Systemhood Speaks

We asked systems (Both DID and OSDD) about their experience through a self-report survey of 174 participants to date. Here are the results.

Please note that although we have done our best to ensure the results are as accurate as possible, we cannot verify or guarantee the accuracy of every individual response.

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Inner world Access

Do all alters have access to the inner world? Or only some?

ALL

We all do, but one of them can’t look at it while they’re fronting. The images are distorted when they try. I was once with another headmate in the inner world, and they were trying to look at what was going on inside while they were fronting. They said the other alter suddenly looked like springtrap from fnaf (he does not at all, he’s a regular man 😭) because of how distorted everything was. We laughed, but it sounded scary.
We all have access to it, but some of us don’t always remember what we did while not fronting.
All do, but some aren’t allowed to remember it.
All do, but only some remember it when they’re in front.
All have access but not all can remember it when they are out.
Never while fronting, but all have their own space.
All are able to, but most, when they are fronting, are not permitted to speak of it or remember it (we have a gatekeeper that takes that away while they are fronting and other methods to stop information being provided about the inner world) there are obviously specific parts who have access to specific parts of the inner world. Someone on layer one in the Library of Light cannot access layer seven in the library of light. Someone in the dark library can’t go into the library of light. Even the gatekeepers we know of can’t world-hop like that.
To the entire inner world? No. Some stay underground, often the programmed ones or the harmful ones.
All parts have access, but how much access varies. There are areas in our inner world that only a few parts can access.
All alters have access to the inner world but most only can stay on one layer; few alters have keycards that let them use the elevator and go between layers.
All alters have access to the inner world but not to what we call the new or main inner world. It’s a place only alters that have processed and are considered stable can reside. It exists on another plane of existence where we are safe from programming.
Yes but not all areas!
All have access, but not all can go everywhere in the inner world.
Our main gatekeepers have access to all of it, minus the Heaven and Hell planes
Many of us only have access to the front building and the area open to the subsystem we come from (plus one or two more areas, depending on intra-system relationships).
There are some areas that only certain alters can go to.
All do; only some have access to certain places
All alters have access to at least one part of the innerworld. Access is restricted based off your level in the hierarchy.
All, however not many have access to all of our layers.
All of us can access the inner world, but where they can access within the inner world is very strict. Only very high-level alters can cross between regions.
We all have access, but some of us are trapped in specific parts of it, like a prison, and have no communication or knowledge of other areas.
I’d say most of us, if not all, do, just at very different parts of it. Some of us aren’t allowed in certain places, rooms, etc.
As aforementioned, there are almost two inner worlds. But we all have access to at least one of them.
The gatekeepers keep their part of the inner world separate, as well as The Well, due to the fragments and alters inside. Other than that, everyone has free access to the mansion. I (S***) usually stay in the front/the side room, as I’m the main host.
All have access to the inner world, but some rooms in the apartment block are locked to some of us.
There are a few areas where only certain parts are allowed, but for the most part, it’s fair game.
As far as I am aware, all can access some areas. No one has full access.
We all have access to the inner world but only parts of us have access to certain places.
We all do. What we all don’t have access to are certain layers and areas of layers.
Yes, but only to their specific house. The exceptions are the watchers and punishers who have universal access and 2 alters who have limited access to some other areas.
Yes, but only to the parts that they’re allowed to see.
All alters, as far as we’re aware, have access to the inner world, but very few have access to all of it.
Not all alters have access to the complete inner world. Most are able to front and be in the hallway. The ones stuck in the apartments usually stay there. Our vision is blurry in the IW too, and we are partially deaf in it as well. High Rank alters do have clear sight and are able to reach almost everywhere.
The kids don’t go in the office, but the others can be in the secret garden.
Everyone can float their bubble wherever they would like! Our memories come to us more in the form of diaries. So, just because someone visits someone else’s bubble, they can’t learn something they shouldn’t.
We do have access, yes, but it is usually controlled.
All of us, to some extent.
All yes. Our host is the only one left to only have sometimes access. Finding it hard to dissociate inner.
Some don’t; not sure which ones, though.
I believe we all have access to it to varying degrees.
Yes, however, hosts tend to be less attached than the rest.
All have access that we know, but not all reveal themselves (yet). The hallway is long and there are many doors we haven’t opened or selves that haven’t introduced themselves yet.
I’m pretty sure everyone but our dormant alters don’t!
Everyone has access to the innerworld. I, the host, do but it is limited and not easy for me to enter.
Yes, everyone has access.
From my knowledge, we all do, but it is very hard to see and hear sometimes.
Anyone can envision it if they need to.
Yes. As far as we are aware, all have access to the inner world.
As far as I know, everyone has access!
All
All alters.
All
From what we know, all parts have access to the inner world/headspace.
Yes, all of us are there.
As far as we know, everyone
Yea everyone does
We all do, but N*** has a hard time getting back to headspace sometimes.
All alters have access to the inner world.
Yes!
They all coexist in my internal system with their own rooms.
Yes
Yes, all have access.
We all do!!
Everyone has access, not necessarily all at once though.
Yes, all have access.
As far as I know, everyone has access.
All
All access.
All have access to conversations.
The ones I know about.
As far as we’re aware, we all have access.
They do. They are hesitant to let me in.
All alters have their own space in the inner world.

Mixed

Only some do; I, as host and body, am front-locked most of the time and don’t have the ability to un-front or go into the inner world; the other 3 of us have access to it.
Host reckons it’s a recurrent childhood dream; I’m pretty sure; the staircase to the attic plus the window seat along the way is off limits except for our anxious headmate. I’m not sure about the others. I reckon our 14-year-old has some access.
Not sure. We don’t always interact within the inner world, even when we’re all there. I (J***) have never seen some of the other alters present in the inner world, and I don’t know if they’re able to be there or not.
All except me, I believe. It’s almost like I’m just knocked out. I’ve been trying to no avail.
Only some, the host has never accessed the inner world, and there are a couple of alters who are unable to communicate with others as they are too far back into “the woodlands.”
As far as I know everyone can access the meadow, not everyone can go deeper into the dark areas esp not the host.
Our host does not, but he is mostly a fragment or mask. Most of our former hosts have become more full persons as they stopped being host and moved to the inner world.
Not all alters have the same experience of the inner world.
Yes, though there are definitely some that have more access between constructed rooms.
Most but not all, I have partial access. There is a group of headmates that seem to reside in a different disconnected area … like two inner worlds. They can access the area with the boarding school and village, but only they can access both areas….. headmates that reside on the other side can’t access their space.
Everyone can access the inner world, some parts don’t recall information from the inner world. Not every part can access all of the inner working either. Also, everyone has their own room and shares a community space, so we can’t go into each other’s rooms without permission.
I’m not sure. I can only see a little bit of the inside of the house so.. I’m guessing some don’t access it at all. Others never come out.
No. There are a couple that can’t access it, but one, in particular, I’m thinking about is a 17-year-old who split, then fronted for 4 days straight and on the 4th day, he had a gun pulled to his head. This trauma led him never to get access. He’s stuck in ‘the void’ and or in front.
Most alters have access to the inner world, though not all of them. Every alters I know of can access the “fronting room”, though, which is a soft, dimly lit room with sofas, cushions, bean bags and bookshelves, with a big screen up front that sort of shows what the body is up to. Though, for some alters, a lot of the front room feels more like a general idea/narrative of what’s happening. And it’s not something we PHYSICALLY see.
Most have access to the inner world, but gatekeepers are rarely seen. They stay in the background somewhere.
Everyone who doesn’t stay in the outermost first layer has access to the inner world, but generally, just the part where they are located, though some have more mobility than others. The outermost layer can sometimes turn and look inward towards us, but I don’t get the impression they can see it, just that they are aware of communication from behind them/deeper than them.
Almost all alters live in the inner world; the only one without access atm is The Body, our shell alter.
Everyone except me :’) I’m a front-bound host. So I can never leave the front room. I do have a body inner world, but any time I leave the front room, I get pulled back to the front by a rope wrapped around my ankle that, if you try to remove or cut, just reappears.
Most do, but some don’t, which causes those who don’t, when not fronting, to be sent to what we call “the void”, where it is just darkness.
Most do, but recently, our main fronters/new introjects haven’t been able to and have been stuck in a void-like area.
Not all of us do, but the majority do; some just “sleep” when not fronting or exist in a vacuum that is unrelated to the inner world.
I think at least most of them. Sometimes, at “turbulent” times, we couldn’t access it properly. When our grandpa died, I remember some alters trying to access it, and it was foggy and fading.
Only some, any frequent fronter gets access restricted and often permanently revoked including having all memories of the innerworld and trauma stripped from them as well. They’ll get access and memories back once they are no longer a frequent fronter.
No one really has access to any memory of being there. We are aware of a few small parts, but most of it is completely out of reach.
Yes and no, there’s nothing to really do in the innerworld. For most, only two littles can interact with things in their room and that’s the only interaction with the space we can do. Most are not able to move from their space; there are two that can reach every part of the innerworld.
As mentioned earlier, only a few have access. Alters who were previously unaware of the system tend to be the ones to struggle to access the inner world.
Yes and no? Most alters have access but not full access due to blocks and structure.
Most alters do, but some don’t. The ones that don’t just see all black if they aren’t fronting/co-conscious.
The majority of us do, but most of us also have places in headspace that we are unable to reach or go to
The host can only access the inner world when their partner/caregiver is with them, pretty much guiding them around.
The host has little to no access to the inner world; others have no access to certain parts. It’s very unclear, so we’re not exactly sure how it works yet.
All alters except one can enter the inner world. (The host is new to learning about us and is still in denial.) But not everyone can go everywhere. Only certain trauma holders and protectors can go in the basement, only a handful of people can go in the attic, and only some people can go in the meeting room.
Most of us have access to the inner world! I think the only one who doesn’t is actually the primary host, who sort of just goes into temporary dormancy when not fronting. As for the rest of us, different alters have access to different parts of the inner world. Still, pretty much everyone has access to at least part of it – and may be able to enter other areas provided a gatekeeper gives them access. Many of us do, however, experience an amnesia barrier between the inner world and the fronting room. It’s not a complete blackout – we do remember bits and pieces, may recall specific events from the inner world (especially if something reminds us of them), etc., but it’s very blurry when fronting – like looking back through a clouded mirror.
Everyone except for me, the host, has fairly good access to the inner world. I can only access it very intentionally, and it is very blurry. As I’ve explored I come across places from “stories” I thought I made up when I was younger, so I have accessed it before without knowing.
All except me (the host) always have access. I only do sometimes, and if I do, I’m pretty much confined to “my room”, “the common room”, and one other room that I don’t want to go into detail about because it feels very personal; I hope that’s okay. (I already feel like I’m oversharing).
Only some. I’m one of them. I believe only certain parts have access to our heaven-like layer, too. But I think almost everyone has access to the inner world.
As far as we know, most alters have access to “their” part of the inner world, most of the time a single room or a small apartment. We don’t know if it’s connected; the alter that would most likely know is careful about what information they reveal and haven’t told us.
Most parts have access to the inner world; once fronting, they don’t remember the inner world.
Not all can access the inner world. Usually, ANPs have a harder time reaching it.
We’re uncertain. I think that most of us have access to it, and very few don’t. But I could be wrong about that.
Only some. Most do; I don’t, unfortunately.
All have access, for the most part; just a few places are blocked off.
Not sure on my headmate’s experiences but I barely have any access personally, so I reckon it fluctuates
Yes, except the main one in the body, i.e. the host, who hasn’t been around since about 2020.
Unsure, I personally don’t really, but I think some altars do.
All have access, but that access is limited when in the front.
Nope, I only know what I’m told. The story has been a great way to learn as I read C****’s writing a lot!
9 of us have full access; I only have partial access.
Only some can. I have limited access compared to others
Yes, but in some areas, some alters aren’t allowed.
No, or at least not all the time. Some smaller parts do not, but some do.
Right now only some but we are working on it.
I (the host) don’t have access, but everyone else does.
Yes, no, and in between.
Only some alters and mostly only “higher-ups”
Most, but not all, do have access.
Nope, I don’t know who else, but I (shell host) can’t enter it.
The host struggles to enter the innerworld, but otherwise everyone can come and go freely.
I think it’s literally everyone but me.
Only some do
Most
Most do.
Less than ten alters have access to the entirety of it.
Most
We have many that have not shown up in the inner world.
One part can’t access what we all see, but they can front just the same
Most do; hosts sometimes don’t.
Most and everyone can get locked out of it if deemed necessary.
Only some.
I don’t, typically. (I’m the host) But I can access it occasionally through EMDR.
It’s a mixed bag, honestly; most can, but some can’t
No, only some
There are some alters who can’t access the inner world. However, most of us do.
No! Just some
No one at the front has access, as far as I know.
Most, except for the host.
Most do.
Only some
The majority, but not all.
Only some alters within specific subsystems.
Most of us do. I don’t have access as a host, at least yet.
Only some.
No, no, all. At least not me.
The host doesn’t have access unless pulled in.

None/Uncertain

I have no idea.
Unknown.
I’m not sure.
No, I’m not sure who does.
Not even sure if we have one.
There is no inner world for me.
Idk
Unsure of this one.
Don’t know about inner worlds.
K*** doesn’t know.
I don’t know if we have an inner world, so at least I can’t access it.
If I have one, then only some.
I’m unsure. I’m sorry.
I’m not sure, I’m sorry.
No idea.
We don’t have one.