An Overview of Systems

What is a System?

A system is a group of beings sharing a single body. This can also be described as being plural or multiple.These individuals can be described as alters, headmates, or any other term that they feel comfortable with! These headmates are NOT 'personalities' or 'alter-egos', they are their own beings, with thoughts and feelings just like the rest of us!

Ok, now what?

Ok, now that you know what systems and headmates are, now how do you go about interacting with them? Well it all starts with communication!Each system is different, so the best plan is to ask and remember to be open to learn! But just so you don't go in blind, here's some general rules!!

  • 1. Treat each alter/headmate like you would a singlet (a non-plural person) . Each headmate is their own person, treat them with the same respect

  • 2. Respect their boundaries! Plurality is usually a deeply personal subject, so don't push if someone doesn't want to reveal information.

  • 3. Be ready to learn! System stuff is complicated, and you might not understand it right away, and that's okay! Even most systems themselves were in the dark on the topic, just be open to learning!

Some misconceptions

Here are some misconceptions to look out for!

  • The movie split- Some of you may have watched or heard of the movie 'Split', we're just gonna let you know that everything you've learned about multiplicy from that movie is false. MPD (multipersonality disorder) is an outdated term, and plurality isn't an 'evil voice in my head' disorder. This thinking is very dangerous, and stigmatizes an already marginalized community.

  • Systems need trauma to form- This is in fact, not true! A system can form for many reasons, some being intentional and others not! These systems are not any less plural than traumagenic systems! (Systems that formed from trauma)

  • All systems are disordered- Not all systems fit the criteria to be a disorder! One main criteria that causes this is that a system needs to 'cause severe distress', seing as not all systems are distressed by their plurality, they're not disordered. (Although systems who are disordered are nonetheless valid)

  • All systems have amnesia- Some systems, like ours, actually don't have any amnesia barriers!

  • Headmates can cause the body to be disabled- While some headmates may be disabled in headspace, the body doesn't have different physical disorders based who's fronting.

Some basic terms!

Here are some basic terms!

  • System- A system is a group of beings sharing a single body. This can also be described as being plural or multiple.

  • Alter/headmate- These individuals can be described as alters, headmates, or any other term that they feel comfortable with!

  • Fictive- A headmate that is/is based off of a fictional character

  • Factive- A headmate that is/is based off of a real life person.

  • Little- An alter in the age-range of 0-10 (range differs system to system)

  • Middle- An alter in the age-range of 10-18 (range differs system to system)

  • Big- An alter who's 18+ (range differs system to system)

  • Endogenic- A system that did not form due to trauma (the system can still have trauma, it just didn't cause their plurality)

  • Traumagenic- A system that directly formed from trauma

  • Multigenic- A system that formed for multiple different reasons

  • Fronting- Typically seen as 'taking control of the body', but fronting can be different for everyone!

  • Headspace- An inner world that headmates live while they're not fronting