Hello! We're the Rings System. Welcome to our twitter! This pinned thread serves two purposes: -System introduction -Compilation of our favorite/most important tweets. We're constantly worried about content being accessible and easily found for new folks who want to learn more.

I think our description of this event in 2020 was lacking; but that doesn't mean that the name change was a unbiased scientific process. The scientific field around DID has been and continues to be deeply politicized, and it's important that we attend to history and it's legacy.

Putnam, described by the ISSTD as a 'seminal giant' in the field , described the name change as "cosmetic" in contrast to empirical changes to the criteria, adopted to appease 'vehement critics' of the disorder, and against the wishes of the work group committee members.

"Protesters were then informed that the committee was merely “advisory” and that its votes were not binding.. attempts to increase criterion specificity stalled amid the contention, confusion, and inertia of the group. Unfortunately changing the name did not mollify the critics."

"The issue that almost exclusively dominated the discussion was whether or not to change the name of multiple personality disorder... with many alternatives being proposed and rejected. Although the committee consistently voted against name changes, one was imposed anyway."

"By the time that the DSM-IV was being drafted, DID was deeply mired in controversy–which continues to this day. The political need to “balance” the committee with proponents and critics, who were then forced to conduct meetings by conference call, insured virtual paralysis."

In contrast to Knoll's rendition of the DSM-IV work group that claims none of the DSM-III-R work group members were invited back, Putnam says that he was apart of both the DSM-III-R and DSM-IV work groups. anyways, on to his rendition:

This is from 'Reclaiming Dissociative Diagnoses' in the journal of trauma and dissociation, 2001: https://t.co/xr9YsvtQZa For context: DSM revisions are made by committee. the DSM-IV work group chair was Allen Frances.

There's been controversy about the validity of claim from the sorority, boosted by us back in 2020, about the reasoning behind the name change from MPD to DID in the DSM-IV. We dug into it more recently, and found an article by Frank Putnam on his time in the DSM-IV work group:

This is your annual reminder that we're not gone... we've just been taking time to immerse ourselves in academia. We're in it for the long haul, always.

We put this website together 4 years ago intending to use it in association with our work.... not foreseeing our hiatus. Much of it, other than this specific page, is out of date (don't look at it too closely, haha)

We've been maintaining a collection of supportive or interesting scientific research on plurality/multiplicity from under-represented corners of research: models other than ToSD, papers that emphasize healthy multiplicity, or non-psych research areas. https://t.co/75GyrOHP32

Not our most favorite or interesting video we've ever made, but we didn't want to let the footage sit. Hopefully it's helpful :)

New video: accommodating #DissociativeIdentityDisorder in the dental healthcare setting. We cover a case study about how a particular system was accommodated by their dentists, and discuss the academic context on medical consent & DID.

New video: Dreaming with Dissociative Identity Disorder. We cover an old paper from 1996 which outlines 10 categories of dreams uniquely related to the experience of multiplicity/DID! https://t.co/3LwZKQUULo

Twitter changed the setting of who can message us when we weren't looking... it's fixed now. Should be all set :)

If this sounds like you & something you’d be interested in, send us a message - we’ll want to chat a bit first, but would love to loop more folks in! Especially considering the field’s history, building professional connections between folks w lived experience is so important

We've got together a group of folks who are plural & in academia (conducting research, rather than a subject) or are otherwise early career researchers (Including folks with or working towards a BA) to work towards connecting, collaborating, & continuing research about plurality-

Quite happy to see her finally publish. Working with plurals always felt like the next logical step after her work on split brain experiences, unified vs divided consciousness, and personhood. Thank you for the lovely paper & congrats!!

New publication alert! “Introducing Plurals” by Elizabeth Schechter - looking at the phenomenology of plural identity from the philosophical perspective. https://t.co/iorJEzKsGa

Oh hey! Little update for you guys - we confirmed our acceptance into a PhD program, specifically working with non-pathological experiences of multiplicity 🥰 very excited to continue our work in research, and learn from our advisors who are knowledgable on the subject!!