Occasional DID??

[earthbound_misfit]

Hiya, I am rather curious about this. I know a little about various psychiatric diagnoses (and a lot about some lol).
My closest friend has been having problems for a while but it's only really come into the open quite recently and he is seeking help now.
However, one thing is intriguing/confusing me. He has moments where he splits into different personalities - there are three. Usually when this happens in front of me I just reasure my friend/hold his hand/hug him and he's back to normal in seconds. (It's usually a frightened little boy 'other' that is most prominent in front of me, though I have heard all three argue; however when it happens in front of his family only the nasty 'other' speaks up.)
Thing is, most of the time he's fine... or at least, he has depression and anxiety symptoms - but not these 'others'. They only appear occasionally. Sometimes he disappears/goes wandering for a few days, so 'they' might be in charge then, but most of the time he's his delightful self with just odd little moments where he glazes over and the 'others' come out.
He never remembers what's happned on his wanders or what happens/is said in the little moments when the 'others' speak.

Now, I think it looks a lot like DID... except it's not consistent. Have been googling and can't find any info on 'mild' DID... or whatever it'd be called.
I KNOW people here can't diagnose, but I am interested to know others experiences of this - especially whether the presence of 'others' is consistent or not.

I am hoping my friend will let me accompany him to see the psych, just to give a clear picture of his symptoms (he gets very confused and forgets to mentions stuff), however he doesn't want me to speak to the psych/be involve in that side of things generally, so I'm kind of in the dark.

ps. any book recommendations on DID also welcome! :) x

[Horizon]

I have DID, so hopefully I can explain this, if it is in fact what he's experiencing.

Alters do not have to be present all the time, and there is no set length they are out for. Or they might be around and you just don't know it because it's not always obvious. There really is no "consistent" with DID. Alters can come out if specific things trigger them, if they feel they need to, or if they want to.

Different people experience DID differently. It is basically a custom-tailored coping skill developed at a young age. Everyone's system is not going to work the same, so you probably won't find any consistency.

I also do not think there is any "mild DID". DID is at the severe end of the dissociation spectrum. Also, DID is not occasional. It's always there. The appearance of alters is what is occasional.