Hi Ariel,
I was diagnosed with DID in 2019 during an eleven month inpatient stay after being misdiagnosed for over ten years. You're definitely not alone in your experiences- DID is actually underdiagnosed due to how often people are not only misdiagnosed, but due to many clinicians being inexperienced/unknowledgeable and there still being controversy around it (which is a big problem for the people who uh. actually have it?). So depending on who you ask in the entire field of psychology you'll easily and frequently hear it's "very rare", but some who are actual experts estimate up to 15% of people could meet the criteria for diagnosis if it weren't misdiagnosed instead.
When I was inpatient it was incredibly difficult to manage symptoms. Things like communication and cooperation were especially hard for me. It has taken a lot of intense therapy with a trauma therapist and while these things are still difficult for me it has definitely gotten better. To be very straightforward about the progress I've made though- I've been working with my therapist 3-4 times a week since I was diagnosed. Progress takes time and it's important to try not to get frustrated with parts of yourself regardless of having DID. Everyone has parts of themself but the difference in people with any dissociative disorder is walls being created between these parts and not feeling like they are one cohesive person.
If you have access it could be beneficial to be evaluated to see where on the spectrum of dissociative disorders you fall as there's more than just DID and having more clarity around the type of dissociative disorder you may have can be very beneficial in how to approach your therapy.
I also don't know your therapist or how long you've been seeing them, but seeking out a trauma specialist may also be helpful. Personally I know the therapist I was previously seeing wouldn't have known how to support me in the ways I need someone to do so in order to heal. This is the main reason I mention the level of experience your therapist has as any clinician without training and enough knowledge about dissociative disorders can end up causing more harm to their client with the wrong treatment approaches.
In short...I have DID and you're welcome to reach out to me via
PM if you'd like
