Plural identity

The identity and its related vocabulary was first present in mailing lists of the 1980s. In the 1990s, online plural communities and their associated organizations emerged in greater abundance, and by 2001, online communities dedicated to plurality started to appear. Consensus to use plurality as an umbrella term emerged in 2018 when more than 23,000 votes were cast across different support groups and platforms in support of the term. According to licensed counselor Emily Christensen, this "was, in itself, a historic moment for Plurals as they organized together in a way they never have previously". Some in the plural community practice tulpamancy (borrowed from Tibetan culture Plural communities continue to exist online through social media including blogging sites such as LiveJournal, Tumblr, and more recently, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, and Discord servers. Headmates that identify as animals or other non-human entities may also identify as "otherkin", a separate but overlapping community. Certain plural terminology is taken from queer spaces, for example, coming out of the closet. There is also a documented overlap between transgender and plural identities; transgender headmates (different from the body's sex) are not uncommon. A somewhat considerable contingent of autistic people identify as plural which, according to Christensen, may possibly be due to neurodivergency being traumatising in a neurotypically dominant society. According to a doctoral thesis written by a Manchester Metropolitan University student, "systemhood" seems to have certain identifiable commonalities. For example, plurals who described themselves as "non-disordered" typically found systemhood to be soothing, while those with DID typically found it to be distressing. Also commonly reported was that a system's exhibited elaborate individualities that changed based on specific emotions or events. A different study on tulpamancers reported that they also visualised an inner world, commonly calling it a "wonderland". Most systems interviewed in two separate studies reported that their headmates were aware of and communicated with each other. Christensen provided accounts of headmates marrying or procreating new headmates. == Mental health ==

and gender dysphoria, while additional stigma derived from popular media which often portrays those with plural identities as dangerous. Indeed, some people with plural identities do not agree with, or seek, a DID diagnosis, instead rejecting the suggestion that there is anything inherently pathological about their experiences. a development that dovetails with ongoing concern over links between social media and mental health, particularly in relation to TikTok communities. Some professionals also worry that online spaces could sociogenically exacerbate adverse effects of DID. "[d]enying the existence of separate experiences can be harmful and may not facilitate healing. Acknowledging and respecting the multiplicity-plurality of individuals with DID is essential for promoting understanding, acceptance, and support." The extent to which adopting a plural identity can be regarded as a healthy way of coping is under-researched, though Ribáry et al. noted that all interviewees in a 2017 study reported that discovering the notion of plurality and participating in related communities was "helpful and therapeutic" to them. On a further note, Elizabeth Schechter, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, reported that the related practice of tulpamancy was used as a coping method during some practitioners' mental health crises. She along with religious studies PhD student Elizabeth Hale at UC Santa Barbara equated such practices with praying, noting that they could potentially impute therapeutic benefits for mental health and wellbeing. == Glossary ==