Causes

This page describes the causes of plurality.

To put it simply, there is no known single cause of plurality. It's a phenomena that takes place through a wide variety of experiences, and due to heavy stigma both in the psychological field and society as a whole, it is rarely investigated. Systems are often left out of the research process as well in favor of a strictly medicalized singlet approach that has been widely frowned upon by the community at large. Being plural is not inherently medical since the experiences of systems are so vast and differing. Some choose to look at their plurality through a medicalized lens, but that is up to personal choice rather than medicalization being a default option.

Many people believe that the only cause of plurality is trauma in early childhood. This is not the case, as there are many other systems that experience other types of plurality that were not formed under these circumstances. Systems that did not form due to childhood trauma have existed for decades, and there is widespread evidence of their presence as well. This misconception is damaging to plurals because it encourages the concept of a single exclusive experience despite the wide variety of ways that systems live with their plurality. There are many systems who did form due to childhood trauma--and this is certainly a common cause of plurality--but it is not the only way of being plural. Systems who experienced trauma at the crux of their formation are just as valid as systems who do not cite trauma as their origin.

In general, there is no single cause of plurality. Systems have defined their plurality as being caused in a wide variety of ways, and they know their own experiences best. No one experience is superior to another. All systems are more than one, and that is the common thread that links us all even with individual differences and intricacies.