@TheTenuousOrder Oh huh!

We read a blogpost once where the critter talked about their 'voices' that were pretty clearly headmates as a schizophrenia thing, so I figured it could be a schizophrenia thing.

@Ylfingr there's sometimes voices, but there's a range of psychotic symptoms and nearly none of them have any kind of affect outwards that would be mistaken for plurality- and the thing is, plurality, or... well... DID... got called schizophrenia because they assumed the alters/headmates/whatever term you want to use, were a thing that's like...
i forget the clinical name for it but it's the psychotic belief that oneself is a different person (2/3?)

@TheTenuousOrder *blink* ...I'd say in that case you /are/ a different person?

@TheTenuousOrder Like, all you need to be a different person is to consider yourself a different person.

@Ylfingr usually a famous historical figure or other such notable figure- it's a bit hard for me to explain i'm sorry- where they completely drop the life they have and try to...
actually thinking about it i *have* heard of "DID" cases doing exactly that.
i... came in here also rambling- uh- usually, from what i recall, unlike where the headmate could theoretically front at any time, the...

i'm... not the authority in this so don't take my word

@Ylfingr fuck

@TheTenuousOrder 's'okay!

But yeah, that sounds pretty much like fictionkin except with historical figures (and we've heard those exist anyway, "factkin" or something)!

@Ylfingr there's a way which does present like that, and this other way where it's the feeling of the inheriting of traits or that they're sort of like...

the concise, medical definition is something i can find but it's one i know you don't want

schizophrenia is largely about disorganised thought and "negative" affect where everything is muted, emotions, their physical affect, anhedonia, etc, either way

and both ways are a very weird experience

@Ylfingr the time i was looking through nine inch nails discography because trent was leaving a message for me about the trajectory of my life at the time
the times where we weren't depressed, but completely empty of feeling in a way it's still a struggle to explain to anyone that doesn't go through the same thing, years later

@TheTenuousOrder

huh.
makes sense!
Wasn't expecting the two different types, but it certainly explains all the conflicting information.

@TheTenuousOrder Honestly it still feels like the 'you're a different person' type, as well as the 'voices who are headmates' type, are plurality (possibly with other stuff as well).

I bet they could take our plurality and stuff it into the schizophrenia box.

@Ylfingr there's a schizophrenia spectrum based on the severity and which symptoms manifest- we'd be under schizoaffective probably, as it depends on mood-

@TheTenuousOrder Huh neat!

@Ylfingr I think about 1/4 don't experience positive symptoms at all, only "negative" symptoms (i think most schizophrenics have both?) which i understand tend to be less untreatable and much more disabling - these are all the "lacks" where people lose traits they previously had like communicative abilities, joy or emotions in general, motivation, and ability to move themselves.

(also whoops when we went to add this part we realised this was a *really* old toot lol oops, so happy to delete if you want)

@certifiedperson Huh! Neat.

And yeah, this is one of my pinneds :3
Still really good to know though!

The "sometimes the voices are continuous people, sometimes it's random mutterings" makes sense. We actually have more or less constant indistinct noise in the back of the head ourselves, and we're not entirely sure where it comes from – our guess is just that it's leakage from headmates in the back, but who knows.

...wow, people lose things they previously had? that's /terrifying./ We always thought schizophrenia was just something you started out with.

@Ylfingr I *think* it's common for schizophrenic folk to have traits of it growing up, and I think there's a bit of a genetic component? but it fully develops into a whole thing in typically later adolescence to late 20's.