The host had really frequent panic attacks and sensory overload meltdowns as a kid. There were little t traumas pretty frequently, but the panic attacks were the biggest factor in the formation of our system because she just couldn’t process the feeling

OSDD always forms because of childhood trauma.

We haven’t tried to get diagnosed yet (and aren’t sure if we even are a system or if these symptoms are a result of a combination of other things), so I can’t say whether we formed in the same way, but it helps me to know it’s possible for a system to form from long term anxiety, since if we are a system that’s definitely what caused us to split. My hypothesis is that the anxiety caused from being gaslit by our divorced parents caused our child mind to believe we needed to change who we were around everyone, not just our parents. Again, not diagnosed, so this is all our own speculation, but so far that explanation seems to make the most sense. So thanks for this post, it helps to know that something similar has happened before and it might not be all in our head.

i absolutely have a similar experience! while i do not have any memory regarding my early childhood unfortunately, i can tell it was most likely not abusive, at least not traditionally. however, because of the immense slew of mental illnesses i had before i developed osdd, the way i processed trauma was way different than how, say, another kid would process trauma, resulting in the formation of my first alter. you’re not alone, trust me!