Reed,

My alters come out pretty much whenever. They have learned that they cannot be erased by therapy. So, they feel comfortable just coming out when they want.

Annie

Mine also come out whenever they feel like it or I feel threatened. My little ones come out when they know they are safe. But I think that everybody is unique. Just because my little ones like to color doesn't mean everybody's does. We are all unique in our situations and when our alters come out.

Purrs--Laura

like catslave my littles only come out when safe, joseph wgen im threatened, i seem to switch from different emotions. i dont seem to know how to switch emotions on my own. joe

Our situation is different.
We're diagnosed, but the only people who know, besides us, are our counsellor and psychologist. The people we live with are unaware that we are DID, and we will not tell them. We cannot risk it, there's still too much danger.
So this limits who comes out and when. We use co-consciousness as a way to allow the alters to have time out, without it being too obvious that something is different. Most of our alters are pretty happy to stay inside, most are terrified of the world and people in it anyway, and there are some who just don't come out, ever. Their place is inside.
We have one who will take over when we are in physical danger from another person (luckily, we don't need him to come out that much anymore). We have one who comes out when the body is in physical danger from the main or one of the alters, or when our main is beginning to feel that "I can't handle this" feeling.
The littles only ever come out when we are completely alone (usually the whole house has to be empty). It is the only time they feel safe enough, which is understandable.
Other than that, there are only a few more who take control. They'll come out as themselves when we're alone, or as the main when we're around others.
Co-consciousness has definately become our best friend.

i made an outerlayer so that it would not be so obvious that we change( it still is noticable anyway)..
but when i switch it can be anywhere, with ofcourse the outerlayer trying to hide it.
the outerlayer knows stuff like name, gender, adress, appointments, relationships im supposed to have with certain people and so on.
the outerlayer only sometimes goes away when im completely alone. and just like porcelainsoul, we kinda teached ourselves a place on the inside..
which will give me quite a hard time in therapy, cause they want to see the alters.

((hugs))

Fear or panic will bring them out.anything that causes me to feel an emotion strongly usually will prompt a switch.I cant stay me if i get angry.

mine now that im not in therapy dont hardly come out as a working team anymore and also when feel that Susan is threatened... And they also have learned through therapy they can not be earased!!!!! They agree to intergrate and then they are still apart of us just not seperate.... it is another talent or is new knowledge that the core person has learned.... Just Me Suz.

We are so out of control right now...and life is so chaotic that we are switching all the time and seem to have little if any control. Time is lost, stress levels are running very high and there is little if any cooperation within the system. We use to function very well with coconsciousness and peacefully sharing time out but not anymore. It is a nightmare! We are in system melt down and very scared.... karyn

Thank you everyone for your wonderful advice.

I guess I could say that not everyone who has DID is like the sterotypical peope you see on TV. Where the changes that occur are very evident and distinct.

I'm glad others describe kind of what I'm feeling, where there is this out-layer to keep most people from recognizing the suttle changes.

Mine come out when they are needed. Many of them know how to do things that I don't. I have luckily had my own business for almost 11 years where I work out of my house, Since it is a graphic design company, many of them love to design. My situation is very much different then many people I have talked to including my therapist, There are about 30 that come out more than others, I have 172 that are known of. There were more that I do not hear anymore. Alters do not die, they go into the archives. Also there is no such thing as integration or incorporation therapy. In both situations they tell you that you can call on any of them when they are needed, So if they are still there, they never left. I haven't worked through my past at all seeing that is spread amongst many of them. They have cliques and they have different levels where they are located. I recommend Got Parts? It is a book many DID folks call their bible. It is good for you and to share with others. Use what you have as a tool in life, There are benefits of being more than one. I just would like to add one thing. Please be careful of some of the DID folks on here. Some of them are full of it. I have already found a couple. One thing people should know. Never lie to a multiple. If I didn't notice it, one of the others did. I have no idea why someone would want to fake this. It is hard to be one of the 11% in the world that have it. I have in met 3 different people in my personal life that lied about. Just a warning, Some people just want attention. I hope this helped some, These folks saved you in your life, remember that. Mine are very much their own individuals. It would be hard to integrate some of them anyhow.