“What parts of yourself do you hide from most people, and why?”
I don't necessarily hide things about myself, but I also don't always offer everything up freely. If you ask me a specific question, I'll be open and answer honestly because, to me, there's really no reason to hide anything. But there are some things I don't typically bring up unless asked.
For example, I have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), and I also was diagnosed as a sociopath. These are parts of who I am, but I don't always feel the need to share them with everyone. I lack empathy and compassion, and sometimes I struggle to understand societal norms. These traits can make it difficult for me to relate to people the way they might expect. I also have alters within my system. While I only really know of one alter, Lexi, I’ve been told there are others, though we don't communicate with each other. You might notice I sometimes refer to "we" in my writing, and that's because of my experience living with DID.
The reason I don't just offer this up is that people often judge me or simply don't seem to care to understand what it is really like. Hollywood tends to portray DID in a way that sensationalizes it, making it seem as though people like me are violent or monstrous, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It is a complicated and often messy experience, and I think there's a lot of misunderstanding out there.
Despite all of this, I do my best to thrive. I make it a mission of mine to learn about empathy and compassion, even though it is something that doesn't come naturally to me. I try to understand what those things mean and how to connect with others in a way that feels genuine, even if I don't always succeed. Ultimately, I just want to be understood for who I really am, without all the labels or misconceptions.