Zee_K7

With D.I.D the term remission isn't necessarily used because it's not about having a disease/illness where it becomes less severe to the extent that it no longer affects the host and then something happens to cause a relapse. Alters can go dormant or inactive but that wouldn't be called remission. If there is a feeling of remission like a host no longer feels like the alter is around that's really more of a dissociation increase than remission (healthyplace.com)

Nikki_xp is correct when they mentioned "rare cases where the diagnosed person successfully fused with their alters". To add on to your point about 'relapse' I'd say it would apply in a case where the system successfully fused together but something happened that retraumatized then. And because the brain has already been conditioned for years because of D.I.D, they can end up going through the whole disorder again. Would there be new alters or the same ones, I personally do not know.

However also to add, fusion is not always the end goal for systems as yes some might decide it's what they want or others might want a different course of action. They can decide they prefer their multiplicity and choose either 1 of 2 options: functional multiplicity where they operate as a team with the amnesia barriers or partial integration where amnesia barriers are lowered but they do not fuse. From a friend I heard of a situation where the host was told of the trauma but didn't have partial integration and they chose functional multiplicity. And yes in other cases full integration or final fusion would be chosen.

Unfortunately a lot of what is depicted as DID in this drama is inaccurate. Shin Hye Sun is still amazing though.

This actually had me thinking for a bit. Because I'm seeing how the storyline is going and obviously I could never ignore her story but I am no longer going to see this as a portrayal of D.I.D (because the information gathered about the condition was never correct). So what I'm seeing is Eunho, who is grieving over her sister, creating a personality state, not an alter where she is still Eunho but acting like someone else. It got to the extent where during that personality state she began believing that "Hyeri" is someone else (since that Hyeri only thought she saw Eunho in her dreams).

I know they were trying to make it seem like this is D.I.D (and I will keep on calling it out that it's not) but I'm trying to be open and think of any condition that may be what she's going through. But it's not D.I.D

She's also not going through OSDD either

But just to quickly give a brief on OSDD subtypes (source Plurapedia) here's some info:
"OSDD-1a is missing the distinct alters found in DID, preventing a diagnosis. Alters are more blurry between one another and often have a core or shell identity. The identities with an OSDD-1a system may be very similar or diverse; one common presentation is one individual within different "modes" or ages, like an angry self, a 12-year-old self, etc. OSDD-1a is different than typical mood changes due to the amnesiac barriers between headmates"

OSDD-1b
"OSDD-1b is missing the amnesia found in DID, preventing a diagnosis. There is no full amnesia ("blackouts") related to switching, but emotional amnesia may be present, as well as "grey-outs" in some cases. There may still be memory loss relating to trauma, but not between alters."

OSDD-2
"OSDD-2 is characterized by identity disturbance due to brainwashing, torture, thought reform, or otherwise coercion-based dissociation."

OSDD-3
OSDD-3 is a transient diagnosis in which severe dissociative symptoms are present directly after a traumatic event. "

OSDD-4
"OSDD-4 is described as dissociative trances that do not have any other cause (including other conditions, spiritual practices, or drug use)."

So just by seeing that this isn't D.I.D nor OSDD but still acknowledging her story and for it to make sense I would conclude that:

Eunho is Hyeri (not her but her personality state). Hyeri is not an alter (not in the way the series is trying to describe it). They're one and the same. Alters can never ever be formed by someone pretending to be someone else and then having amnesia. Except for her there's a big disconnection between them (for reasons). So I have no problem if she ends up with Juyeon. If Hyeri was an alter and they were making decisions to fuse or not then they would need to talk things over. But at this point, Eunho needs to work through her guilt about her sister and heal. She also needs to accept her Hyeri side as well. She also needs to be upfront about her condition as well. Juyeon fell for Hyeri so he would need to know the truth.

Oh no problem. I might not know everything about but at least enough from a layman's perspective and as someone who doesn't have DID or OSDD. And if I could know the basics, then people making series about this condition should also as well.

When you start watching/binge-watching and still have any questions you can ask me anytime. :D

You make a good point. So in that case, they would need to show what caused the childhood trauma (in very early childhood). But so far they've always seemed to indicate that her DID came into existence after her sister's disappearance.

Let's say this hypothetically happened and so she developed D.I.D as a child. If Eunho is still unaware of her alter Hyeri's existence it can be because of a few factors.
1. Switching with Hyeri started since early childhood but it's so covert that even Eunho doesn't realize that she's missing time. Maybe because Hyeri only fronts for very short periods. Though sometimes I don't think it'll be hard to notice after a while.

2. Let's say Hyeri is the one taking on the memories of the trauma but she has made the decision to never front (even for a while) she can said to be dormant or inactive. However I do believe that something can bring her out.

3. This is important. Once D.I.D develops in childhood and even whether or not the host is aware of the other alters, there can be alters developing in adulthood because the brain is conditioned in that way. The level of stress doesn't matter because some might have a low stress tolerance (it all depends on the system). I don't know if new separate alters appear but it is possible for alters to have their own alters as well.

So to answer the question briefly about if Eunho can be Hyeri whenever she wants then the answer is a bit complicated.

The thing is the series has a lot of misinformation about what D.I.D is. But let's say hypothetically it was being done right:
Eunho and Hyeri would be separate identities and not Eunho pretending to be Hyeri and then forgetting about it. There would be certain triggers (good or bad) to bring either Hyeri or Eunho to the front. However is not always planned or predictable like that and it doesn't happen on a schedule.

If you need any more explanations, feel free to ask. I'll see if I'll be able to answer them.

I hope you're updated to at least episode 5 so just in case this is spoilerish you can ignore for the while and then come back to it later.

I think something is being misunderstood about the story in general.

Hyeri, Eunho's younger sister, went missing years ago.
Alter Hyeri is the one who switches with Eunho. In D.I.D alter Hyeri is a a type of Introject alter who is based on someone Eunho knows in real life, obv her sister.

So the issue here is that D.I.D is not being portrayed correctly. So I'll mention a few things they did wrong and what is more of an accurate portrayal.

1. In the series, Eunho is already an adult when Hyeri went missing. First mistake is that you do not develop D.I.D in adulthood. D.I.D only develops as a defensive mechanism because the child cannot cope due to childhood trauma before the age where a child's different identity states have integrated fully. Another mistake is that trauma, and that depends on the child, can happen repeatedly or it can be severe neglect or something that constantly impacts the child in a negative manner.

2. Eunho pretends to be Hyeri since working as a parking attendant until she starts forgetting she is doing so and believes she is Hyeri during that time period. So here's where they went wrong. A person cannot get D.I.D by pretending to be someone else and then they forget about it. If portrayed in the right way, Eunho and Hyeri are two separate identity states and there can be a possibility for them either to co-front or be co-conscious or both can communicate subconsciously with each other.

3, Switches do not always happen when a person goes to sleep and then another alter wakes up. It can happen if planned or unexpected and depends on whether there are good or bad triggers. There is also a dissociation period before the switch happens - sometimes it's quick, or a bit longer and the person may or may not go through some form of uncomfortable feeling like a headache e.g. It can also be covert or overt.

I wish I knew what happened to alter Hyeri because she's not supposed to just disappear like that. Alters can go dormant (sometimes temporarily) if there's something that they can't handle but they cannot die or vanish.

Btw if there is any term that you don't understand, please let me know.

I haven't watched that series, sorry. I'll add that to my watchlist to check out later.

It looked like what they wanted to portray was her pretending to be Haeri so her sister could live on in a way but it seems like after a while she developed amnesia and lived as two identities. However that is a misinformed representation of what DID actually is.

You're welcome. Actually they could be. It's up to them to make the effort.

Both names sound identical (at least to my ears) but they are spelled differently. One uses 혜 (Hye) and the other uses 해 (Hae)

Thank you. Yeah I'd say Kill me, heal me was a better portrayal than this. While it is dramatized of course we can see that it stemmed from trauma, sometimes alters do not get along, sometimes they can be different ages and genders etc. There can be triggers positive or negative that can cause switching. Hopefully there can be another KDrama that does a better job and takes the portrayal of mental health, neurological and psychological disorders seriously.

KMHM was probably my first introduction into DID as well but also what helped me learn more about it was listening to people talk online about their personal experiences for over the years. Also my favourite singer has bipolar 1 and DID (only found out after I started stanning him).

Really I don't know why a better depiction wasn't done though. Because it didn't seem like they did thorough research or if they did research, they barely touched the tip of the iceberg and probably misunderstood a good bit of stuff. I understand taking a bit of liberties with fiction and what not but the way they did this is going to give people the wrong idea.

First off Shin Hye Sun is amazing with her portrayals of both EunHo and Hyeri.

And while this is 'fiction', I'm disappointed that proper research wasn't done into DID - what causes it, what it's about and at what age range a person will develop it. But that's not the actress's fault ofc.

1. DID can only develop due to repeated trauma, neglect, disorganized attachments or something that occurs in childhood and negatively impacts the child to a great extent (depends on the child) when they are under the age of 9 or 10, even as young as an infant. During this time, according to the structural dissociation theory, the child is still integrating different identity states. Trauma can cause those identity states to become distinctly their own with their own personalities, likes, dislikes and memories.

2. Alters are not personalities. They are not the main identity deciding to be a different person for a period of them (and then later forgetting about it). Alters will also have their own personalities. They have their own likes/dislikes, memories and lack of. Another term to bring up is 'fragments'. Fragments are identities that are less developed and may carry out a singular function.

3. Alters are not imaginary or made up beings. They are all part of what makes up the individual except they're functioning in a different way from someone who doesn't have DID or even any OSDD (Other Specified Dissociative Disorder) subtype.

4. If DID was being portrayed accurately then the psychiatrist saying that Hyeri is Eunho is all wrong. They're completely different. However later on we learn that EunHo started willingly acting like Hyeri until she forgot about it. Seriously, did anyone do their research at all.

5. Alters can have different roles and sometimes more than one - trauma holders, persecutors, protectors/guardians, introjects etc. The trauma holder obviously holds the memories. Protectors would protect the system and the host. Usually the core or main alter that usually takes on the role of the host is the one with the amnesia barriers. Now it seemed like EunHo as well as Hyeri both had amnesia. Which made me think that there was going to be another alter involved. I don't think they're going that route and it'll surprise me if they do. If the DID was being portrayed accurately, Hyeri would be an Introject as she is based off someone EunHo knows i.e. her younger sister. Since I also thought there would be another alter, I thought maybe there would be a gatekeeper that controls the switching between Eunho and Hyeri because switching is never always predictable and in a set routine like that.

6. Alters cannot die. They can go dormant or merge with another alter or even have their own alters themselves. Sometimes there are systems where alters have their own system as well.

7. A psychiatrist making out merging/fusing to be the end goal isn't the way to go. There are three ways systems can approach this. They can either decide on functional multiplicity where all exist as separate but they still work together. Or they can decide on integration where I believe memories are shared but there is no merging. Or they can decide on final fusion where they integrate and merge into one being. It would not happen overnight and would be a gradual process under the guidance of their psychiatrist. The important thing to note is that whatever choice the system makes that is up to them and all choices that I've mentioned here are valid. Also even if there is fusion, re-traumatization can cause alters to emerge again

8. Maybe they'll go this route or not, I don't know but the "power of love" cannot cure DID.