Marketer. Runner. Living with #DissociativeIdentityDisorder. A Founder member of The Dissociative Disorders Alliance. @TheDDAGlobal. She/He/They.
Jun 13, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
We can’t imagine how it must feel for those who have long term serious physical disabilities to live with alongside a serious MH condition. We are constantly plagued with injuries, illness, inflammation, skin conditions etc and it adds another layer on to trying to survive. #DID
We try when we have enough energy to keep physically fit through running. Also it’s one of our few opportunities for social connection as part of a club. We try to do as much as we can to cross & strength train, we warm up/cool down and do everything ‘right’ but still get injured
Jun 10, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Hey #Dissociatwt we are reaching out more than normal and do appreciate your help. Bear with us on this thread. We get confused about how to approach/the difference between ‘grounding’ (to shift body/mind/emotions/sensations) and just distracting/other dissociative ‘skills’.
For example fear is rising in us and ‘I’ know which part of me it’s from because the time of year / weather & other factors means our mind is heading off down a flashback route. In a way we need to sit with it and say we are safe/ground/ allow feelings but it’s JUST TOO MUCH.
May 29, 2023 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
TW…ideation
How do people cope when thoughts are prevalent but there is the also despair of knowing we’d not carry out? We’ve a fear of hurting people (so some might say that’s a ‘protective factor’) &/or messing it up BUT then we feel trapped by the thought we have no way out.
And just to add, we bought this book for ourselves from @SuicideCrisis but for some reason we are ‘banned’ (by selves?) from reading it.
May 20, 2023 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
🧵 Living and exercising with #DID#ukrunchat
3 weeks ago we pushed the pace whilst out running. Hadn’t done any speed work or hills etc for months as was too worried about my injury prone body. Had several months of steady miles & strength training under my belt & felt ready.
My head was beyond full from everything we are managing - marriage breakdown, prospect of moving home, menopause and of course living with #DissociativeIdentityDisorder - The symptoms for which are just so vast and debilitating that we are too exhausted to try and explain.
Mar 5, 2023 • 13 tweets • 6 min read
A 🧵 This #DIDAwarnessDay MeWe have some news to share. Since last October a small volunteer group, including ourselves, have been working hard to prepare for starting a charity for and by people with dissociative disorders, their supporters and professionals working in the field
We are proud to announce our name - ‘The Dissociative Disorders Alliance’ @TheDDAGlobal#DIDAwarenessDay#DissociativeIdentityDisorder#DissociativeDisorders
Dec 23, 2022 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Hey #Dissociatwt We had one of the most terrifying somatoform symptoms last night, possibly after a trauma dream but it’s all foggy. We could feel our legs but could not feel the outsides of our skin on our top half but we were able to move our limbs. At the same time the inside
of our body was hurting so much, it felt like we were drugged. The pain was such that we felt we needed a huge amount of pressure to relieve it BUT we couldn’t feel our skin on any of our top half of our body. We tried rocking to feel the bed underneath us, we tried slapping
Dec 21, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
When she was someone’s wife, someone’s employee, someone’s boss, someone’s social planner, someone’s rock, someone’s bank, someone’s house mover someone’s font of know how, someone’s home & meal provider, someone’s champion then she was in demand, popular some might say.
Now she is not able to do those things for people in the same way. She is now we and we feel invisible. The body of course is visible but the role we played in peoples lives for most of our life is no more. No doubt they resent it.
Jun 26, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Anyone know of any credible articles or research on lack of mind/body connection affecting proprioception & movement? IE we’ve spent so long being detached from our bodies that new neural pathways need to be formed when doing physical exercise? #Dissociatwt#therapistconnect
Let me explain..if we’re learning a new move in the gym we often know we’ve sent a message to that body part to move but it doesn’t. We’ve found ways of helping pathway establish like slapping that area, looking at it, talking out loud, doing the movement at same time as others
Oct 16, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
Hey peops with #DID#OSDD we reached out in a #DID forum to ask if anyone was prepared to help us a logo for our system name which is ETERNITY. As we’ve a background in marketing we gave some thought to our collective ‘brand identity’, a logo being an outward expression of that.
We wanted an alternative to ‘my’ face because of course not all of our internal family see themselves this way. So we very much hope this will help with the dysphoria system members feel when they see my image on social media in profiles etc.
Oct 14, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A thread with a plea from your fans who missed seeing you in 2017 as you were poorly….. @ZoeTheBall for the morning
Hello, it's me
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet, to go over Wembley
They say that time's supposed to heal ya
But I ain't done much healing
Oct 10, 2021 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
So what shall we post & do on this #WorldMentalHealthDay
One ‘alter’ despairs over the rejection & disappointment we feel when we don’t get engagement in our efforts to generate awareness & improve the base of knowledge with people outside of our own #mentalhealth community.
But then the same alter & ‘I’ have this inner drive and passion to see change and also to support others who aren’t able to speak out. So on one hand we are like why do we bother, what’s the point, nothing changes. People have their own lives, they don’t want to hear heavy stuff
Oct 9, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Hi @SwinGlosMind Thank you for the work you do. I am really disappointed at the moment with MIND. Whilst I understand that charitable status comes with limitations on what you are able to for individuals, I feel fobbed off about several broader societal issues I’ve raised with HQ
The two major issues I have raised are; * The lack of commissioned #NHS support for those with #DissocativeDisorders
* The ambiguous wording in exclusion clauses in income protection policies.
Both of these I have offered my painful accounts of lived experience for campaigning.
Oct 2, 2021 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
Please RT! A free resource about Dissociative Identity Disorder thanks to @firingthemind. Talks combining lived experience alongside professionals in the field of #DissociativeDisorders are hard to come by! via @YouTube#TherapistsConnect#dissociatwt#DID
A recording of the live webinar featuring Gill Frost, Valerie Sinason, Amanda Ball, and Alf McFarland, held on Wednesday 30 June 2021.
For anyone who is a survivor of abuse or trauma, please take care when viewing this video as some content may be triggering.
Event information;
May 10, 2021 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
Hi @MindCharity@mentalhealth appreciate what you do for #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek But...last year I highlighted a need for info to explain differences between good/poor mental health & living with a serious condition. It’s v upsetting when little is available on #NHS for SMI
People like myself (ves) have taken to National TV and Radio to try and raise awareness of the lack of #NHS support for diagnosis, therapy & proper crisis support for #DID & other Dissociative Disorders. It’s a national disgrace & a challenge the world over.
Our much loved, respected and now retired therapist has her debut book release this week of #TheGirlsWithin. Whilst names have been changed to protect identities, it is a true story account of a middle aged woman living with #DissociativeIdentityDisordergillfrost.co.uk/thegirlswithin
Whilst numerous books about #DID exist, #TGW provides something quite different from most. Written in an accessible diary style and fully referenced, it provides a rare insight into the client /therapist relationship.
