Term Definitions
A simple page defining some terms we use to describe our headmates & system experiences, with other common terms used by other systems.
Alter Terms
Just a disclaimer: We are sharing these terms as we define/use/understand them. The way we use a term might not be the same as another system does.
Personally Used Definitions
Apparently Normal Part (ANP): Basically an alter (or part) that displays negative posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (avoidance, dissociation, emotional numbing) and handles aspects of daily life. These have also been called neutral identity states (NIS). Multiple ANP are present in dissociative identity disorder.
Avenger: A type of alter who holds the system’s anger about their abuse. They might be obsessed with revenge or generally act out. They can be physically violent but not always. Can be mislabeled as Persecutors because of their aggression/anger.
Caretaker: A caretaker is an alter who is dedicated to the physical self-care of the body, or an alter who looks after younger, weaker or more vulnerable alters.
Fear/Trauma Holder: A type of alter that holds memories of traumas experienced by the body, and/or any fears caused by traumatic occurrences that were witnessed/experienced by the body.
Fictive: An introject of a character from fictional media, as may be inferred from the “Fic” part of “Fictive”. These medias can include Movies, TV Shows, Books, Comic Books, Music, etcetera. Note: Fictives are Not their sources, and may act very different from their source counterparts.
Host: The alter (or alters) most connected to/affected by the body and any mood changes experienced by the body.
Manager: Alters who possesses a vast amount of knowledge about the system, the alters, trauma, the inner world, and the general machinations of the system. Act as pseudo-therapists inside the system.
Observer: This is a type of alter that does as the name implies: their main purpose is to observe and collect. They may or may not also be an internal self helper.
Protector: A type of alter who protects one or more of the other alters. Many protect the whole system or body, while others are attached to a single alter (most often a little or trauma holder).
Social: This type of alter is one who fronts to handle social environments, and is typically extroverted or ambiverted in personality. Frequently an ANP or healthy-coping Fear/Trauma Holder.
Other Definitions
Age Slider: An alter that can present as different ages, sometimes within certain ranges or specific ages, sometimes with a different appearance, personality, or set of memories associated with each age.
Emotional Part (EP): An alter or part that displays positive posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (flashbacks, hypervigilance, hyperarousal) due to containing traumatic memories and having learned traumatic responses. These have also been called trauma-related identity states (TIS).
Factive: An introject of a person sourced from an individual already existing in this world. An example of a Factive would be a system having Thomas Jefferson, sourced from history documentaries/books/etcetera. Note: Factives are Not their sources, and may act very different from their source counterparts.
Fragment: This is a type of alter who is not a full human being. They might hold a single memory or even a single type of sense from a specific memory (there might be a fragment for the feeling of touch, another for sight, another for sound, all for the same event). They are incapable of functioning by themselves, as they are not fully human and well rounded enough to handle daily situations. Frequently, they are stuck in a flashback and unable to comprehend their actual surroundings.
Gatekeeper: This is an alter who can help control who can access front, certain memories, or certain areas of the internal world. They may or may not also be an internal self helper.
Happy Part: This type of alter can be a Little, but is not always one. Their function is to be happy, or optimistic, and they do not hold any memories of any trauma the system/body may have experienced. They are not often sad or upset because they have no reason to be.
Introject: This is an alter based off a source of media or an individual pre-existing in this world. There are two types of Introjects. (See: Factive and/or Fictive.)
Little/“Syskid”: An alter who is young. The eldest age for littles varies from system to system. Some systems place the cutoff as low as 7, others as high as 14. Teenage alters aren’t usually considered littles. Many systems place a great value and protectiveness in their littles. Littles are sometimes a persecutor, trauma holder, or happy part, and sometimes a surrogate child for another system member.
Memory Holder: An alter that holds memories that are usually traumatic in nature. However, memories are sometimes related to childhood innocence or a caring family that could not be seen in the same light if the memories were accessible at the same time as memories regarding abuse.
Persecutor/“Prosecutor”: This type of alter is usually considered to be a misguided protector. They frequently internalize the abuse caused by the abusers and inflict this same abuse within the system. They purposefully seek to harm the body, system, or other alters. They might try to assist the abuser or sabotage the system’s goals for recovery. The idea behind them being misguided protectors is if someone in system thinks and acts like their abuser, then they can better predict and prepare for the actual abuser’s behavior. A subtype of persecutor alters are suicidal alters due to the fact they also want to harm the body, but they have personally accepted the abusive messages and hate themselves instead of inflicting that hate on others.
Front Terms
Just a disclaimer: We are sharing these terms as we define/use/understand them. The way we use a term might not be the same as another system does.
Personally Used Definitions
Blendy: Times when two or more alters are overlapping in the mind/blending together. Think of it as when you try to mix oil and water; they are still their own separate liquids, just shaken together. Similarly, when we're blendy, we are still our own separate selves, just temporarily sharing a thought process. This is a very frustrating type of front.
Blurry: Times when no one knows who is fronting.
"Co"/Co-fronting: When two or more alters are fronting at the same time to varying degrees.
Front: A space in the inner world, or a metaphorical place, which alters go to to take control of the body. “Fronting” refers to when an alter is in the front and doing things in the body.
Headspace: An internal manifestation in which alters reside and can interact when not present in or using the body. It can range from a single room, to an entire town, or a supposed world. Some systems have very clear and detailed headspaces. Some people only have vague awareness or knowledge of their headspaces. Some have no headspace at all. Some systems will try to create a headspace in therapy to help promote communication between alters. Other terms for Headspace are: Internal World and Inside
Layering: This is something that is typically discovered via therapy. When someone has been working on healing, there might come a point of breakthrough. At that point, an entirely new set of previously unencountered alters might appear. Called layering, because it is compared to peeling back one layer of alters to reveal another. Very very separated from the "first" layer by heavy barriers of amnesia.
Partner System/Family System: This is when two separate systems have alters who are in relationships with each other. These relationships can be romantic or just a simple family sort of bond that forms over time. This can be between two individual alters or a group of alters.
Splitting: When a new alter is formed. It may happen directly from an existing alter, or more vaguely, from the system itself, depending on the system and circumstances.
Sub-System: An alter who has DID or OSDD on their own. Yes, an alter in a system can have their own system with their own alters completely separate from the overarching system.
Switching: This is the name for when someone switches between alters. Switches can be caused by a trigger, accidental, forced, quick, or slow, and can be painful, headache inducing, and/or nauseating. Rapid switching is when a system is cycling through which alters are fronting very quickly.
Other Definitions
Alter: Someone who is multiple has two or more identities/identity states/alternate identities/or simply put: Alters. In simple terms, alters are the name for the various people in the one body of a multiple. Within the system, alters will frequently call each other headmates or even family member names like brother or sister. Alters also don’t have to be human. An alter can be whatever a child thought they would need to get through their trauma. As a result, an alter can be a fairy or wizard who’s magic could protect them. Alters can also be angels, demons, spirits or deities. An alter could also be a robot to help the child develop a cold, aloof demeanor when dealing with trauma. An alter could be an animal who they consider fierce or loyal like a dog, wolf, cat or bird. They can even be inanimate objects like a rock, something that helps them disconnect from their human body entirely during the abuse. Other common terms for Alter are: System Mate and Headmate
Co-consciousness/“Co-con”: This is when an alter is aware of what the body is doing but is not in control of it/not in the front. The alter might feel like they’re dissociating while watching someone else front. However, some alters have no problems or disconnect when co-conscious at all.
Dissociation/“Diss”: An internal disconnect regarding one’s thoughts, feelings, memories, history, body, or actions or between one and one’s surroundings that manifests as a sense of unreality or as slowed, fuzzy, nonsensical, or disjointed thoughts, emotions, or action.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): Previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder. Characterized by the presence of two or more dissociated identity states (alters) that have the ability to take executive control and are associated with some degree of personal amnesia. This is an Identity disorder, Not a Personality disorder.
Healthy Multiplicity: Integration is not always pursued. Plenty of times systems find multiplicity easier and more comforting, so they work towards increasing communication and reducing to a manageable number of alters instead of total integration down to one person.
Integration: This can be, but does not have to be, a goal of therapy. Integration is when an individual works through their trauma, and as a result, their alters start merging as they are no longer needed. For example, if an alter exists to hold a certain set of memories, and those memories are worked through, then that alter might merge with another alter, typically another memory holding alter. Alters do not die; they cannot be gotten rid of; they cannot be traded with other systems. Other terms for Integration are: Fusion
Losing Time: A period of time that one or more alters cannot account for due to one or more other alters having been active at the time. That this has occurred is not always noticeable to alters who may be amnesiac to their amnesia. Some alters that experience time loss may still be active in an internal world during this period.
Multiple/“Plural”: A term for sharing a body between people which doesn’t strictly claim a DID/OSDD diagnosis. Used most often by non-disordered systems or by systems who’ve not yet been diagnosed properly with DID/OSDD and feel uncomfortable self diagnosing. Many DID/OSDD systems, however, use the term as well.
Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD): A category used to contain dissociative presentations that do not fit the criteria for dissociative identity disorder but can be specified. Most commonly, this refers to a presentation similar to dissociative identity disorder but lacking sufficiently differentiated parts (OSDD-1a) or amnesia (OSDD-1b).
Polyfrag: Short for polyfragmented, this is the name for a system who has a 100 or more alters. For reference, the average system is roughly 8-13 alters.
Pseudomemories: Memories of events that an alter of any background (introject or non-introject) that never took place. These memories can be positive or negative in nature. This is different than a memory that is remembered inaccurately. Note: These memories feel very real to alters who have them. They should not be dismissed because "They aren't real." Such language is harmful to hear to an alter who has these. There is a reason they experience these kinds of memories, and they are something that can be worked through with time.
Singlet: This is the term used to refer to someone who does not have a system.
Trigger: In regards to PTSD, a trigger is a reminder of trauma that can cause an activation of symptoms, a flight, fight, or freeze response, dissociation, or panic. In regards to DID and OSDD, a trigger is anything that can function as a PTSD trigger or that can cause a switch. The latter may be experienced as positive or negative.