Polyfragmentation
The most severe form of dissociation and a modifier to the Dissociative Identity Disorder label. A name for an incredibly complex system resulting from sadistic and long term severe abuse that is inescapable and prevents a child from developing coping mechanisms outside of dissociation.
Important Definitions in this Carrd
Fragment - A part that is "unelaborated", "2 dimensional", holds a hyperspecific job, emotion or set of emotions, or memory.Subsystem - An alter with alters that may have a separate innerworld OR group of alters who have less amnesia and better communication between them than the rest of the system.Complex Splitting Pattern - Can mean many things but popularly is attributed to splitting a multitude of different parts in groups (i.e: 4 at a time into a subsystem) for each traumatic event.Complex Innerworld Structure - Note that this does not refer to the visualization of the innerworld, but rather the organization of parts within the system. The system contains multiple layers or divisions that hold specific parts, subsystems, or groups of parts related to specific trauma, time periods throughout their life, or other defining features.
Kluft's Paper on Complex DID (referred to as MPD in the paper because this was written prior to the name change).https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/1396/Diss148OCR_rev.pdf
The Basics of Polyfragmented DID
Polyfragmented DID is a complex system structure that is observed to be characterized by the presence of a large number of fragments that usually outweighs the number of fully developed parts, a complex innerworld structure, often involving layers, and splitting pattern, at least one subsystem, and an abuse history consistent with that considered sadistic abuse. A child in a consistently abusive and inescapable traumatizing situation will be unable to form coping mechanisms outside of dissociating. This will result in many fragments that may split to hold hyperspecific things or perform very specific and only necessary for the time period jobs. Polyfragmented DID is incredibly rare and is made to seem more common by the internet, as most teenagers find that the definition floating around is that you only need to have "100+ alters". The premise of having polyfragmented DID has nothing to do with alter count. It's about the structure of the system.
*Important Note: If you do not remember any trauma history or timeline involving what would be considered sadistic abuse, please do not dig for your trauma. Talk to a professional if you can and if you don't have access currently, do so when possible. Sadistic abuse can be extremely dangerous to uncover on your own, especially if you are a young teenager still residing with your primary caregivers or in an unstable environment without adequate professional support.
Polyfragmentation in OSDD-1
Polyfragmentation is highly under-researched. This is an interpretation and widely agreed upon community conclusion, but it has not clinically been studied enough.
According to the way that the Theory of Structural Dissociation classifies and defines OSDD-1, it cannot be polyfragmented. Under a hyperspecific circumstance, which I will not be specifying, it is possible but INCREDIBLY UNLIKELY to be found or documented. It is not medically documented, and it is not possible outside of the specific circumstance aforementioned, as the level of amnesia in a polyfragmented system is not possible in OSDD-1B and while fragments may be similar in pf-DID, they are not comparable to the alters an individual with OSDD-1A would have. The trauma necessary to cause polyfragmented systems would also inherently cause DID, as it starts far prior to the age of 5.Having said this, it is important to note that clinicians interpret what is the criteria for DID and OSDD-1 differently, as well as their interpretations of polyfragmentation and what makes a system complex.
