Posted by J. (198.144.204.38) on January 30, 2003 at 20:56:27:
In Reply to: Re: Enneagram and Dissociative Identity Disorder posted by Jade (63.208.95.208) on January 30, 2003 at 18:26:42:
> I've taken the Ennegram test 3 times over the span of 2 years and all 3 times I've been a 5. 5.03 to be exact ;o) I also have DID and it took a while before I was able to really catch myself switching. When I take the test I go into my objective state where I access memory of certain things that people have mirrored back at me about myself, and I fill in the questions accordingly. I take the highest sums of opinions and remarks from what I feel are credible sources and use them to objectively observe myself. Maybe you can try that?
Having just figured out I have DID, right now it's hard for me to do anything except hold on for dear life (as soon as I made the realization, I had between 6 and 10 switches within a span of 4 or 5 days-- yeehaw!). I do understand what you mean by the objective state, though-- and I have noticed that state is a solid 5 type. That's also the part that enjoys formal logic and the sciences in general.
>Funny you mention this though, I have often wondered myself how many other 5's are diagnosed with DID/MPD or even Schizophrenia. I found a few comments on this page: http://www.prosperity.com/enneagram/graphics/5.htm today interesting.
My grandmother was schizophrenic, and my father is debilitatingly dissociated with occassional periods of lucidity. Both were extreme 5's. Again, this is not meant to imply all 5's are X, but rather that there may be a tendancy that "X-ness" may be positively correlated to "5-ness".
Another side note: the way 5's tend to think about their parents is interesting. My mother is bipolar and a narcissist, and basically a manipulative and maladapted child. "Being loved for who I was" was never even a possibility.
Hence the creation of other selves.
> 1) There’s at least another whole world inside the mind of a 5, if not two or three more.
!
> 2) 5s also like to group their friends in various categories, so that 5s only show one part of themselves at a time.
Wow-- that really DOES sound rather "switchy"! I KNOW I do this. In fact, I am frequesntly puzzled when friends from group A and group B don't get along. I used to try to have parties, for example (when I was in manic 7 mode), and it was amazing to me how the people I knew either hit it off famously, or couldn't stand each other.
> Both are true (for me). I can be a complete a**h*le one minute and an angel the next :oP But at least it scares away the weaklings who, in the long run, wouldn't make much of friends for my type anyway. It's difficult enough contending with myself much less someone who doesn't necessarily need to bother, what's in it for them anyway? Alas, sometimes they see me as a challenge and try their romance/courtship tactics, easily recognizable, transparent... and are promptly kicked to the curb where they either run off yelping, tail between their legs --- or become stalkerish. :o) Sorry for straying here, I'd like to hear anyone elses ideas on the E5/DID connection.
Ha! A familiar lament. Have you ever dated anyone who also had DID? My husband has it as well (we do tend to coagulate, I guess), and was actually diagnosed with it before I was, as he is more co-conscious. I was almost completely blindsided by my own diagnosis. Even though neither of us knew we had this disorder, we were drawn to one another due to mutual understanding. Not "everyone" gets along, but he's one of the few people I've ever felt I could trust completely.
That is, if you WANT to be dating anybody. I've read others' comments about dissatisfaction in relationships with non-DID folks ("singletons").
J.
P.S. Don't apologize for tangents-- that's where all the really interesting information comes from :)
P.P.S. Anyone care to refute the above connections?