Extra Sensory Perception?

Q:  I, myself have multiple personalities and I was curious if you experience some type of extra sensory perception or paranormal events with yourself.  I would like to know if there could be a link between these two, as I experience unique abilities as randomly as "the others" come out.  - Anessa

A:  It depends on how you want to define extra sensory perception.

Many survivors of abuse have learned to be hypervigilant, and have learned how to read other people very well.  They usually had to learn now to read the behaviors, body language, minute facial expressions, tone of voice, and other signals from their abusers in order to try to stay a step ahead of their perp.  They may have also developed very strong sensory skills as part of how Post Traumatic Syndrome Disorder  affects the brain, making them have very good hearing, smell, taste, visions, of tactile perception.

Many people with Dissociative Identity Disorder may have parts who specialize in these perceptive skills.  These parts may also have these skills be very important to their overall function and identity. For example, I have a part who has exceptional hearing, and that appears to be her main function and a large part of her identity. She listens for signals of danger, and can hear things most people miss, and then sets off an alarm for the rest of us so we can hop into action.  I have another part who is skilled at reading the minuscule changes in people's body language and facial expressions to help figure out their intentions and truthfulness, and to notice when words don't march with the non-verbal cues (like the people on the tv show Lie to Me). Unfortunately she requires so much resources to do her skill that we rarely let her out anymore. Which is a shame because I really wish I had her skills!

As far as the fringes of extra sensory perception, I have met quite a few people with Dissociative Identity Disorder who believe they have parts with this skills.  Some people will argue that it really all books down to just really good sensory processing, memory skills, and luck. But many believe they have parts who can discern when ghosts or evil spirits are around, or can tell ahead of time that something bad is going to happen in a place different than where they are.

I have had some experiences with knowing things, like that someone is about to be in a car wreck or about to die, when they weren't even in the same state as I was.  My grandmother also had that ability, but she would often not be able to tell who was going to have the disaster so she would call way too many people to warn them. That ability scares me and I try to avoid it.

I'm not sure how the brain develops differently with children who develop Dissociative Identity Disorder.  I don't know how the brain develops differently in people who has psychic abilities, who are empaths, or who have other types of extra sensory perception. But I do think people with DID might have a better chance of maintaining a skill, because of the dissociation process, that otherwise they might have disowned or "grown out of" if they had not become DID.  I think many children are innately more perceptive and skilled in sensory processing and awareness (like reading emotions and truthfulness in adults).  But they are trained to give up this skills because "it's not nice" to call out an adult for lying, or to keep bugging Mommy to find out why she's in a bad mood when she's trying to tell you everything is fine.

I also think people with DID may understand and accept that there is a lot more in this world than just what we can see and put into words.  Our minds are so full of things that feel so real, that we can't put into words, that others can't see... but we hold them to be true.  I think that's why a lot of people with Dissociative Identity Disorder can be highly creative, can be strong believers in a spiritual world, and can be willing and able to experience the intangible and unexpected (like paranormal or spiritual gifts).