Depersonalisation crisis

[ana]

I see what you mean,and reading through your post,I've come to realise that I did learn about these philosophical concepts back in school.
What I personally believe is that the mind is very powerful and that we've got the tools to change,alter,and even create our reality. These tools would be our thoughts. However,we are not alone in this world. There are billions of people,reality co-creators if you will,and the best we can do is try and make small adjustments to our reality so that it suits our need to be happy and well.
I don't know what dp is and why it happens. The human brain is still in large part a mystery to scientists,and one can only speculate as to what really goes in there.

[viking111]

I see what you mean,and reading through your post,I've come to realise that I did learn about these philosophical concepts back in school.
What I personally believe is that the mind is very powerful and that we've got the tools to change,alter,and even create our reality. These tools would be our thoughts. However,we are not alone in this world. There are billions of people,reality co-creators if you will,and the best we can do is try and make small adjustments to our reality so that it suits our need to be happy and well.
I don't know what dp is and why it happens. The human brain is still in large part a mystery to scientists,and one can only speculate as to what really goes in there.

Brain is really a complicated tool, but from what i know, DPDR happens when stress hormones overflood the hippocampus and actually kill some cells, causing you to feel weird. DP also activates fight or flight response which gives you those panic attacks and when they substitude, you still feel off. The key to this is reduce overall anxiety so that your brain cells don't get even more damaged and actually start help your brain re grow the cells by being healthy, adopting new thought processes and confronting tragic and traumatic memories.

Sometimes DPDR goes away on its own, mostly when anxiety lowers and that is due ti fact that there are no underlying traumatic memories ti keep it going. I've had both chronic and episodical DPDR and the difference was that with episodical, I once got this panic attack and after distracting myself for a week and calming down, it passed. With chronic, what I am experiencing right now, you have to locate the traumatic memories/feelings that are most likely hidden and confront them, because DPDR uses them as main power source.

[ana]

I can't say I know much about what happens in the brain when dp strikes,but I do remember my therapist telling me that if I reduced my anxiety,dp would not happen...

[viking111]

I can't say I know much about what happens in the brain when dp strikes,but I do remember my therapist telling me that if I reduced my anxiety,dp would not happen...

That is partially true because usually DPDR is driven by heavy anxiety. For example, I used to have a really stressful period 2 year ago and when I calmed down, my symptoms disappeared. Also my OCD has always been accompanied by DPDR and when I stopped being anxious, DPDR went away. However, this time I am no longer anxious for like a month now. My anxiety levels are fine yet DPDR is still present and that's why it is considered chronic, but it does not mean it is incurable. My therapist said that there's some hidden feelings driving it and they need to be sorted out. So far we've gotten to the point that it could be loneliness and rejection that drives this. Over past 2 months we've been analysing my past experiences with anxiety disorders and we're slowly coming to the answer.
And yes, even though I still have DPDR, it was way way way worse when I had anxiety. Now it has gone down significally but I still feel off.

[ana]

I'm glad that you and your therapist are working towards finding a good solution to dealing with what fuels these unpleasant feelings. I find that dp and anxiety are closely related in my case

[GeraltRiva]

Distraction is key. It's the only way to keep on moving through the day. Another thing, which is really usefull is mindfullness, I often go for a walk and try to feel, smell and observe everything arround me without any thinking. It really gounds yourself and sometimes help to feel real again. The most difficult thing for me, is to be arround people, it's so painfull to be with my parrents when I feel like they aren't there or real.

[ana]

That's good advice,thank you. Taking your mind off your inner world and observing the outside one does help reduce the uncomfortable feelings of dp. I wonder if the reason why your parents feel unreal is because of the dynamic of your relationship which might not be ideal...?

[viking111]

If your problem is indeed parents or anything related with relationships, you should try writing a letter expressing your emotions towards them but you dont need to send it to them. Key to overcoming this is also emotional expression and there are many people who get their dpdr triggered if they are bullied. I used to experience bits of bullying time ago and it triggered DPDR for me too.
Also distraction helps a lot. You could try many dpdr grounding exercises such as for example listening music and focusing on different parts of it and so on. Also reading books strenghtens your brain and removes dpdr symptoms

[GeraltRiva]

You're probably both right, although I'm 23 my mother is really clingy and treats me like a teenager, which led to isolation. I think I will try out you advice viking, thanks for that.

[ana]

I'm just wondering when do you get dp the most? I've been having dp for the past 2 days, and it has been driving me mad. I wish I knew why it's happening, and although I have some worries regarding work and a family member, I don't know if that's what's really causing it. I'm really worried. :(

What are your triggers?