Very young. About 2 or 3 because there is a photo of a dress we were wearing and we remember having "friends" at that time. We just never thought it was different from other people until adulthood.
No offense taken but we are interested in why you ask, if you feel comfortable sharing that.

USalone

around 2 years old

I don't really remember. It probably wasn't as young as 2 or 3...but I think it might have been. I'm just not 100% sure about it...cause I don't remember much from under the age of 6. I definitely know there are some from as young as 2. But I think, the first one I remember clearly was from age 6. Although, I hardly slept as an infant...and my parents said that I was always making noise when I was left in my craddle/crib. But they said that I was "just making noise"...not crying or anything. So, perhaps I was just born with it.

The reason why i asked, was because i am worried that i have Multiple personalities. Would i know if i did? Also i have OCD and when i get a thought in my head i cant let the thought go, so that may be why i think i have it. Can multiple personalities come out on sudden onset, or is it a gradual thing?

Thanks for your responses :)

in 2009 but I brushed it off because i did not know what was happening. In september of 2010 it got worse.

It depends. On the circumstances.

Multiple Personalities don't just "pop up" out of the blue. Usually children are more likely to develop them, because of the ways they handle stress, trauma and situations that are just to much for them to handle. However, it's not possible for anyone to notice DID in children. And it's generally NEVER diagnosed to children, cause there are still so much to go through, through puberty.

So, it all depends. but usually, you either don't know that you have it. If you do, it's probably because you're the dominant personality.

some people were always aware of their others, some weren't. fact is that they were created at a very young age. so they were always there, that's not gradual, though more alters can be created later on. becoming aware of them is gradual to a lot of people. i even have alters who still aren't really realizing that we really are we, or the problems that it causes.

to me it was kind of gradual because i didn't get to know them all at once, and we are still getting increasingly more knowledge about each other/contact with each other over time.
but like usalone it was my normal. normal was weird, but i never knew anything else.
to my own experience, adolescence is when it became a disorder. disorder as in trouble living. when it was time for me to start functioning, which i cant always do.
when it started to be safer around me, and some things were told.

the people were to me, always like inside family. the problems that being multiple cause are a disorder.

I was wondering if you are 19 or 21 as your profile says both. No big deal I just like if it is there to stear clear of the young.

I'm a carer for a d.i.d sufferer. She remembers her 1st alter appearing at the age of 7. She doesn't have memories from before that time though a couple of alters have told me memories from earlier and have flash backs of abusive events. Alters appeared every couple of years till her early twenties when keeping them secret from everyone and continuing abuse caused her to have a breakdown. Since then over 60 alters have appeared.

From what we were told by the expert here in the uk, d.i.d is only possible of arising in the supple mind of a child under the age of 5yrs who is subjected to severe abuse. It's the young minds way of coping to survive. An older mind is too rigid to be able to form this way of protecting itself.

Time lost and signs of someone else doing things around your home etc are the common signs of maybe having an alter.

Hope this helps.

Dave

Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate it. I guess i probably dont have it then. Because i would know by now right?

I wasn't aware that I had alters until I was about 40 years old. Looking back it explains alot of misunderstandings and unusual stuff that happened but I didn't know at the time that it was due to alters. I lived the first 40 years of my life not even knowing I was abused then just one day out of the blue my past started to trickle in my mind.....

I met my first alter when I was 6. But I thought that she was an angel, not another personality. She used to, still does, protect me from things that go bump in the night(long story). It wasn't until I developed a few others(being completely UNAWARE of one prior or a couple prior) between 8-13. Between 13-20 there are more that have arrived. Again, I don't know if I ever acknowledged them as actual "alters" I thought they were just made up people in my head who tried to take over and convince me to change my name to theirs throughout my life. I've since come up with a NEW alias. So, I don't know if that's another alter coming out or what.

My first recollection of an actual alter was at the age of 6. Even though it wasn't until later on that I figured out that's what she was.

from what i can tell now, they were active before i was aware of them; i have alters who are little (3 or so), but i didn't actually realize it until i was in my late 30's and didn't come close to accepting it until after i was 42. i;m 44 now.

i don't think your question is offensive.
why do you ask?

emma

I knew something was happening around the age of 6 or 7.Not sure of what happened to start it all but do remember letting someone take over when I was really scared and panicking.also remember waking up in the morning and thinking something was wierd