Please note that the following FAQ is just about how it is for us to be Multiple. Not all Multiple systems are the same way as ours.

What do you mean, you're Multiple?
Putting it simply, we are a group of people sharing one body. That is basically what it means to be Multiple.

You mean you have Multiple Personality Disorder?
No. The people in a Multiple system are complete people, not just personalities. Also the term "disorder" implies illness and lack of functional ability. Many Multiples are highly functional, they have good jobs, healthy relationshps and no major problems in their lives. Such people are not disordered.

What about Dissociative Identity Disorder?
Again, the term "disorder is misleading. Dissociative Identity disorder is the modern American medical term for "Multiple Personality Disorder". However dissociation is something entirely unrelated to multiplicity. Everyone dissociates to some extent, for instance when you are daydreaming or meditating, those are forms of dissociation. Some people dissociate more easily than others (such people usually find it more easy to go into a trance or be hypnotised). Dissociative Identity Disorder is, according to psychiatrists, an extreme form of this dissociation, in which the "core" personality shatters into fragments or "alters".

I've heard that Multiplicity is caused by severe childhood trauma or abuse?
Sometimes this seems to be the case. many people who have such a background do seem to be Multiple. However, bear in mind that these statistics are taken only from the number of Multiples wo present for treatment because they are in some sort of "disorder". No studies have been made of functional Multiples who have never been in therapy. There are a lot of Multiples with no traumatic background. There are also a great number of people who have experienced the same traumas and have not become Multiple.

What about you? Do you have a traumatic background?
We have a history of some sexual and emotional abuse but it was not prolonged and in comparison with the experiences of many other people, it was relatively minor. I don't believe that this trauma alone could have caused my Multiplicity.

(outraged)How can trauma be minor? Trauma is never minor!
Of course, this is true. Any abuse is abuse, and should not be tolerated. But that is an unrelated issue and such arguments belong elsewhere.

So what do you think was the cause of your multiplicity, if it wasn't abuse?
Who knows? We don't know for sure. Some people have speculated that the brains of Multiples are somehow "wired" differently, at a neurological level. This has not been tested, however.

Is it anything to do with Schizophrenia?
No. Schizophrenia is a condition caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. There is no chemical imbalance associated with Multiplicity, which is why it is so difficult to treat Multiplicity with medication.

But you do hear voices, right?
Well, sort of. Most of the time it feels more like a telepathic contact. I "feel" the voices of the others but I don't always hear them audibly.

This all sounds crazy. I think you're crazy. You need medical help.
My doctor would send me away and tell me not to waste his time, because my life is in good working order. I have no "disorder"; I can hold down a job, I have a healthy and happy marriage, a healthy and happy family. I have many friends, a busy social life, and mostly I am contnt. Sometimes I get depressed, but so does 1/3 of the rest of the population. I get medical help for the depression when I need to. I don't need it for anything else.

When were you officially diagnosed?
I wasn't, officially. However our experiences parallel those of other Multiples. It wasn't difficult for us to figure it out, once we had access to the data for comparison.

Why are Multiples always highly intelligent/highly creative/highly psychic?
This is a myth that started in the 1980s and has never been substantiated. Multiples aren't any more likely to be highly intelligent/highly creative/highly psychic than Singletons (those with one person per body).

Is there a cure?
Probably not. Psychiatrists aim for integration, which means to combine all the people in a system into one. This is rarely successful. Medication is also rarely successful because often, different people in a Multiple system respond differently to a particular medication. Also, any medication which inhibits the ability of people in the system to communicate with each other will prevent functional co-operation and may make the situation worse.

Many Multiples lose time. Why?
Sometimes communication between members of a system is less than perfect. Someone in the system may do something and forget to inform the others about it. When someone else takes front, they are unaware of what the first person did and they have the sensation of "lost time". The time is not really lost, it just belongs to someone else.

Is it possible for someone in a system to be a different gender from the body? Different ethnic race? Different species?
Yes, yes and yes. In fact these are common. When people in the system are of a differnt species, they may refer to themselves as "Otherkin".

Do different people in the system have different sexual preferences? Different religions? Different likes/dislikes?
Yes, yes and yes. These are also very common.

How do you cope with these differences?
We learn to get along and be tolerant of our differences, in the same way that an external group of friends learns to get along and accept their differences.

What about people who have different physical allergies, different spectacle prescriptions? Or where some are right-handed and some are left-handed? Or where some have a disability (like deafness) that others in the system don't have? If you're sharing a body, how does that work?
This probably is related to the idea that a Multiple brain is hard-wired differently. When a switch occurs and someone else takes front, some neurological connections shut down and new ones open up. We're just guessing here though. And since none of us are scientists, we may be talking a load of bull.

What's it like being Multiple?
That's too general of a question. I could just as easily ask you what it's like to be a Singleton. Ask me something more specific.

OK. Can you talk to each other?
Of course.

Can two or more people be present at once?
Yes. Sometimes there's more than one of us paying attention to what's going on, even though only one has control of the body. That's why it's sometimes possible for people in our system to briefly take front to respond to something that catches their interest. We find it very difficult to actively share control of the body though we've managed it once or twice. Other systems may find that easier to accomplish.

What do you do when you're not Fronting?
We use the analogy of flying a twin-seater plane. Anyone in the system can be pilot. Someone else may choose to be co-pilot if they wish, so they have joint control (more or less). The others may watch what the pilot is doing and keep a watchful eye on the instruments. Or they may gaze out of the window, or talk among themselves, or sleep. Or they may not even be on the plane at all.

Not on the plane? Where would they be?
In our Other World.

Other World? What's that?
An Other World is a subjective physical space in which the members of the system exist. Such worlds may be inner worlds, created specifically as a living-space for those in the system. Or they may be external places, alternate realities, astral dimensions etc, to which members of the system have access. Some members of the system may be Walk-Ins from one of those dimensions.

Do all Multiples have an Other World?
No. And I know some singletons who do, so the existance of an "Other World" is not diagnostic of Multiplicity.

My partner is Multiple. How can I best help him/her?
Well to begin with, he/she may not even need help. You may be getting along fine. There are some things you can do to make it easier though.

• Acknowledge that the people sharing your partner's body are real and individual people. Refer to them by name if they are willing to share their names with you.
• Respect the wishes of those people in the system who do not want to spend time with you. It may be that only a small number of people in the system have a relationship with you. Some of them may have relationships elsewhere; this does not necessarily mean that you are being cheated-on.
• If there is something you don't understand, ASK. Your partner may not find it easy to explain an answer but it is better than not asking at all.
• Be aware that you partner may sometimes "lose time" and may not remember things that you think he/she should remember. It could be that a different person is in Front now. Be aware that different people in the system may have different opinions or feelings about something. Your partner is not "changing his/her mind".
• If there are children fronting, treat them like children. Don't be fooled by the adult appearance, you are not watching an adult behaving like a child, you are watching a child trapped in an adult's body.

How many are there in your system?
We don't know. At the time of writing this FAQ, there are ten that we have identified and named. There are more which have never (to our knowledge) taken front, and we do not know their names.

How do you keep track of them all?
We don't. It isn't necessary, so long as everything that needs to be done, like paying bills and keeping friends, is done.

I think you are posessed by Evil Spirits. You must let the Lord heal you and exorcise these demons.
You are entitled to your own belief, but please respect my wish to not share it. I have a different faith and I do not believe in Christ or the Bible. Feel free to pray for me if you wish, but please don't e-mail me about it.

I am MPD or I am DID and...
No you're not. You may choose to say "I have MPD" or "I have DID". But you are not a disorder.

I think I may be Multiple. How can I tell?
If you have the experience of more than one person sharing your body you may well be Multiple.

My doctor says I can't be multiple because it's extremely rare
Your doctor is mistaken.

I have read your website and while I accept that your opinions of empowerment and positive multiplicity are valid, I don't feel that they apply to me. I AM disordered, I DO need help. Where can I get it?
There are a vast number of resources for Multiples who do fit the trauma/disorder model. I can't give reccommendations because personally I dislike all of them, but if you do a search using the terms "DID" and "MPD" (and possibly also "trauma") on google or yahoogroups (the latter for mailing lists) you will find plenty to choose from.

Where can I find more resources?
Our Links page would be a good place to start.