TRIGGERS Y SWITCHES: Qué provoca el cambio de ALTERS | Trastorno de Identidad Disociativo

We got a haircut ♪.. Again

Hi lovely people I'm Lore from LongSoulSystem

and this is our channel for speaking about dissociative disorders.

Today we'll be talking about "triggers"

english word for "desencadenantes" or "detonantes"

-I think the camera has a stain-

and how this triggers can cause a switch

between alters in a DID or partial DID system; or at least bring to conciousness

an emotional part from the dissociative disorder spectrum.

We've mentioned there are several disorders which have emotional parts.

The difference between DID and partial-DID, and the rest of trauma disorders

included in the dissociative spectrum,

is that we don't talk about switches in other disorders.

Because switches usually occur in DID or partial-DID;

In other disorders, it's just an emergence of an emotional part.

All of this, happens beacause of triggers. We suggest you watch the "theory of trauma-related dissociation" video

the "dissociation" video, the "partial-DID" video.. all of them (laughs)

How do you like my haircut?

(intro music)

Triggers are like- calls for attention, they are emotional incentives

inner or external incentives, which cause an automatic response.

With "external" I mean what happens all aroud. "Inner" could mean body experiences,

to even memories, thoughts you feel inside yourself.

These automatics responses can occur as a cascade of emotions

Triggers are involuntary. Some common triggers are:

voice tone, agressions, anniversary of events, bright lights, colours, loud noises,

repetitive patterns or noises, impatient authorities, darkness, odors, small places, crouds,

to be asked to repeat yourself, annulment, uncerntanty, long waits,

lack of choides, songs, phrases, almost any incentive can become a trigger.

For example, in our case, which in fact Zalax already mentioned

are repetitive noises, noises we find no sense

This includes: some genres of music we don't understand

why they keep repeating it. Another trigger could be the feeling I'm lost,

because of agoraphobia. Another trigger can be when suddenly somebody touches you, touches your hand, shoulder.

Something important to mention is that it's not always clear for the person who suffered the trigger

what it is that caused it, or why, or what it means.

This is important: we're not always aware we are being triggered by something,

we only know, "out of nowhere", our state of mind changed, and we started to get nervous,

and suddenly several things started to change.

There are some "signs" to recognize a trigger, for example, sudden changes of mood, fear,

fear you can't explain.

Distress, worry, headache, holding your breath,

hyperventilate, nausea, stomachache, trembling, sweating,

holding onto something, unease, blank memory, get startled,

loosing sense of time, forgetting things, not understanding what's happening,

being unable to decide, being unable to focus, to speak, freezing, figthing, arguing,

being aggresive,

crying, self-injuries, even blackout or falling asleep, like a total colapse.

Dissociation is a big part of all these responses,

like a mechanism for dealing with the overwhelming information from the trigger.

Triggers, as I said, have multiple shapes and sizes, and to be able to handle them, you have to learn

how to identify them. This is one of the reasons it's useful to keep a journal.

As I said in other videos, one of the many things to deal with

DID or any disorder, actually, any trauma disorder

is to keep a journal, and write

if you start to recognize sudden unpleasant changes

write what changed, what was going on, what you were feeling before,

which feeling you had then, if there is memory loss, if there's something you didn't remember,

if there were witnesses who can give us more information, what other events you can remember.

You don't have to come to conclussions immediatly.

Just write the facts, what you know, what was going on.

Physical sensations are very important.

Not knowing your triggers is a part of what gives them power, and that's why it's necessary

to know when you're feeling a trigger.

Triggers can happen to anyone, really.

Specially to people with traumatic experiences.

In this channel we talk about DID, so, when do switches happen?

Switches don't always happen because of a trigger, or a negative trigger.

And not always a switch is detonated by a trigger. Switches can happen because of a trigger when

dissociation makes the present alter

want to leave, because he/she got frightened, or might collapse,

or when an alter knows the incentive, or has a response for that incentive.

This "change" can be abrupt and involuntary, or progressive, even between several alters,

this is known as "rapid switching". Switches are not like "on/off" buttons,

switches are more like volume control, in which one can be "up", and other "down",

or can increase the control and conciousness of the "front".

Rapid switching can happen between two alters, but it is usually between more,

it is usually because of a very difficult event, which no one can bare,

Nobody can stand being up front, no one can put up with whats happening.

One comes, and leaves, and comes another, and leaves, and then another..

and then someone is in the middle.. the body can't choose who can bare it.

Let me remind you that in a person with DID, or partial-DID,

personality is not flexible enough to carry everyday life chores,

and the need to face danger, emergencies, and to calm down

when danger has passed.

That's why switches are necessary, and happen all along our life.

There are also, "positive triggers". Some people prefer not to call them

"positive", because "trigger" usually implies something negative,

or something that implies negative things, or provokes a regative response.

But we can call them "positive triggers", or positive feellings.

Let's call them "positive incentive", which recalls nice feelings,

those can also bring an alter up front.

A child who enters a toy store, a child who sees her favorite superhero,

or smells her favourite food.

It's also important ro recognize positive triggers because, as a system, we have to learn

how to foresee switches,

and how to control them, or at least tolerate them.

And sometimes even provoke them, if the situation demands it.

For example: if a child alter takes the front in a difficult time,

for example, in the middle of the street. It's necessary to help the child alter,

to help her calm down, and bring up front an adult alter, who can remain concious

and cross the street, at least, and arrive some place safe.

Another example: if you have to go to the doctor or dentist, or do something scary.

It's necessary that the whole system knows how to call the "protector alters",

or alters who can tolerate that event.

Part of the journal, and therapy, and getting to know your system

is precisely to understand everybody's trigger,

what it is someone doesn't bare or tolerate.

This is -it has to be- a teamwork,

and everytime we provoke or block a switch, there has to be an agreement.

It doesn't work everytime. All kinds of switches can cause headache

in our experience. And headaches usually happen

when we try to block or avoid the switch.

And that same headache may lower mental energy,

and cause an involuntary switch, in a vicious cycle.

We're going to show you an excercise we did and decided to record.

(We've already agreed we were going to record it)

There'll be a moment a switch is about to happen,

like in between two alters, or co-fronting,

and it feels uncomfortable, and may not be the best.

When switches can't go one way nor another, the best you can do is relax

and allow it to happen. It feels like when 2 people want to go through a door,

but you can't decide who goes first, and you get squished trying to pass through.

Listening to music, specially an alter's favourite song, helps us.

Internally, I try to take a step behind,

relax, and remember it's OK to loose control, because someone I can trust can take it.

This is why it's so important to work on trust between the alters.

Zalax tries to feel the body, like a blind person,

recognizing how high is the body,

taking a step to the front. Like two blind people,

trying to cross the door, and one of them says: ok,

you already took a step behind, so I take a step forward.

Zalax wanted to go to the gym, and to record a part of the video

"50 things about us", which came out -two weeks ago?-
Zalax was in between coming out

but she wasn't completely, so we took it as a chance to record it.

Switches can be practised with the strongest parts, as long as the agree,

for when it's necessary. We can't always achive it, and sometimes it gives us a headache, but

it's important to loose fear.

Personally, for me Rayel -host-,

a sudden switch upsets me,

because I fear I may faint, as it has happened to me.

I've given a lot of thought on how it feels.

For me, it feels like that excercise, where you put your hands like this,

and you let go, and several friends catch you. Like that, because I feel I fall back,

and blindly.

It's like conciousness was formless, and the body was- like if you're trying to put

a piece of slime inside another one,

but at the same time you have to fall backwards.

This fear to change happens a lot to hosts.

That's why they're hosts, they can resist everyday changes,

so resistance to a switch is normal.

We have to work on it, because it gives us headaches and exhaustion.

Depending on the situation, it can be necessary to block or resist a switch.

F.ex: if a system is driving a car,

and we feel a child alter is getting closer, the system can decide to resist it, until

we can park some place safe, or arrive to destination,

where the switch can happen if it's inevitable.

Sometimes it feels like when you are going to cry.

There're times you feel you can hold it, you can hold crying,

or hold yawning, o laughing.

There are times you can hold it,

but sometimes you know - right before -

you won't be able to hold it.

Also, resistance happen to us when we're around people,

because you feel you're being watched, and it's intimidating,

and really, when you take a step back, there's no guarantee

who is coming out, or if you feel a child alter is coming,

but at the end, it's someone else.

I find it difficult -still- and you need a lot of trust between the system and the people around you,

to allow the switch to happen fluently around them.

We still have to work on that. Switches are very vulnerable,

that's why we say, please:

don't ask a system to switch in front of you. That's.. no.-

Please, stay a bit longer, I want to tell you guys about the conference,

to win a ticket to the Entitle-DID conference.

Finishing with the switches: they're characteristic of DID and partial-DID.

They don't occur in other disorders.

However, it's not the most common event. I quote Dr Kluft -who I already did-

in the partial-DID video. Switches can happen

between 20 to 50 times a day, or not occur for days, weeks, even months.

"Passive influence" is more common , which we'll discuss in another video.

It has to do with triggers,

and that feeling someone is behind you,

but it's not a complete switch. Because triggers get you tired.

And the body can't mantein so many switches, it's not efficient. So we'll be talking

about "passive influence" in anoher video. Right now I wanted to talk about

the conference. Toi Magazine's conference.

I'll explain for those who don't know these people. Toi Magazine is a Journal,

a Mental Health and Life Style Journal.

It has a lot of things, it's really good. It has a printed and an online version.

In fact: the online version can be read for free: we'll leave the links in the description.

It turns out months ago they published a number, with many pages, with a lot of real-life stories from people diagnosed with DID.

Between those stories were the YouTube channels you may already know:

DissociaDID, Multiplicity and Me, Entropy System,

a channel who called themselves Alternative Perspective, but now they're Team Piñata,

Laberynth System, Christine Chronicles, Our Dissociated Life - man, I'm forgetting some..

It turns out, months ago, the Journal published these people stories,

and from then, DID visibility started to grow

and they started to work together to organize give-aways, and a lot of preety things,

to give DID survivors and patients visibility.

Days ago, they announced there's going to be a conference

where many of these people will participate, and also a lot of DID specialists, and mental health specialists.

There's going to be a conference and a formal dinner.

You can attend the livestream, or you can go in person. It'll be in November, in San Francisco.

It said it backwards. In San Francisco, in November, this year.

Sadly, a lot of DID systems, we don't have enough money

to afford the plane ticket, because we don't live there.

We have the plane ticket, lodging, food, bla, bla, bla..

Yes, we definitely want to go.

Sadly, we don't have a job yet, so it's not possible

for us to pay the plane ticket, but we definitely want to go.

So: Our Dissociated Life and AprilHijacked with Toi Magazine got together

and created a GoFundMe web page. GoFundMe, for those who don't know, is a platform

where people donate money to reach a goal. This GoFundMe goal is to afford the registration

and at least a piece of the plane ticket, to 10 DID systems.

Anybody can assist, you don't have to be a DID patient to assist the conference,

but this sponsorship is for 10 systems who want to go.

So, this is what you have to do: put your legal name,

remember that, because if you win, they'll buy the ticket.

But don't worry, they won't tell anybody. Preferably, speak english

because people who organize this don't speak spanish.

Or at least, speak a little, this is important.

And write what means to you to go to the conference.

We already signed, and in case

we win, we'll do the following:

we already donated part of our savings

from YouTube to GoFundMe,

and in case

we win one of those sponsorships, and we get a job and can afford out ticket,

we'll donate our sponsorship to another system.

So: we invite you to share this information,

share the GoFundMe link, if you can

donate if you can, so we can reach the goal, and support 10 DID systems

around the world. And of course you can sign too.

I don't remember if there's anything missing...

Do you like my shirt? This.. - I forgot

Eh.. going back.

OMG, I forgot.

Speaking of triggers - and recognizing when your memory is a blank,

I think what happened was (laughs)

talking about the job, that we don't have one yet.

And I started to hear about us having to keep looking,

and what we have to do when we get one..

I think I got overwhelmed with that..

Basically, that.

If you have any doubts, please leave a comment. It'd be nice if several systems got together,

for example, in Mexico City, and pay a single stream ticket,

because you can pay for the live stream to all the conference,

and watch it together at home.

That'd be incredible.

We want to go, and we'll see if we can get the ticket, or we can win it.

That's where I lost it.

Well

That's

basically it.

Happy new year! We're wearing for the first time our shirt and haircut. If you have doubts about hair

it was nice, because while they were cutting it,

we heard Zalax go: AHHH,

and Antef go: UFFF

and Alexia go: AGH

and mine was: AIHH

I don't know, it was fun.

Well, I think I'll leave it here. I'm like wiri wiri wara (kiss)

Plural kisses. Goodbye. And if I forgot anything, please write it in the comments.

So we can talk about it (kiss)

Plural kisses <3

(outro)