘but who is the original one?’ is difficult to grapple with, especially when framed with the theory of structural dissociation which proposes there never was ‘one’, but at least two minimum.Thus, the now-older concept of the ‘Core’ came about. The notion of the core being ‘the original’ would still be incorrect, but the idea that they were the first host is compatible, and that they didn’t know who else was around early on. The ‘Core’(first) host would continue to develop and age along with the body as their most prominent system member, with the lives of the others centered around them: The largest piece of torn paper, together with smaller torn pieces.

The Cracked Bowl Analogy

A bowl functions by holding the contents poured into it; the life of a person. But a system might consider their bowl to be cracked, and its members, the unique and interesting shards that make up the walls and bottom of the bowl. Each piece fits together, and the bowl still functions, but sometimes a piece might feel a little wobbly. When this happens, it might go to another piece that it's close to and suggest the two come together, and sometimes in these circumstances, the cracks between the two pieces become perfectly joined together, and the reformed piece sits more stably in place in the bowl.The fused system member might thereafter identify still more as one or the other of those involved in the fusion, or as a blend of both, or differently entirely.This is an instance of seeking stabilizing support through shared experience and mutual understanding through fusion, and the brain deciding that yes it deems that course of action to be healing and will facilitate it. The system members involved may or may not necessarily agree, and that’s where the brain, not system members, ultimately still determines if the fusion will be attempted. Conversely, it might re-separate these joinings or fusions if necessary.

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The Gem Fusion Analogy

The cartoon ‘Steven Universe’ is often used as an example for a type of fusion, for which we’ll borrow the name from here. It describes the idea where two individuals, who both still identify individually, come together and fuse, and the resulting person is a singular new person, while still inheriting aspects of their predecessors.One plus One equals One, but that One shares traits of both Ones that existed prior. Neither was less than One before, nor are they more than One after the fusion, however all aspects are encompassed and still new.

The Puff Pastry Analogy

This analogy isn’t to do with the cooked pastry itself, but the folding process of making the pastry dough. It describes the process of a split happening, with a new system member coming into being, and there being a previous system member whom they were derived from who then gets ‘folded in’ to them, resulting in a fusion with persistency of memories and capabilities, but a different identity to before.Puff pastry is made by rolling the dough out, then adding a layer of butter, folding the dough over and rolling it out. Then another layer of butter is added, fold the dough over again, roll it out. More butter, fold it over, roll it out, etc.These system members may consider earlier iterations to still be some part of themselves in a sense, yet also refer to them as ‘predecessors.’ They have commonalities, but their identity and approach to things is that of a different person to who 'they' were before.In systems that easily develop introjects, hyper-fixations may get folded into the mix depending on what the brain connects to, influencing how people might evolve.This type of change in system dynamic could also be seen to be similar to the concept of ‘Digivolving’ from Digimon.

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Media Tropes

The harmful trope of the ‘Evil Alter’ became popularized due to writers, directors, and multiple forms of media deciding to use DID - and previously MPD - as a shock/horror gimmick or plot twist.Where there’s enough of a grain of truth to give the facade of validity to heavy inaccuracies as well, these irresponsible portrayals of the dissociative disorders and systems have done significant harm to the representation of real people who are trauma victims.When explaining their plurality to new people, it’s not uncommon for systems to find themselves also having to explain that they’re not secretly ‘harboring someone inside them who wants to do bad things’ such as cheating, assault, murder, theft or any other wrong-doing. Generally when a system explains themselves to someone, it's already exhausting enough without the stigma of such misinformation wearing down on them further.Hopefully this level of misinformation continues to wane in the future, with the gradual increase in education and awareness around these disorders, but it's still a sore subject socially with a ways to go yet.

Cheating

Outside of the stereotypical media portrayal, there are other circumstances where people are sometimes inclined to throw the label of ‘evil’ on someone within a system.In the instance of cheating, this could be the result of something as simple as amnesia, with two different system members, unaware of each other, both seeing different people. Or, perhaps one system member is in a committed relationship, and the other is not. It’s an unfortunately difficult circumstance to navigate for all parties involved.It's not uncommon for systems, prior to awareness, to feel that they are, or might be, polyamorous. The likelihood of an individual system member intentionally cheating on a partner is just the same as any typical person.

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Misinterpreting Persecutors & Avengers

System members who present along the line of either persecutor or avenger, might get the label of evil pushed or projected onto them, due to how easy it is to misunderstand their natures.For persecutors, typically this happens when the wider system themselves, or other people, misunderstand that individual’s origin, and thus also both how and why they navigate the world in the way they do. Already starting from a hurt position, being called ‘evil’ tends to lead to them being disinclined to cooperate with the rest of the system, as they’re already being seen and treated in a derogatory manner. It may even, depending on the level of disparity between them and the rest of the system, be more likely to push them towards leaning into destructive behaviors further, in ‘payback’ for their mistreatment.It can be very difficult to work through things with these individuals, but broadly speaking, not labeling them as ‘evil’ is at least the first step in cooperation.For avengers, because these system members tend to take a more direct, straightforward, and sometimes harsh approach when it comes to protecting the system by removing unhealthy, toxic, or dangerous people from their life, sometimes the intention behind their actions can be misinterpreted. Most commonly, an abuser might call them evil to try and skew the perspectives of other system members who are still emotionally connected to, or reliant on, the abuser. This encourages them to resist the help of the avenger, instead perceiving them to be a persecutor ‘acting up’ which they then try to restrict and contain, thus keeping the system connected to the abuser despite the harm being done to them. The abuser could be a caregiver, a friend, or even a partner.Generally in these cases, if the avenger does prevail, down the line once the other system members have recovered from and are no longer under the abuser's control or influence, they tend to recognize the mistake made in that misinterpretation on their own. It’s still, however, a difficult journey of recovery.

A note on accountability

This section should not be taken to mean that any wrongful actions undertaken members of a system should be excused. The past of an individual and their circumstances are simply the reasons for the actions they take, and not an excuse for those actions taken.This doesn’t make them inherently dangerous, and you shouldn't assume any system to be so.But just as every person is accountable for their actions, systems must hold themselves to collective accountability, for themselves, and others. This can be a struggle due to the nature of dissociative disorders, but it should be supported.Learning to work with everyone, even those who are inclined to more destructive behaviors, can be difficult and take time. Those people need empathy, patience, and support where they want it.Don’t make assumptions, and be genuine in your intentions if you offer support. These system members are those who are the most likely to loathe platitudes.

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Self Diagnosis (Self-dx)

Some systems come to awareness rapidly through crisis situations, while others do so through gradual recognition over time. Generally, the circumstances behind coming to awareness are never really pleasant, and this section isn’t about which method of becoming aware is better or easier. In terms of coming to definitive awareness outside of a crisis, this tends to lead to its own set of issues that the newly emerged system must then face: The stigma of disbelief without, or prior to, a diagnosis.If the system, after coming to greater awareness, is still able to navigate their life fairly well, and has supportive, understanding people around them, they may not feel the need to pursue getting a formal diagnosis. That’s absolutely fine. But unfortunately there are people who think they know the individual system's life experience, and what goes on inside their head, better than they do. Sadly, these people won’t accept or believe the system unless they can present a formal, professionally given diagnosis.Unfortunately in many cases, even if wanted, it may not even be possible for the system to obtain a formal diagnosis for any number of reasons such as:

Therefore, informed self-diagnosis should be acceptable. Dismissing and refusing to accept a system’s experience just because they are self-diagnosed, or temporarily self-diagnosed, doesn’t help anyone. It only isolates and harms the system.Say someone broke their toe, and had it buddy-strapped. By observation, they seem to walk fine. You see this person and asked them how they are, and they said they have a broken toe. You wouldn’t dismiss their reality because you haven’t seen an x-ray, and tell they’re making it up because they’re ‘walking fine.’ - You would be mindful of them, and accept their struggles while they navigate getting the level of care appropriate to their needs.

Fake Claiming / Doubting

If you think you’ve found someone who's faking being a system, what should you do about it?Nothing. It’s none of your business. Move on. If they’re faking, ultimately they’re only wasting their own time.Instead, consider the risk of harm: If you’re wrong and the person you believe to be faking actually is a system, and you’re doubting them about the essence of their very nature, interrogating them to try and prove they’re making it all up? To be blunt, you could be responsible for the end of a life.Don’t. Just don’t.
It’s never worth the risk.People don’t just wake up and decide, “I’m going to pretend to be a system and have DID or OSDD” - Doing so would be an active, conscious choice.If the person is putting out what you think is misinformation, you might be able to ask them if they're okay discussing the subject so you can better understand the experiences that they're open to sharing. But casting doubt on their being a system because how they present themselves doesn’t line up with your specific expectations isn’t something you should do. It hurts them, and it hurts other systems witnessing the fake-claiming, who then isolate thinking they won’t be believed or accepted either.Given most studies now put DID (let alone OSDD) at a minimum estimated 1% of the population - globally 8 billion at the time of writing this - that’s still tens of millions of systems internationally. The notion that Systems are ‘rare’ and therefore that someone is ‘probably faking’ is arrogantly foolish. The scale of numbers makes it far more common than people are capable of grasping the concept of.

But what do you do if you think they’re not* intentionally* faking being a system, and that they’re just imagining it all?Two things.
Firstly: same answer. Nothing. Not your business. Move on.
Secondly: if these ‘other people’ they imagine in their head as part of their ‘system’ help them navigate their life, guess what? That’s a system. And you can’t rewrite the definition to fit your uninformed beliefs.Ultimately, whether a person has a disorder such as DID / OSDD / Dissociative-CPTSD, Etc, or is Endogenic/non-trauma-originated. That is only between them and their mental health professionals. Even then, those professionals should have specialist training before dismissing the possibility of their being a traumagenic system. These are the people who know what is going on in that person’s private life, and have far more insight than an onlooker ever could by speculating. In fact, especially when compared to the perspective of a close friend or family member, where the system is more likely to act covertly and mask their existence to seem normal.Disbelief of something so core to a person’s being, especially when it comes from someone close or important to the system, can have detrimental ripple effects on the system’s stability. Ask any system, and they’ll certainly acknowledge they have days, weeks, or more, where they struggle with denial bad enough themselves without people externally invalidating them. And unfortunately, even with a formal diagnosis, that struggle doesn’t go away.Don’t Fake Claim.

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Introject Heavy Systems

Of systems with a prominent number of fictional-introject members, many face stigma and intense scrutiny of their system’s validity from both inside and outside of plural communities. Fortunately for such systems, formal studies do back up and validate their existence, but wider recognition hasn’t become the norm yet.From those outside plural communities, this tends to come from the simple lack of understanding about how different types of system members can form, and thus systems presenting with high numbers of fictional introjects are ‘attention seeking’ or ‘just role playing while pretending to have a disorder.’ - which can be harmful accusations.From within plural communities, this tends to come from systems, consciously or not, looking to maintain the status quo and preserve the idea of ‘what a system should look like.’ - This is often due to the hurt and stigma they’ve dealt with themselves in other ways, which becomes internalized, and is then projected onto others. Rather than acknowledging that there can be multiple conversations about system experiences navigating life and trauma, they tend to believe that their experience must be ‘more valid’ because they lack fictional-connections which they perceive to be ‘distractions from serious issues.’ - Disregarding the agency of fictional introjects in other systems.Online, due to the prominence of younger generations on the internet, along with the increase of mental health issues and neurodiversities being more likely to be recognized or diagnosed early on, there’s been a prominent shift in online representation, to span a more diverse range of system experiences than had previously been presented as the norm.It’s also worth considering the evolution of media that has happened rapidly over the past hundred years, and especially the last couple decades. The further back in time you go, the more difficult it would have been to recognize the origins of system members between brain-made and fictional sources, likely due to the nature of the media around not being as overtly different in reality to the external world.Considering that “Elizabeth” from the book Pride and Prejudice and “Paimon” from the video game Genshin Impact, could both equally exist in a system, why should one be considered more or less valid than the other?

There aren't studies on this subject yet, but there is speculation around the potential correlation between having prominent counts of fictional introjects or non-human system members, and systems that are neurodivergent in ways that make them more prone to hyper-fixations, such as Autism and Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disorder. (ADHD + Including what used to be called ADD)

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Roles

Commonly within a system, knowingly or not, different system members tend to have natural inclinations or approaches to situations, based on their origins within the system, and their experiences thereafter. These tendencies can be loosely grouped into what are considered to be ‘Roles’ within the system, but the idea of different roles are to help facilitate understanding the intrinsic or potentially cooperative nature of individuals within a system.It’s important to remember system members are more than just their role in a system, as that manner of thinking confines people’s existence to a limited box, and generally leads to resentment which hampers cooperation within the system. And also while every member of a system came into being from the brain for some reason or another, not every single one will be able to be understood or categorized easily.Roles are not static, as a system member’s role in the system may change with time. Nor are roles exclusive, as a system member might hold multiple roles simultaneously. These are simply categories after all.

In brevity: Hosts and Co-Hosts are the system members present most often. Protectors, Avengers and Persecutors tend to have the strongest connection to the body’s stresses or trauma, actively navigating those. Ideologically-focused system members who hold particular worldviews blend in where it may be unsafe for the system otherwise. Sexual system members harbor or reclaim certain experiences. Caretakers and soothers look after others within the system, or the body itself. Littles and Middles, reclaim a lost childhood. Fragments focus on an isolated event or emotion but may develop with time, where inversely Subsystems tend to have complicated origins. And Internal Self Helpers, Managers, Archivists and Gatekeepers help facilitate the overall functioning of the system.More on: Roles

Types

Who people see on the outside doesn’t necessarily match who or what someone is on the inside. It’s important to recognize because this disorder exists in the mind, the realms of possibility internally for how or what a system member might present or appear as, is able to extend beyond external reality.This doesn’t mean the system is unable to recognize or separate fantasy from reality; simply that internally a lot more is probably going on than meets the eye. System members can categorically be crossovers of several of these types as well.The existence of what system members are internally is generally metaphorical on some level, such as representations of power or powerlessness, freedom or captivity, and so on.

System members may be Human, like the body, or inhuman such as fairies, elves, dragons, an animal or creature which may or may not exist in external reality, even extending to human-creature hybrids. Beyond those, some system members might appear internally as supernatural entities, like angels, demons, ghosts or spirits. Systems might have members who identify as objects such as dolls or robots resulting from being treated as though they were just that at a time in their life.Some might present different to the body’s assigned gender at birth, or the host’s gender. They might be a young child, or a teenager, or an adult, not lining up with the body’s physical age and experience, but interpreting the world as such.Some systems may form members based on a source external to the system itself, where the brain finds another entity to either be relatable, or believe they could be helpful in some way, and thus uses them as a template and makes its own interpretation of them within the system; Introjects. They could be based on a person in the system’s life, someone famous like a celebrity band member, a historical figure such as a religious entity or politician, or fictional characters from stories, movies, TV shows, video games, etc.More on: Types

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Host

The System member who fronts the most often and handles the majority of day to day life. So the System as a whole can function covertly, the Host generally kept unaware of the rest of the System by the brain. They don’t usually hold trauma memories, either with complete amnesia, or partial/emotional amnesia rendering them aware but unconnected to said events.

Co-Host

Some systems have multiple members actively managing the life of the system as a whole; when that balance becomes a bit more evenly distributed, these system members are usually considered Co-Hosts.

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Core

The concept of a 'Core' is something debated in the wider community, and thus as a term sees mixed use, depending on how a system perceives themselves.The idea of the core being ‘the original’ as it's usually used, is technically incompatible with the current theory believed to describe the origin of traumagenic systems, since there was never a singular fully integrated identity. The idea however that they were the first host is compatible, and that they simply didn’t know anyone else was around internally early on.This term frames all other system members around them centrally. The ‘Core’ (First Host) would either continue to develop and age along with the body as their most prominent system member initially, with the lives of the others around them, or they may end up locked at a certain age due to traumatic events.

Protector

System members who come forward to deal with or help deal with events that cause distress. Some may protect the body physically, ensuring when something happens, the body doesn’t remain in a Freeze response, potentially fighting, or fleeing a situation. Some may protect the body emotionally, having greater capacity to deal with or make sense of situations that would carry too heavy a toll for others in the system to remain functional and still make decisions.

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Avenger

Generally considered to be aggressive or assertive Protectors, their tendencies to looking after themselves and the system usually take more confrontational or direct approach. Because of this they're commonly misidentified as Persecutors.

Persecutor

System members who usually have internalized abuse the system has received which then gets turned on the system as a whole as a coping mechanism. Some examples being ‘If I hurt us enough, we’ll be strong enough to survive.’ - ‘If I hurt us enough, maybe they won’t hurt us anymore.’ - ‘If we believe we’re not good enough and stop trying xyz, we won’t have to be hurt by disappointing people’ - propagating verbal and emotional abuse, as well as physical harm.Unfortunately, due to common a lack of understanding around their origins, Persecutors are often unfairly labeled as 'evil' or 'bad' in a derogatory manor, which can have other negative effects within the system.

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Ideological - 'Political / Military / Religious'

Centered around Political, Military, Religious, or similar ideologies. These system members are entrenched in a specific way of thinking or belief within a group’s expectations to help the system ‘fit in’ with expected behaviors.

Sexual

System members who front connected to sexual events or sexuality where others lack the capacity. This could be enduring abuse, rape or shame. Or reclaiming expression of sexuality back for the system.

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Caretaker / Soother

System members who help look after the body, or other system members. If things like eating / sleeping / health matters are difficult for the host(s) at the time, they might front to make sure critical things body-wise are taken care of for the good of the system as a whole. If a system member is having a difficult time emotionally, they may spend time with that member in a support capacity to help them through things. If a system has Littles, these system members are often involved in overseeing and looking after them.

Gatekeeper

System members who have some additional modicum of control over things in the system than most members do. This may include abilities such as controlling the memory-access of others, giving or taking away memories of traumatic events, blocking or assisting a system member in accessing ‘The Front’ (control over the body / external communication), and in some systems they may have some influence over fusions and splitting.

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Internal Self Helpers (I.S.H.) / Managers

Help navigate or mediate internal system matters, such as conflict between system members internally. They tend to have a greater awareness of things about the system and its members.

Archivist

Help record keeping of events for the wider system where not everyone necessarily has access to as wide a pool of recall.

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Littles / Middles / Infants

Both a Role, and a Type. These system members are generally ‘stuck’ at a certain age, and while they might have access to the information of an older person, their capacity for processing might be that of an infant, child, or teenager. Generally Littles have no more responsibility than to be cared for and try to enjoy themselves; the system may not have had the opportunity when the body was little.

Fragments

Usually lessor defined or dimensional than other system members, the majority of their being tends to center around a specific event or emotional state. Over time they may develop further, but whether they do or not, it's still important to acknowledge them as system members.Some may seem similar to another member of the system, usually a host or the core, with small differences.

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Sub Parts / Sub-Systems

Some System Members exist in a blended or plural state themselves internally within the wider system of the brain, and may experience switches and so on themselves, separately.

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Human

Probably what most people think of first when it comes to system members. A person. They might have different hair, eye color, be of a different height, or potentially even of another race to the body. (Although it’s very important for system accountability that the system learns to work with such members so everyone can be mindful of differences between conceived ‘experience’ via empathy, compared to actual lived experience.)

Opposite Sex / Different Sex

System members who are of a different assigned sex or gender to the body. Some may also use the term in relation to the gender of the host.

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Littles / Middles / Infants / Bigs / Age Sliders

Alters who exist in different age ranges, which may or may not match the body’s age. Infants are well, babies. Littles are children. Middles are Teenagers (though some may include them as Littles) and Bigs are simply those who have reached adulthood+.
Sometimes Little and Middle system members may be ‘Age Sliders’ as well. Age Sliders ‘slide’ within a range of ages as opposed to having a persistent age.

Animal

May develop from abuse because the system was made to feel like they were just an animal or pet. Or may develop for the comfort of the system / another member. These can be real creatures, or mythical / fictional.

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Inhuman / Therian

Fairies, elves, merfolk, dragons, centaurs, animal-people, creature-people etc. Internally, these system members assume / appear / feel this is their existence. (Some may experience phantom limb sensations when fronting/controlling the body.)

Object

Generally forming from abuse where the system was made to feel like they weren’t human, perhaps like a doll or robot, just there for whatever purpose of their parents without their emotional needs being acknowledged.

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Supernatural / Demon / Demonic / ‘Possession’

Generally from Spiritual / Religious / Cult-ish abuse. Where the system was made to feel that they were some kind of entity. This could be unintentional, or in some instances, intentionally programmed. These system members are often influential to other system members in ways that may ‘feel like they are possessed’ where there is no entity external to the system influencing them, in a stronger form of ‘passive influence’ without full switching, although they may be capable of doing so.

Ghosts / Spirits / Dead

Sometimes hidden from the system, if the system experienced something in which they ‘felt like they died’ - that experience may end up contained by a system member who manifests in this manner. This sometimes happens from ‘internal’ events in the system as well. Part of the brain does not physically die, as their existence and perception is simply the felt experience, but for all intents and purposes, they are understood as dead or undead in some way.

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Introjects

Introjects are system members the brain forms based on another being that it’s observed or recognized from an external source to itself, like a template. In summary:
"That looks like it could be useful for us in dealing with xyz- GRAB-YOINK -ours now!"
These system members are by nature of course only the brain’s interpretation of the source. Some may genuinely believe themselves to be that person or thing until learning otherwise, which can be distressing, while others may inherently have a little more understanding about their existence. (Although it’s still very common to grapple with that dissonance between their perceived memories when compared to the body’s reality.) There are several subcategories to Inrojects.

Copy Introjects - ('Factrojects / Factives')

These system members are formed based on the brain’s interpretation of people in the System’s life, perhaps a caretaker who looked after them at some stage and brought the system comfort, who then continues to do so internally in an interpretation. Or an abuser who initiated a type of harm that then the brain specifically thought needed to be continued to maintain its existence in some way.

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Famous People Introjects - ('Factrojects / Factives')

These system members are formed based on the brain’s interpretation of famous people. These could be celebrities, actors, influencers, media personalities, band members or so on. Generally these system members come about from relatable experiences that the brain latched onto either in a stressful way, or a comforting way.

Historical Figure Introjects - ('Factrojects / Factives')

These system members are formed based on the brain’s interpretation of historical figures. Perhaps a leader whom the system found inspirational, or a tactician that might help them figure out how to get through something. Entities perhaps like former Presidents, Joan of Arc, Jesus Christ, etc.

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Fictional Introjects (‘Fictojects / Fictives’)

These system members are formed based on the brain’s interpretation of fictional characters, creatures, and entities. The brain might recognize a shared / relatable trauma, and thus uses the system member to help express that experience internally so that trauma can- in time -be better processed. They might come about from the brain attempting to escape a struggle the system is enduring. They might emerge for reasons of comfort, or helping endure or work through something difficult.System members as such might come from Movies, TV shows, books, folklore, comics, video games, and in this era, even Vtubers or TTRPG podcasts. Essentially any media. Some only get one or two. Others a handful. But it’s not uncommon for systems that are prone to developing introjects easily, to end up with many since the nature of creative or narrative media is generally to be relatable.Unfortunately due to the nature of these system member’s origins, they often face additional stigma by way of accusations of ‘just role playing,’ attention seeking or simply ‘being delusional’ and ‘going a step too far.’ This is generally due to the person making said accusations not really grasping and understanding the nature of the disorder properly in the first place.

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Fronting - or 'at Front'

To be fronting, or be ‘at front’ is to exist in the state where the system member is present and engaged in the external world around the body, which they occupy and are in control of. They are susceptible to actions or restrictions from the passive influence of other system members, but also might accidentally perceive these actions as solely their own, if they are unaware of, or do not recognize, the influence of other members in their system.While a system member is present at front, that is when they are most capable of forming cohesive memories of external events, with full physical and emotional presence and involvement.Being at front would also be the equivalent state to which most people experience the world.

Co-Fronting

This is when two or more members of a system simultaneously are actively present at front. Common examples of this might be one physically handling an activity while another is simply talking. Or multiple members of a system could be engaging in a conversation actively.Co-fronting takes a lot of cooperation, and it is common for newly emerged systems to struggle with this, even if they recognize historically where co-fronting may have occurred before. This struggle within-awareness seems to be the brain’s attempt to push back against acknowledging the system's reality, which can make dissociation worse for a time. This can improve with practice of communication and cooperation with time.Different individuals will also be more adept at co-fronting with each other, compared to other members of their system.

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Co-Conscious - or ‘Co-Con’

This is somewhat similar to co-fronting, where there are multiple system members present and aware of the external world. A system member who is co-consciousness - or ‘co-con’ - will be actively aware of external occurrences to the body, but they themselves are not a physical participant. They will later have memories of events, but these don’t tend to be as deep of sensory experience as fronting results in, and have varying degrees of emotional connection to those events.While co-con, the system member is not controlling the body in any way, but may communicate internally to the system members who are fronting. They may, however, by their presence intentionally or incidentally, passively influence those at front by the nature of their own thoughts, desires, or intentions.Those at front usually know, or recognize when someone else is present co-con, however they may not be able to identify who specifically. Recognizing co-consciousness and passive influence in this way can be tricky for new systems, but it can also play a major part in establishing communication and trust within a system.Those from recently emerged systems at front should try to take note of unusual influences on their own behaviors or actions, as acknowledging and welcoming the source of these influences tends to lead to increased communication and greater awareness within the system.

Observing

Much like co-con, system members ‘observing’ are aware of external events, but not active participants. As they aren’t engaged with those who are in front or co-conscious, they are less likely to be noticed or perceived as present by other system members present in those capacities. Most often those who tend to spend a fair amount of time as observers tend to be the likes of protectors, archivists, internal-self-helpers and gatekeepers, for critical functioning and information gathering purposes.

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In Headspace - or ‘Inner World’

Continuing down the scale of awareness, system members in the headspace are not actively aware or observing external events. (Not unless a trigger suddenly makes the brain pull them more forward) Therefore they do not personally form memories surrounding whatever is occuring externally. They may later have information relayed to them by others who were more present, but these events will generally be perceived through emotional/partial amnesia, or total amnesia. (Depending on the system’s, as well as the individual system member's experience around amnesia.)Simply, headspace is where system members are when they’re not at front or personally aware of external events.

Dormant - or ‘in Dormancy’

The state of dormancy is typically the state where a system member is considered entirely inactive. In this state there is generally not even an awareness of the passage of time. They are unable to front under normal conditions, nor do they tend to drift between the different levels of awareness. (Strenuous circumstances might trigger otherwise.)System members who are dormant may not necessarily be able to be perceived as even existing within the headspace of the system. This is difficult where they may hold specific, individual memories, in the event of something happening that makes it important for someone else in the system to be aware of what happened.Sometimes, but not necessarily, prolonged dormancies can wear away at a system member. On returning from such an absence, they may initially experience more dissociation and blurriness of identity, struggling with their sense of self, and sometimes even losing internally defining features, such as appearance, or even their name.

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500 character limit - Personal Explanation

I am part of a System. - 'Systems' are those who navigate the world as a system of alternate identities; individuals that happen to share the same body. System members can be very diverse in their existence, each better at handling different things in their life. In some systems this means their people may or may not even be human, or because they relate to characters they end up with a version of them as part of their system within-the-brain. Learn more: https://systemssimplified.carrd.co/

500 character limit - Community Explanation (For Chat-Bot commands)

Some people in our community are 'Systems' - those who navigate the world as a system of alternate identities; individuals that happen to share the same body. System members can be very diverse in their existence, each better at handling different things in their life. In some systems this means their people may or may not even be human, or because they relate to characters they end up with a version of them as part of their system within-the-brain. Learn more: https://systemssimplified.carrd.co/

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300 character limit explaination

'Systems' navigate the world as a system of alternate identities sharing one body with each better at handling different things in life. In some systems, their people may not even be human, or because they relate to characters they end up with a version of them as part of their system in-the-brain.