When Telling Your Story Costs You

"DID is not simply a diagnosis. It is a trauma response formed in childhood when safety was not available. It develops as a way to protect a developing brain from overwhelming harm. It is intelligent. It is adaptive. It is protective. It is not theatrical. For decades, DID has been misunderstood and stigmatized. When the media enters the room, the condition is too often treated as spectacle rather than survival."

"When I agree to be interviewed, I do so intentionally. My hope is always to reduce stigma and increase understanding. I offer both my clinical knowledge and my lived experience. I am clear about my boundaries. I do not discuss certain trauma details. I will not have parts prompted on command. I will not participate in sensational framing. These boundaries are communicated clearly, often in writing, before any interview begins."

"Recently, those boundaries were verbally acknowledged and then quietly disregarded. I paid for that. I paid emotionally. I paid physically. I paid financially. What many people do not understand is that the power dynamic in interviews with trauma survivors is rarely equal. Journalists hold editorial control. They craft the headline. They select the quotes. They determine what context stays and what gets removed. They shape the narrative in ways that drive readership."

Dissociative identity disorder (DID) is a trauma-based survival response formed in childhood when safety was absent, developing to protect a brain from overwhelming harm. DID is intelligent, adaptive, and protective rather than theatrical. Interview boundaries are set intentionally—excluding certain trauma details, refusing parts prompted on command, and rejecting sensational framing—and are often communicated in writing. Those boundaries are frequently acknowledged but then disregarded, producing emotional, physical, and financial harm. Power dynamics in media interviews are unequal because journalists control headlines, quotes, and context. Ongoing consent and respect for boundaries are essential to prevent destabilization of survivors.

Read at Psychology Today