top of page
Our collaborations
OnBoard podcast by Anika and Sophie
"Welcome to OnBoard, a podcast dedicated to soulful and heartfelt conversations that unfold naturally. As hosts, we provide our guests a compassionate accepting space to share their stories, insights, and perspectives.Fostering an environment of growth and connection for everyone on board."
We were featured on episode 09 of the OnBoard podcast where Ferris opened up about our experiences with DID, how to develop and maintain self compassion among ourselves when a common experience for mental health disorders is self sabotage.
Recommended Content
Dissociative Identity SIMULATION 360° video!
by MultiplicityAndMe on YouTube
"Stand in the middle of the mind of someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Based on true 'headspace' conversations, for the first time ever, we are able to embody the alternate identities using actors to portray them. Listen to what they have to say, get to know their dynamic, and truly appreciate why it's important for their voices to be heard so a system (all the identities) can learn to communicate, cooperate and function."
Through actors, fantastic use of 360 recording and expressive dialog, this video properly conveys what discussions in an inner world is like. One of the most difficult aspects to convey about DID is how we interact with one another, our differences and our relationships with one another. This video allows you to step outside of the usual singlet body-mind framework and explore a small moment in life through the eyes of a system living in the same body.
Dissociation Simulation
by Jaxis on YouTube
"If you’ve ever wondered what dissociation can be like, this is how dissociation looks and feels for me. The outside noises are muffled and to get that across I lowered the volume on all clips so that it was almost impossible to hear. I often find that I do things and not remember doing them hence the clip with the chickens. I also sometimes go wandering off places and not remember how I got there hence why I end up in the middle of the street. Dissociative symptoms are different for everyone and this by no means shows the extent to which I experience dissociation. This is a mere introduction to what I experience and it’s intended to educate."
This is one of, if not the best, videos you can find online where symptoms of mental health conditions are being simulated in a first person view. Unfortunately, this video has been unlisted and we could only find a link to it through our internal archives. This view uses cinematographic techniques to convey experiences in an extremely detailed and realistic manner that we found very relatable. We frequently share this video with loved ones and at awareness talks to bring people into a first hand experience of what one of the key symptoms of DID can feel like.
Pop Culture Representations
Fun, Accurate or Relatable
from media we have watched and found good
Mr. Robot (2015 - 2019) by Sam Esmail
-> Mr. Robot portrays a main character with comorbid disorders like anxiety and depression alongside DID, which gives a well rounded look into the average experience and struggles
-> Mr. Robot's emotional ending highlights the relationships between alters, which is a rare insight to gain from popular media
-> Presents DID as a self protective mechanism, which is accurate to the nature of the disorder and the motivations behind alters
-> "There are many other points, including the fact that Mr. Robot is just a really good fucking show" - Xenon
Severance (2022 - Present) by Dan Erickson
-> Not about DID, but very DID coded and relatable through the lense of people experiencing dissociative amnesia
-> Though a fictional concept set in a dystopian world, it has good acting that brings to light the disturbing experience of dissociative amnesia in daily life and at times refers to the different states of the same person like different people, which is more DID coding
-> Presents dissociation as an experience, not a monster, villain or defect in people actively experiencing it. The show has a sci-fi explanation for the dissociation, letting you fully immerse in a "what if" situation that is just the daily life of some with severe amnesia
South Park "City Sushi" E6S15 (2011) by Trey Parker
-> "Yeahhhh this review really has to be thought of in the context that it is a South Park episode, what did you expect?" - Xavier
-> "It's a caricature, but at the same time has a lot of tiny accurate things and sparks conversation between us, which is how South Park does caricatures" -Jack
-> "This actually has a lot of references, even beyond what's seen on screen. It uses actual experiences in DID, pushes it to the unrealistic stupid max just for a pizza delivery joke. Pro level shitposting right here" -Xenon
-> South Park is a satyrical comedy and focuses on writing jokes rather than make well informed commentary on DID. The episode has a focus on overmedicalisation of children. In an age of social media mental illness trends, we want to mention that it's difficult for children to formally get diagnosed with DID and many perfectly healthy aspects of childhood may look like symptoms as seen in the episode.
-> This episode still uses outdated terminology and jokes that medication is a valid treatment for DID (it's not, probably just a bit which would be clever for the writers to pick a disorder that cannot be cured with meds in an episode about over-reliance on medication).
-> The behaviour of the psychiatrist is rather accurate to how we've experienced therapy with doctors who are ill-informed about DID and aren't used to communicating with patients on an equal humanising level.
-> The psychiatrist seems to have no internal dialogue and frequently drastically switches. We are unsure of wether this is just plain inaccuracy surrounding switching or a way to show internal dialogue between alters which would then be somewhat realistic. The fact that his alters interact with each other more than what's seen in other media is notable to us as an underrepresented aspect of DID.
Brooklyn 99 "The Therapist" E11S6 (2019) by Jeff Topolski
-> The sequences are obviously jokes, highlights the main character as faking the disorder and we appreciate the distinction. Playing a stereotype while making fun of the character playing said stereotype is way better and even a bit destigmatising when it comes to misunderstood disorders.
-> We're grateful that the joke sequence doesn't actually have inaccuracies and sneaks in good humour that does not place mentally ill people in a bad light
-> The episode still uses outdated terminology, and the doctor's behaviour is an exaggerated version of how therapy actually goes, probably done just for humour and doesn't necessarily negatively impact mentally ill people
Stigmatising
Oh hell no
Split (2016) directed by M. Night Shyamalan
-> places a mentally ill person as a criminal against common statistics that people with DID are more likely to be victims of crime
-> uses mental illness as a driver for horror and isolates ill people out to be "monsters"
-> ignores that most violence committed by people with DID is towards themselves
-> portrays a narrow view of DID with only the most "Hollywood horror" aspects
-> generally cliche and emblematic of the average DID representation in media, and yet an other movie that uses mental illness for its villain's backstory to make them "less human"
-> The director does not acknowledge that this movie has harmed many people despite Split being a turning point for his career and may have used the controversy generated for his future works. He's focused on only entertainment and how compelling his ideas are while being happy to "Fudge with reality" to get a result he wants while also promoting a dangerous view of the mentally ill.
Sybil (1973) written by Flora Rheta Schreiber
-> This book caused a lot of controversy in the medical community, while at the same time creating a common picture of what doctors think of when diagnosing DID (stereotyping, and narrows just how diverse DID can present as, especially for system structures).
-> Falls into a misconception that DID is related to hypnosis and therapies related to that (using drugs and hypnosis to start conversations with alters). In modern definitions, symptoms of DID must be unrelated to substance use
-> It's debated wether the person being written about even has DID, with multiple conflicting sources throughout time. This factoid is used by doctors to deny DID as a valid diagnosis, which is highly unprofessional and potentially life threatening for patients like us.
-> The original book and subsequent adaptations contribute to a fixation and fascination with DID, which may be seen by some as sensationalistic or exploitative.
-> We don't like the book itself, its methodologies and content, but must acknowledge the positive impact this book had in bringing DID to the public and medical community and making DID a more frequent discussion in both groups.
-> "It's kinda like how "Steven Universe" used to be a broadcasted uniquely queer animation aimed at adults. It was one of the first to do its thing. Even if the writing isn't stellar in some people's eyes, it paves the way for successors to do even better and create other shows like "The Owl House". If the public doesn't know about DID, nobody will write about it, and people like us will have a lot more work to do when bringing awareness." -Xenon
bottom of page