Living with dissociative parts: A narrative inquiry of subjective experiences in Dissociative Identity Disorder

Background: Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is conceptualised as an adaptive survival response to chronic developmental trauma, characterised by a felt sense of fragmentation through dissociative parts. While qualitative research has begun to capture the complex lived experiences of people with DID, there remains limited empirical first-person explorations of how DID systems navigate life through and with dissociative parts. Methodology: Through narrative inquiry and thematic narrative analysis, this study explored how twelve participants with DID narrate and make sense of their subjective experiences of living with dissociative parts, whilst generating clinical insights to inform therapeutic practice. Grounded in a phenomenological and narrative framework, this study honours participants’ authentic voices and perspectives. Findings: Six narrative themes emerged which reflected the trajectory of participants’ stories: (1) acknowledging the individual stories of parts; (2) the hidden nature of parts; (3) navigating a constantly shifting reality; (4) looking inwards and understanding the internal world; (5) remembering trauma through parts; and (6) building a home for parts. Dissociative parts were described as experientially real, embodied and purposeful, deeply rooted in trauma survival. Internal worlds served as relational spaces for internal communication, negotiation, memory regulation and healing. Interpretation of the findings invited a rethinking of multiplicity and selfhood; positioning DID as a trauma-mediated form of multiplicity which is functionally distinct. The findings also highlight dissociative amnesia as a part-mediated and active regulatory process which can evolve in response to therapeutic growth. Implications: This study offers a novel trauma-informed, ethically sensitive and parts-informed research methodology to enable participants to engage safely and autonomously, drawing on expert by experience consensus. The findings advocate for a parts-informed therapeutic and diagnostic approach, emphasising the need to honour the existence and function of dissociative parts.