What Is Dissociation?

Find a therapist to treat dissociation

DID is a trauma based survival response, not a spectacle.

Power dynamics in media interviews with trauma survivors are rarely equal.

Consent in trauma storytelling must be ongoing.

Boundary violations can destabilize survivors long after an interview ends.

There is a moment in every survivor’s life when we must decide whether speaking up is worth the risk.

For those of us living with dissociative identity disorder (DID), that decision is layered and deeply personal. DID is not simply a diagnosis. It is a trauma response formed in childhood when safety was not available. It develops as a way to protect a developing brain from overwhelming harm. It is intelligent. It is adaptive. It is protective. It is not theatrical. For decades, DID has been misunderstood and stigmatized. When the media enters the room, the condition is too often treated as spectacle rather than survival. I know this not only as a psychologist who has worked in trauma for nearly twenty-five years, but as someone who lives with DID.

When I agree to be interviewed, I do so intentionally. My hope is always to reduce stigma and increase understanding. I offer both my clinical knowledge and my lived experience. I am clear about my boundaries. I do not discuss certain trauma details. I will not have parts prompted on command. I will not participate in sensational framing. These boundaries are communicated clearly, often in writing, before any interview begins.

Recently, those boundaries were verbally acknowledged and then quietly........

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