Beginner's guide to systems

All the basics, plus some extras ;)Trigger Warnings
- Mentions of abuse
- Discussion of trauma
- Discussions of PTSD
- Brief mention of RAMCOA/TBMC (traumagenic systems page)

What is a system?Systems are bodies that contain multiple beings.
These beings are commonly known as alters or headmates. Though the psychiatric field refers to them as parts.
Systems may also refer to themselves as plural or multiple.

Traumagenic vs Non-TraumagenicSystems can be separated into two categories, traumagenic and non-traumagenic.
The suffix -genic means 'generated by' or 'caused by', ergo systems formed due to trauma are known as traumagenic, and those that formed without it are non-traumagenic.
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Whilst the process of forming a traumgenic system is widely known within the community, the processes for non-traumagenic systems are far less concrete.
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reasons for the formation of non-traumagenic systems include everything from psychological and neurological, to spiritual and religious, to intentional and spontaneous.
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The basic explanation regarding formation of traumagenic systems is as follows:When a child experiences trauma that they are unable to cope with, there is a chance that they will form dissociative barriers to protect themself from the pain and distress. In extreme cases, the barriers will be formed so strongly that the part of the brain containing that trauma will develop a separate identity, and thus the system is brought into existence.
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The slightly more technical explanation is this:Every human is born with multiple isolated thought patterns, or ego states. Each ego state is responsible for a different thing; one for hunger, one for sadness, one for joy, one for curiosity, etc etc. These ego states are the reason that children (toddlers especially) are so well known for mood swings.
As you grow up, they combine, and by the age of 12 you have one cohesive personality.When you experience trauma in childhood, however, these ego states don't combine, instead separating further and becoming hidden behind dissociative or amnesic barriers. Thus, the ego states become headmates, developing their own identities, opinions, and existences.

Types of System

PSA's and Etiquette- When in doubt ask.
- Respect systems and headmates, and treat them as they wish to be treated.
- Don't ask traumagenic systems about their trauma/why they formed.
- Different headmates will have different opinions of things, including people. One headmate disliking you doesn't represent the entire system.
- In the same vein, you do not need to adore every member of a system, you only need to treat them with respect.
- Introjects are not their sources, and while they may identify with their sources, do not treat them like they are identical to their source.
- If something happens that causes a defence mechanism to happen (e.g. protector fronting), do not blame the system. Systems cannot control switches, nor can headmates control their roles.
- As a general rule, there is no 'original' or 'main' headmate.
- Things that may change from headmate to headmate; names, pronouns, likes/dislikes, species, gender/attraction, age, accent, appearance, boundaries, triggers, personality, political/social opinions, and more.

Terminology

EndogenicThere are a great many types of endogenic system, far too many to list, so here are the labels we see most often:Neurogenic systems form due to mental illness or neurodivergenciesQuoigenic systems are of mixed or undetermined origins, and don't always care how or why they formed.Spirigenic systems are formed for/through spiritual or religious means.Parogenic/Willogenic systems are systems that form themselves intentionally.

TraumagenicBrief descriptions of the four system disorders.Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is characterised by distinct headmates and high amnesia.Partial Dissociative Identity Disorder (P-DID) is characterised by distinct headmates , and one headmate being almost always aware of what's happening in the body, whether fronting or co conscious.Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder Type 1B (OSDD-1B) is characterised by distinct headmates and low amnesia.Otherwise Specified Dissociative Disorder Type 1A(OSDD-1A) is characterised by indistinct headmates.RAMCOA/TBMC systems are systems intentionally formed by an abuser via repeated and intentional trauma.

Headmate Roles
Headmates may have any number of roles, including none.
There may me multiple headmates with the same role within a system.
This is not a complete list of roles, just the most common ones.Host.
Fronts for daily/regular tasks.Protector.
Keeps the system safe from danger or harm.Gatekeeper.
Controls access to things. Knowledge of trauma, memories, knowledge of the inner world or existence of headmates, for example.Little.
Child headmate, ages that classify as a little vary. Generally under 12.
Sometimes called syskids.Middle.
Child headmate, often tweens or teens. Age ranges vary.
Sometimes called syskids or systeens.Avenger.
Headmate that seeks revenge on those that hurt the system.Caretaker.
Looks after things, commonly the system, body, or specific headmates.
Can also look after external things like pets or children, or categories of tasks/issues like medical.Soother.
Helps calm distress.Persecutor.
Headmate that tries to help the system but ends up hurting them instead.Holder.
Headmate responsible for containing something to protect the rest of the system.
E.g. trauma/memories, emotions, symptomsIntroject.
Headmate based on things from outside the system.Fragment.
Headmate that is not 'fully formed'. Generally speaking, if an headmate could not survive without the system, they are acknowledged as a fragment.

System Terms
Integration.
Lowering the dissociative barriers between headmates. This can help with communication, memory sharing, switching and more.
Sometimes when people say integration, they mean fusion :)Fusion.
When two or more headmates merge/fuse together.
Often a distressing subject for systems to talk about, so be careful.Splitting.
The process of gaining a new headmate.Fronting.
Being in control of the body.Co Fronting.
When multiple headmates are in control of the body at the same time.Compartment Fronting.
Fronting specifically to absorb/contain something the body is experiencing. Does not control the body other than that.
e.g. An anger holder fronting just enough to contain anger towards a person to stop the system lashing out.Frontstuck.
Being unable to stop fronting.Switching.
When the headmate/s in control of the body changes.Polyfragmentation.
Descriptor of a system as a whole.
There are certain common characteristics used to identify polyfrag systems. Those are:
high headmate count (generally seen as 100+), low split threshhold (splitting easily or splitting more than one headmate at once), complex or large inner world, presence of subsystemsInner World.
Also known as headspace/brainspace. A world within the brain formed to store representations of trauma. In some systems, headmates will reside within the inner world when they are not fronting.
Not all systems have one.Outer World.
The world the body resides in.Subsystem.
A system within a system.

Adjacent TermsFlashback.
Specific to PTSD, a flashback is when a person remembers their trauma so vividly that they feel as if they are reliving it in some aspect.
The most well know type of flashback is what we call holistic flashbacks; where you feel like you're back in that moment and you are immersed in the memory.
Emotional, somatic, and dissociative flashbacks are all also common, along with approximately squillions of other types.Trigger.
Something that causes an increase in symptoms, often negative. Originally only used for PTSD, it has since broadened to all mental disorders.Amnesia.
Forgetting things. In system spaces it's often used to refer to dissociative amnesia, where you dissociate so strongly that you lose access to memories or information; and amnesic barriers, which restricts an headmate's access to memories and information.
A common example of this is headmates not knowing what happened in the body when the weren't fronting.