strayk9s

[strayk9s]

System hot take professionals have just as much room for error when diagnosing as someone whose well researched self diagnosing

Apologies for the delay guys! Back to responding to system hottakes in my inbox! If I have NOT gotten to yours it’s either I didn’t get it or it’s glitched you need to send the ask again!

I agree though! Professionals can definitely misdiagnose however I think the chances are a lot more slim compared to someone who will self diagnose. Which is why it’s important that if you plan to self diagnose, the amount research that has to be done is a load.

-K9

[strayk9s]

yo, was wondering if non ramcoa/oea/itbc survivors could join the strays community ? reading through it is unclear if it's exclusive for survivors or not

genuinely asking 🐌👍

Hello! Yes you guys can join the Stray’s community if you’d like! Thank you for asking ^^

-K9

[strayk9s]

Service Dog Mini Guide

Hello!! Just wanted to present some facts about service dogs as a service dog handler myself! Feel free to ask any questions that you may have as well! My current service dog, Ahsoka, has been working for 3 years, and service dogs have been a lot that I research about! (This is research is based in the US)

How are service dogs helpful?

Service dogs can be helpful in a variety of ways, and it really varies from handler to handler. For example, guide dogs help guide their blind handler! Or a service dog alerting to a high heart rate! It varies based on your need, but typically, they help regardless.

What types of service dogs are there?

• Psychiatric Service Dog

• Dissociation Response Dog

• Autism Assistance Dog

• Seizure Alert Service Dog

• Diabetic Alert Service Dog

• Cardiac Alert Service Dog

• Allergen Detection Service Dog

• POTS Alert Service Dog

• Hearing Service Dog

• Guide Dogs For The Blind

• Dual Sensory (Deafblind) Service Dog

• Mobility Service Dog

• Medical Detection Service Dog

• Cancer Detection Service Dog

Mind you, Cancer Detection service dogs I mostly see used in hospitals to help detect if a patient has cancer! Multi-purpose service dogs also are a thing where they may have both, for example, psychiatric tasks and medical tasks.

Also, if your disability wasn’t up there, that doesn’t mean a service dog can’t help with it! I just put what I can remember right at the top of my head!

What tasks can service dogs perform?

Here is a giant list of service dog tasks! Be aware though that any task that requires the dog to leave your side in a public space is dangerous. If you are a faint risk or have a disability that when you’re down you’ll need help, please train a bark alert for your dog. The dog will bark until someone comes! The reason why the dog leaving is risky is because he/she can get hurt, attacked by another dog, or even stolen. A task that requires the dog to leave you entirely should only be done at home or somewhere safe that nothing bad can come to the dog (NOT in public).

Do emotional support animals, Therapy dogs, and/or Guard dogs count as service dogs?

They do not! A service dog is defined as a dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.

Emotional support animals are not task-trained; therefore, they aren’t allowed in non-pet-friendly spaces.

Therapy dogs can sometimes be allowed in public spaces if requested by a school, hospital, etc. However, therapy dogs help more than one person and are also not task-trained.

Guard dogs are not task-trained, and service dogs cannot show any aggression towards the public or someone else. (I don’t count if your dog is attacked and they’re defending themselves against another dog.)

Do service dogs need identification or certifications?

Service dogs do NOT need to wear any kind of service dog vests or tags as it’s not a requirement per the Americans Disabilities Act.

In the US, we have no certifications either! People make fake ones online, but they do no justice as they aren’t real or official.

A college or school may ask for a doctor’s note for proof of disability and why you might need a service dog to give you accommodations for you and your service dog. This, however, is not a legal certification! Just a doctor’s note that can be written by a doctor, mental health professional, etc.!

How do I get a service dog? Can they be any breed?

A service dog can be trained by the owner, an organization, or a trainer that isn’t part of an organization!

Owner training is the route I went because it’s more accessible in my opinion and less expensive. BUT, it can take longer (depends on the dog), and if you’re not willing to be patient or learn how to train a dog, then it can be draining for you.

Getting a dog from an organization can be good; however, a service dog can cost up to possibly $ 50k depending on the location. Placement with a service dog can also potentially take a few years.

A trainer training a dog you already have could also be good, as it’s cheaper than getting a dog from an organization but still more expensive than overtraining.

At the end of the day, though, it’s whatever you can afford! A service dog can also be any breed and size; there are no limits! It’s only if you need mobility tasks or possible guide tasks that a small dog is NOT recommended for.

Resources + Last minute notes

Service dogs by Xenix is a slide show made by me! Feel free to use it as much as you like! Questions and concerns can be commented or DM’d to me! However, please do not seek medical advice from me as I can’t give you any! Only things on service dogs!

Thank you for reading!

-K9

[strayk9s]

My system hot takes are:

1.) Fake claiming doesn't do anything but hurt the person you're fake claiming, yourself, and the community as a whole— because now you have to perform a CDD "correctly"

2.) Focusing only on your identity disturbance symptoms is anti-recovery

Hello! Thank you for your submission, as a friendly reminder to everyone I’m doing system hottakes in my ask box! I’ll reply with my responses to them!

1) Fakeclaiming is indeed harmful and I can see how it’s harmful to the community as whole. Fakeclaiming really should never take place unless it’s BLATANTLY obvious that someone’s fake. And even then you have to be careful so I do agree.

2) Respectfully, I hate the whole ‘anti-recovery’ trend because it’s only people on social media that people want to claim what is and isn’t anti-recovery. I disagree with this claim because focusing on symptoms that do more damage than good on a day-to-day basis is not anti-recovery. Focusing on symptoms that take a tangent on mental health is not anti-recovery. Us, for example, Identity Disturbance and Dissociation are the main factors that take a toll on my well-being, and me focusing on that factor does not equal anti-recovery. It’s actually bringing awareness more to myself.

-K9

[strayk9s]

Being separated from source is just as valid as being connected to your source

- a system that was bullied for alters not having source connection

That’s valid too. I don’t think people need to rush to separate from their sources, and if they never plan to, I think that can be okay too. HOWEVER, I draw the line at actively pushing to be attached to a source publicly when a source is based on true and very harmful events such as being a Jeffrey Dahmer introject and using his face, name, etc. At that point, for me, it’s a question of morals and human decency as well as respect for the things that took place with those people.

(For those interested, send us your system hottakes! We have a post not to far down introducing what we’re doing currently)

-K9

[strayk9s]

2 hot takes from a self dx system:

Hot take 1: as long as you’ve done extensive researched and aren’t doing it to be cool or trendy, self dx are valid. Even if it’s a mistake that you find out it isn’t accurate self dx label or you were wrong

Hot take 2: YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A DEBBY DOWNER TO BE A SYSTEM!!!

I agree entirely. Self-diagnosis can be done efficiently if you’ve done extensive research and researched other disorders to rule out any other possibilities. As well as allowing yourself to understand that there’s a potential window to be wrong. We used to be a self-diagnosed system, considering the fact we didn’t have any therapist or psychiatrist at the time. Originally suspected DID before going and doing research on OSDD when we first were told about it. With that being said, we ended up professionally diagnosed later with OSDD.

And I’m guessing the second part means you don’t have to be a negative person 24/7 to be a system? If so, I agree as well. It seems when systems express being human, people take it as them faking because they aren’t posting about being miserable. I think people forget that we are very much so capable of enjoying the quality of life as we see fit.

-MD

[strayk9s]

SYSTEM HOTTAKES

Ask box open for system hottakes of any kind (for the most part)!

And I don’t mean the common ‘endo’s suck’ statement which is real. I mean shit that you’ve seen in system servers, TikTok, Tumblr, other social media, and so on. Drop your most extreme or not so extreme hottakes so I can reply to them.

Please respect my DNI however and be sure to review my pinned post before interacting!

[strayk9s]

Hello!! I’m trying to get back into art and I’m starting fresh on a new account! My original main account was canine_fangs000 on Instagram, which WILL stay up, but I won’t prioritize it as much! I’ll be posting on straydogskill now, and I’d love it if you guys could drop a follow! Thank you!

https://www.instagram.com/straydogskill?igsh=Mmh1NGlyZ2FwODYz

-K9

[strayk9s]

Hiiiii it’s me again, was scrolling through the P-DID posts and found ur account again so thought I’d say hi and ask…is there a PDID professional? Or anyway to discuss with someone, I have therapy next week but I’m stressing cuz I rediscovered after taking a did test. And it’s been quiet but I know their out of dormancy.

sorry this turned into a babble lol

thanks for listenign. Remember to drink water, eat and not do stupid shit-

Waving! Hiya!! Nice to talk to you again! My only post on P-DID was actually asking people if they knew more about it lol! Although I have learned more so I may be able to give a solid answer.

One question if you don’t mind? (You can either message me directly or respond via ask box!) but when you say DID test do you mean by a professional or one online?

And onto your other concerns, it really depends, I’d say. The majority of the professionals use the DSM-5, I believe, when diagnosing, and the DSM does not have P-DID as something that is diagnosable. Which means if your doctor, for example, uses the DSM, it would be impossible to get a partial DID diagnosis because it’s not in the book they use to assist them in diagnosing. They may classify it more as OSDD in that case. But if said doctor uses the ICD-11, then seeking a diagnosis for P-DID would be easier because that book DOES have the diagnosis.

We, however, would have no way to refer you to a doctor that specializes in P-DID. That’s mainly because we have no clue where you live or what doctors are around, and even we wouldn’t have a way to know which book they use, even if they specialize in dissociative disorders. Like our therapist specializes in dissociative disorders, and so does our psychiatrist, but they don’t use the ICD-11.

Speaking to your therapist more about it would be good though as well ^^

Let me know if you need better clarification of anything!! Very much so willing to explain better!

-K9

[strayk9s]

Also ! Do you have any advice on identifying if you're programed without specifically trying to trigger it ? I mean we could always ask our brother but he isn't too happy about what happened between us either 😭

Dw he's cool now and very much in therapy MF needs it more than us / silly

HEY AGAINNNN! I’m not entirely sure of a method to not accidentally trigger it. When we were doing our own research, there were multiple occasions that we still were triggered in some way. I would just say be very careful as it can be dangerous! Possibly taking small notes at a time and moving into it slowly could be helpful in the long run!

I have many resources (that aren’t carrds or rentry’s) on OEA/RAMCOA as well, so if you need anything, do let me know and I’ll have it sent!

-K9

[strayk9s]

i just realized we weren't following you on this account too That

Hiiii !!! Shout out to you for being cool and always liking our posts on our main

Hiya!! And ofc!! Always willing to support!! Always love talking to other artists and seeing their work!!

-K9

[strayk9s]

hhhello a question (if you don’t mind, no pressure to answer)

How do you like, start making communication within the system if you are literally the only fronter for days/weeks? I can’t do physical stuff like notes so I usually try stuff on my phone but it’s like. What am I asking?? What conversation could I possibly have with a headmate that would allow/want them to front for more than 30ish minutes

don’t like being host can you tell —🌺

Hiya! Thank you for the question! That does sound tough.I’m not sure honestly, as you can’t force the person to front if they refuse to. I’d figure all you could do is utilize things like notes or the chat functions in apps simply plural or Octo Con to send messages to communicate and hope they respond.

We don’t use notes often for communication since we already communicate via our own mind literally, but waiting and advocating for yourself could help! Just express what you’re feeling and see ^^

Feel free to send us another ask if you need clarification or have another question!

-K9

[strayk9s]

poooookieeee

Waves Wassup

-Zai

[strayk9s]

Okay, we’re officially and actually back. I know we keep kind of appearing and then disappearing, so here we are lol

I’m bored so I’d like to answer any system questions that any of you may have !! Whether you’re not a system, questioning, diagnosed, etc.

-Zai

[strayk9s]

I love when I have a partner that it is long distanced but yet we can never get on call anymore, never play games together, never do anything but text. (Mind you, we have no other problems with each other !! It’s just this)

But then I may get complaints about certain people not being in front to interact with certain people. But it’s like, “Hey, I can’t control who fronts!” And hey, y’know, maybe if you truly miss these people, maybe we should try talking on the phone bc obviously different alters may talk on the phone, and it can be helpful for communication and interaction that isn’t texting all the time.

Now he’s about to go get a job and still has yet to put in any effort to do the bare minimum. A JOB IS FINE BTW..it’s just the fact it’s prolly gonna be the same experience all over again. Now I was sick previously so there’s that but I’ve been pretty better lately. Even before I got sick though this was still a problem. But it’s just agitating bc atp all he’s gonna do is play with friends, get busy with family and work (which is inevitable anyway) and never have time for me lol. What’s the point of the relationship if it’s gonna be like that..

And we were already talking about how the chances of him even coming this summer was slim meaning I probably won’t even get to see him till next summer which is summer 2026 and even that isn’t a definite decision. I just hate it.

We can’t do anything and we can’t see each other, how sad is that really :/

[strayk9s]

OMGGGEEEE POOOKIES BACK

HIII! Yes we’re back ! What’s cookin!?!!!

-K9

[strayk9s]

Sorry!!! It’s been a while since I’ve said anything, but I’m still here! I was curious about something.

Fellow systems and systems who order art, does it ever feel awkward when you ask for altered art?

LMAO let me explain..so I, the host, have bought ocs and ordered art for said ocs.

Sometimes it feels awkward asking people to make art because either they think it’s for a character OR I gotta explain what alter art is, and I feel insane..sobbing.

It’s kinda the same thing when I buy ‘adopts’ for alters. I’ll sometimes do that if they want something as a face claim so it’s something we own compared to something we found on the internet and I’d be worried someone is gonna be like …hey!! You’re just roleplaying!! You’re not a system! Or some craziness.

Same feeling with OCs.I usually ask that they choose a different name instead of using the name of the actual OC so that way people don’t think it’s RP or some shit. Lucky enough though, I haven’t bumped into these concerns! But I was curious if anyone had the same experiences.

-K9