Voting with DID
In the UK we are voting on Thursday for various candidates and for many that is a tough choice with what has been happening countrywide with the varied politics. We are a family that has voted each time and others in my family and wider circles seem sure on who they will vote for. We have heard from candidates via the television, social media, doorstep visits and in conversations with others outside the home so its hard to ignore this date is coming.
For those with DID or a dissociative identity disorder its not an easy choice. As there are so many in the system the choices are numerous as there are so many opinions. Some choices are not always so rational as some may have decided due to the colour of the advertisement or who appeared on the doorstep even if it wasn’t from a party no one agrees with internally.
So as someone who has a good understanding of some of my parts, we have to do a sort of chart. Those who are too young to vote can give opinions but not vote. We had to make this rule as someone younger jumped forward and voted for the Raving Loony Party about 15 years ago because it was funny to someone young who also liked spaghetti.
As a group we look at the main political parties and make a pro and con list on their beliefs. We also look for certain aspects we note as important. As a diabetic healthcare and the NHS are an important factor. As a psychotherapist I list what each say about mental health. This seems to be an area that everyone talks about but in theory don’t seem to actually contribute much apart from mentioning free apps and noting a certain area due to their own particular stance due to someone they know who needs support.
We did study British Politics at Postgraduate level in London 25 years ago and have had visits to Parliament when there were meetings on diabetes, health, homelessness and mental health. Some of these get quick fixes thrown at then such as IAPT which does help some cases but not everything. How can short term therapy resolve mental health issues for someone who spent their childhood being trafficked or continually harmed in numerous ways. We also were quite involved in demonstrations during the 1990s asking for the rights of people caught in war.
On a TV talk show we met a politician who talked with us a while and suggested we might think about running for parliament. That had been our idea 25 years ago when studying politics but we then chose a different career route in mental health but we didn’t delete our political ideas.
In our DID system or group we have over 100 parts or people so lots of opinions have come up and we have now narrowed our choices for what seems to us like a sensible decision. That could change depending on what comes on the news which could be similar to many voting on Thursday as some make different decisions than what they have in the past. We see voting as important so hope many do vote.
