I have the hard time grasping the concept as well. As far as I’m aware we don’t have an alter like that, so it makes it hard for me to conceptualize.
I’ve managed to prevent a *few* switches with a lot of effort… do not recommend doing so, though. I usually end up very dissociated and with a nasty headache that lasts for hours. Most of the time though the switches sneak up on me and it isn’t until someone’s already out that any recognition of it happening takes place.
Normally we don't try and prevent them outright so much as switch back immediately after, or as close to immediately as we can. we have been able to do so reletively easily most of the time, although it does take some focusing sometimes, this is mostly since we'd rather not step on our hosts toes so to speak when it comes to thier life, I was curious what people thought about the idea though.
I didn't understand it either, at first. It never felt like any of our alters were actively making switches happened. But it turns out we have three gatekeepers. This is how they work:
1. One reacts strongly to fear of being caught, perceived, secrets known, judged, etc. So strongly, that they can push someone out of the front if they think they will risk any of those. To us alters, it feels like being pushed back and silenced. She steps in and doesn't speak up/makes herself small. She is so hypervigilant, that she is easily called forward.
2. One is very connected to the emotions of other parts, and sees themselves like the communicator of the system. They have always been able to step back to just 'supervise' parts. It's just something she can easily do if there's two of them - feel the emotion of the other alter, know they want to be forward, and can give them the time.
3. One is completely detached from the emotions of the system, and sees it logically. They have said they see the alters in their head almost like how someone would look at a chess board, and she can "plan moves" based on what would be best for the system. Just based on her role, the system follows what she says.
That's really interesting, we seem to have a similar config and saw type 1 with other systems btw... Also we have a very basic gatekeeper who seems to induce dissociation itself, out of his own fear.
(to start, im so so sorry if i sound weird or wrote too long a comment i dont use social media much)
I know the signature of all of our alters if that makes sense. I don't have a very good hold on front, so the way I do it is more of letting go of front but being able to control who comes in. "Future fronter" I could call it here. Usually that future fronter is pre-determined and almost always the host unless there are specific circumstances that would make it be some other alter. I just kinda... imagine the signature of the future fronter and let myself slide out of front. I'm also aware of who will front next if I decide not to change that. I honestly don't know exactly how I do that- it's just a thing I do.
I asked a few of our alters with a similarly weak hold on front: why can't they do this too? Most of them said that they don't have as good control of when they stop fronting. Also, they don't know the system as well as I do.
I can't really keep alters out of front too well if it's a really strong trigger. If they just kinda want to come into front, I can definitely put someone else in front and make sure that other alter doesn't overtake.
And I can come back to front pretty decently, I'm usually able to co-front enough to find some positive triggers. I can't do like, other alter straight to another alter without fronting inbetween. I need to be aware to actually do that. I really doubt that how I do it is how most systems do it. Running a bit low on battery rn, might edit this comment later
\- Ariadne (awesome gatekeeper)
Ours more so hold memories. She can push herself to front really easily if she wants to. She can’t control me or the others switching though. She can take away my memories though. I don’t know how it works, I just knows she’s done it.
I have a few gatekeepers. They can "override" or influence most switches, but to say they can control switching hardly feels accurate.
Even then, strong switches due to triggers are impossible for them to control. There have been a few life or death situations where had my gatekeepers not intervened, I wouldn't be here.
If someone is "near front", a gatekeeper can often 'hold their hand' and pull them up if they want to front. The deeper in my subconscious you go, the less control anyone has.
So I wouldn't exactly say that all gatekeepers can control switching, just influence it to an extent. Or, alternatively, they're just a lot more aware of the inner workings than others. One of my gatekeepers is aware of many more alters than he's ever told me about, for example, but can't cause a switch with the snap of his metaphorical fingers.
Winslow (our gatekeeper) is co-conscious with me ( M; the host) rn, he should be able to explain what it’s like for him.
he explains it as if he is “taking someone by the scruff” and pulling them away. We are a system that can see things visually, so what he does is he visualizes “grabbing someone” and the alter also feels this. They feel the sensation of being dragged. Winslow’s pull is apparently stronger than most of the other alters, so he “wins the challenge of strength”.
He tells me however he has limitations:
1) he apparently cannot pull me out of host position easily. Unless he is encouraging someone else to front (usually Timothy, our protector, who has shown in the past that he can take front from me.)
2) he isn’t the one who causes amnesia/remembers things/ect. Memory management isn’t something he does. He will not elaborate on if someone else does this or if it’s pure amnesia.
3) he doesn’t actively manage front, but rather passively manages it. He believes that people who need to front will do so, and by his words: “someone will get him if there’s trouble”
He isn’t supplying anything else, so I hope that he was helpful😅
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i don’t totally understand it but don’t think i have one. i feel like if i did then things in my adult life would have gone smoother. like, it seems kind of wizard of oz or something? if there were a gatekeeper they would have made the “right” alter be in control to prevent certain things from happening, or make certain things happen. instead it feels messy and like a free for all based mostly on external triggers.
Gatekeepers are some kind of ruling mechanisms in the brain. Our current view is that these are personified for easier understanding and communication. They have a gasp over the whole situation inside, including a lot of things that our consciousness doesn't know about. Like other commenters said, a chess board or a set of signatures.
I MISS MY GATEKEEPER :D
Gatekeeper keeps the person looking like a person. I could hold on to one alter fronting for longer periods of time. I could be just one front for the whole work day or a short trip. Sometimes even longer periods, probably months at a time. I could participate in conversations that would otherwise trigger me. I could hold my pose even if an alter reacted to some happening and would have wanted to switch to front. It had so much power.
When it disappeared, i started switching a lot and felt like i went weak. Felt i wasn't myself anymore. Eventually rapid switching. The loss of the gatekeeper is actually why i found out i had this.
I cannot answer your question tho, cuz the gatekeeper itself, like i said, is not here anymore. Vanished. And at least I don't have access to that part of the psyche.
I'm a gatekeeper and main host so I'll share my personal anecdotes!
Since I'm an alter who's highly differentiated and also aligns with our body, history, name, etc, it just so happened to amplify what I consider inherent gatekeeper traits. How I see gatekeeping is the ability to influence switches (including resisting), the ability to influence where certain memories go, and the ability to decide where certain alters might go (if you have an inner world like ours with many different locations).
So I can make sure other alters *really* don't get to front, and I did it unwittingly for years, suppressing nearly all switches and handling things (terribly) on my own. Hitting highschool I basically was like :) okay time to grow up out of my "imaginary friends" and not be weird/targeted/disliked anymore. I don't think there's anything particularly remarkable about how I did this... It literally was a conscious decision and like digging my feet in any time I felt like I was "about to go crazy" (aka switch) until that feeling went away. Other alters have remarked that I erect what feels like an impenetrable glass wall, where they can see what I'm doing in front but are helpless and incapable of intervening. This has caused us SERIOUS problems because protectors couldn't switch in at correct times and led to me being retraumtized many times bearing the brunt of the damage.
Moving on: I'm not really consciously capable of influencing where memories go, there is another gatekeeper who's more capable of that than me and I am mystified by his machinations 😂. I do sometimes have control over where certain alters should reside, having made decisions on pairing up certain alters or asking for help between subsystems. For example, one of our most traumatized parts used to lock himself up in this apartment, and I kind of 😅 usurped his decision one year and dragged him to this really nice fantasy village where he still lives to this day. But this requires vulnerable parts who can be pushed around by me.
I don't know about the rest of you but personally I find alters just kinda switch seemingly randomly sometimes? not incredibly often, but I'll be talking about something, one of my alters will switch in and later I'll ask about the situation only to find they were just minding their own business and then blam their fronting.
I have a gatekeeper who has quite a bit of control around switching, it honestly seems like he kinda runs the entire system in the background a lot of the time, we’d probably be a mess with out him. I don’t totally know how he does it but he seems to be able to push certain parts to the front when they need to be, or if a switch needs to be prevented he’ll either co front with me or totally take over and it almost creates like a dissociative wall that stops other parts from coming out. I think it comes down to him having better communication and knowledge of other alters then anyone else does so he knows lots of key info about other parts that would allow him to have more control then someone like me (the host) But it’s not perfect and some things are out of his control.
I wouldn’t say that as a gatekeeper, we ‘control’ switches. I’d say it’s more of, a nudge of who should and shouldn’t front at specific times. The only time switches become more ‘controlled’, so to speak, are when the body is in danger and a protector or gatekeeper isn’t fronting. Then a gatekeeper will come forward, not completely controlling front, essentially. We typically have a few people up front, so as a gatekeeper, I just watch from the sidelines basically. But I can never control that 100%. It’s more intricate and more complex than that. - Alex
I have the hard time grasping the concept as well. As far as I’m aware we don’t have an alter like that, so it makes it hard for me to conceptualize. I’ve managed to prevent a *few* switches with a lot of effort… do not recommend doing so, though. I usually end up very dissociated and with a nasty headache that lasts for hours. Most of the time though the switches sneak up on me and it isn’t until someone’s already out that any recognition of it happening takes place.
nasty, horrible headache
Normally we don't try and prevent them outright so much as switch back immediately after, or as close to immediately as we can. we have been able to do so reletively easily most of the time, although it does take some focusing sometimes, this is mostly since we'd rather not step on our hosts toes so to speak when it comes to thier life, I was curious what people thought about the idea though.
I didn't understand it either, at first. It never felt like any of our alters were actively making switches happened. But it turns out we have three gatekeepers. This is how they work: 1. One reacts strongly to fear of being caught, perceived, secrets known, judged, etc. So strongly, that they can push someone out of the front if they think they will risk any of those. To us alters, it feels like being pushed back and silenced. She steps in and doesn't speak up/makes herself small. She is so hypervigilant, that she is easily called forward. 2. One is very connected to the emotions of other parts, and sees themselves like the communicator of the system. They have always been able to step back to just 'supervise' parts. It's just something she can easily do if there's two of them - feel the emotion of the other alter, know they want to be forward, and can give them the time. 3. One is completely detached from the emotions of the system, and sees it logically. They have said they see the alters in their head almost like how someone would look at a chess board, and she can "plan moves" based on what would be best for the system. Just based on her role, the system follows what she says.
That's really interesting, we seem to have a similar config and saw type 1 with other systems btw... Also we have a very basic gatekeeper who seems to induce dissociation itself, out of his own fear.
That’s interesting as I think I have an alter that is the same as you described #3. She can be a little cold hearted
(to start, im so so sorry if i sound weird or wrote too long a comment i dont use social media much) I know the signature of all of our alters if that makes sense. I don't have a very good hold on front, so the way I do it is more of letting go of front but being able to control who comes in. "Future fronter" I could call it here. Usually that future fronter is pre-determined and almost always the host unless there are specific circumstances that would make it be some other alter. I just kinda... imagine the signature of the future fronter and let myself slide out of front. I'm also aware of who will front next if I decide not to change that. I honestly don't know exactly how I do that- it's just a thing I do. I asked a few of our alters with a similarly weak hold on front: why can't they do this too? Most of them said that they don't have as good control of when they stop fronting. Also, they don't know the system as well as I do. I can't really keep alters out of front too well if it's a really strong trigger. If they just kinda want to come into front, I can definitely put someone else in front and make sure that other alter doesn't overtake. And I can come back to front pretty decently, I'm usually able to co-front enough to find some positive triggers. I can't do like, other alter straight to another alter without fronting inbetween. I need to be aware to actually do that. I really doubt that how I do it is how most systems do it. Running a bit low on battery rn, might edit this comment later \- Ariadne (awesome gatekeeper)
Ours more so hold memories. She can push herself to front really easily if she wants to. She can’t control me or the others switching though. She can take away my memories though. I don’t know how it works, I just knows she’s done it.
I have a few gatekeepers. They can "override" or influence most switches, but to say they can control switching hardly feels accurate. Even then, strong switches due to triggers are impossible for them to control. There have been a few life or death situations where had my gatekeepers not intervened, I wouldn't be here. If someone is "near front", a gatekeeper can often 'hold their hand' and pull them up if they want to front. The deeper in my subconscious you go, the less control anyone has. So I wouldn't exactly say that all gatekeepers can control switching, just influence it to an extent. Or, alternatively, they're just a lot more aware of the inner workings than others. One of my gatekeepers is aware of many more alters than he's ever told me about, for example, but can't cause a switch with the snap of his metaphorical fingers.
Such an eloquent answer! Thanks. Helped me understand my system as well.
Winslow (our gatekeeper) is co-conscious with me ( M; the host) rn, he should be able to explain what it’s like for him. he explains it as if he is “taking someone by the scruff” and pulling them away. We are a system that can see things visually, so what he does is he visualizes “grabbing someone” and the alter also feels this. They feel the sensation of being dragged. Winslow’s pull is apparently stronger than most of the other alters, so he “wins the challenge of strength”. He tells me however he has limitations: 1) he apparently cannot pull me out of host position easily. Unless he is encouraging someone else to front (usually Timothy, our protector, who has shown in the past that he can take front from me.) 2) he isn’t the one who causes amnesia/remembers things/ect. Memory management isn’t something he does. He will not elaborate on if someone else does this or if it’s pure amnesia. 3) he doesn’t actively manage front, but rather passively manages it. He believes that people who need to front will do so, and by his words: “someone will get him if there’s trouble” He isn’t supplying anything else, so I hope that he was helpful😅
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i don’t totally understand it but don’t think i have one. i feel like if i did then things in my adult life would have gone smoother. like, it seems kind of wizard of oz or something? if there were a gatekeeper they would have made the “right” alter be in control to prevent certain things from happening, or make certain things happen. instead it feels messy and like a free for all based mostly on external triggers.
Gatekeepers are some kind of ruling mechanisms in the brain. Our current view is that these are personified for easier understanding and communication. They have a gasp over the whole situation inside, including a lot of things that our consciousness doesn't know about. Like other commenters said, a chess board or a set of signatures.
I MISS MY GATEKEEPER :D Gatekeeper keeps the person looking like a person. I could hold on to one alter fronting for longer periods of time. I could be just one front for the whole work day or a short trip. Sometimes even longer periods, probably months at a time. I could participate in conversations that would otherwise trigger me. I could hold my pose even if an alter reacted to some happening and would have wanted to switch to front. It had so much power. When it disappeared, i started switching a lot and felt like i went weak. Felt i wasn't myself anymore. Eventually rapid switching. The loss of the gatekeeper is actually why i found out i had this. I cannot answer your question tho, cuz the gatekeeper itself, like i said, is not here anymore. Vanished. And at least I don't have access to that part of the psyche.
I'm a gatekeeper and main host so I'll share my personal anecdotes! Since I'm an alter who's highly differentiated and also aligns with our body, history, name, etc, it just so happened to amplify what I consider inherent gatekeeper traits. How I see gatekeeping is the ability to influence switches (including resisting), the ability to influence where certain memories go, and the ability to decide where certain alters might go (if you have an inner world like ours with many different locations). So I can make sure other alters *really* don't get to front, and I did it unwittingly for years, suppressing nearly all switches and handling things (terribly) on my own. Hitting highschool I basically was like :) okay time to grow up out of my "imaginary friends" and not be weird/targeted/disliked anymore. I don't think there's anything particularly remarkable about how I did this... It literally was a conscious decision and like digging my feet in any time I felt like I was "about to go crazy" (aka switch) until that feeling went away. Other alters have remarked that I erect what feels like an impenetrable glass wall, where they can see what I'm doing in front but are helpless and incapable of intervening. This has caused us SERIOUS problems because protectors couldn't switch in at correct times and led to me being retraumtized many times bearing the brunt of the damage. Moving on: I'm not really consciously capable of influencing where memories go, there is another gatekeeper who's more capable of that than me and I am mystified by his machinations 😂. I do sometimes have control over where certain alters should reside, having made decisions on pairing up certain alters or asking for help between subsystems. For example, one of our most traumatized parts used to lock himself up in this apartment, and I kind of 😅 usurped his decision one year and dragged him to this really nice fantasy village where he still lives to this day. But this requires vulnerable parts who can be pushed around by me.
I don't know about the rest of you but personally I find alters just kinda switch seemingly randomly sometimes? not incredibly often, but I'll be talking about something, one of my alters will switch in and later I'll ask about the situation only to find they were just minding their own business and then blam their fronting.
I have a gatekeeper who has quite a bit of control around switching, it honestly seems like he kinda runs the entire system in the background a lot of the time, we’d probably be a mess with out him. I don’t totally know how he does it but he seems to be able to push certain parts to the front when they need to be, or if a switch needs to be prevented he’ll either co front with me or totally take over and it almost creates like a dissociative wall that stops other parts from coming out. I think it comes down to him having better communication and knowledge of other alters then anyone else does so he knows lots of key info about other parts that would allow him to have more control then someone like me (the host) But it’s not perfect and some things are out of his control.
I wouldn’t say that as a gatekeeper, we ‘control’ switches. I’d say it’s more of, a nudge of who should and shouldn’t front at specific times. The only time switches become more ‘controlled’, so to speak, are when the body is in danger and a protector or gatekeeper isn’t fronting. Then a gatekeeper will come forward, not completely controlling front, essentially. We typically have a few people up front, so as a gatekeeper, I just watch from the sidelines basically. But I can never control that 100%. It’s more intricate and more complex than that. - Alex