Depersonalisation crisis

[ana]

Hmm. Could you tell me what role does family play in the development of DP/DR? I'm intrigued.

[viking111]

Hmm. Could you tell me what role does family play in the development of DP/DR? I'm intrigued.

The program explains how family systems affect it. For example, most people with DPDR come from dysfunctional families. Dysfunctional family does not necesarily mean they physically abuse you or anything, but it can be a family member with addiction or a bad parent etc.
For example, if a parent of a child gets drunk often and does not respond to child's needs, like a child is crying for example and parent does not respond or not care about the child, child finds no way of dealing with the problem and sees that nothing is safe and disociates to deal with the deep pain. This disociation is then passed on in life and that's how DPDR forms.
People who endure stressful situations and not get DPDR most likely come from caring families.
In the programme, he explains different types of disfunctional families and so on and I will be able to comment on this once I finish the programme.

[ana]

Thank you for answering my question. It's definitely interesting, that piece of information, though I have to say, I don't feel like it applies to my situation. Do you think there are exceptions? My family were/are very loving... perhaps a little too much. My mum and I, however, don't have a very good relationship.

[viking111]

Dysfunctional family can consist of good parents, but they might have traits like narcisism or something similar that has caused child to develop these problems.

[ana]

Oh I see. So, essentially, depersonalisation is a way of escaping reality, a coping mechanism?

[viking111]

Oh I see. So, essentially, depersonalisation is a way of escaping reality, a coping mechanism?

Yeah, everyone in life gets a healthy dose of DPDR (such as experiencing DPDR when riding down a scary rolercoaster or just experiencing something scary that puts your brain in this mechanism for a day max.) But people with problems get the bad kind of DPDR that either stays for a long period of time (episodical) or stays forever if not properly treated and aknowledged (chronical).
That's why there's hundreds of those scary stories with people experiencing DPDR for 20 years, but that is most likely because they haven't learned to deal with it properly.
In fact, yes it is just a coping mechanism, but some people get it wrong due to childhood trauma and when this trauma and ego stuff is sorted, DPDR passes.

[ana]

I understand. That makes a lot of sense, actually. Thank you for the information you've shared.

[ana]

Quite often, I get mini depersonalisation attacks throughout the day, mini episodes of unreality. Does anyone else get them? I find them unsettling even though not all of them and not always do they lead to a full-blown panic attack (that, just like all my panic attacks, manifests itself through unreality and depersonalisation)...

[Clydesdale Epona]

Yep, I get them rather frequently and always at the best times(haha) its a rather shaking and scary experience, I also get spontaneous waves of impending doom,

All the best x

[ana]

Thank you for replying. The sensations are really unsettling. Do you feel like you're fading in and out of existence? It's a bit like a radio station that's being tuned in and out at times. They don't last for long, these mini dp feelings, but they happen once every half an hour or an hour or so, depending on the day and the anxiety levels.