Any hope? DR DP and weird thoughts

[Floods]

Hi,

I am suffering from what I am pretty sure is DP/DR. I have the usual sensations of feeling strange, feeling alien, the world feeling alien, feeling like I'm in a video game or a virtual reality, etc. but I also have these obsessive ruminations:

how can I exist? How can anything exist? How can time exist? How can anything just be? Consciousness? Atoms? Number? Etc? The whole universe just being there terrifies me - I can't make sense of it

Before all of this I never had trouble with this - in fact, the mysteries of the universe interested me and perplexed me in a good way. Now it all seems terrifying, the walls of reality feel like they're coming down around me

It's like this 24/7; sometimes it panics me, sometimes I can push through the fear and accept it. My psych says this is anxiety and depression causing this, but since it's my primary symptom (I don't exhibit anxiety symptoms unless they're related to this - fear of never getting better, fear of going crazy, fear of permanent brain damage, etc) and I feel I'm depressed because of this.

Cutalopram did nothing, and I'm two weeks into mirtazipine with no effect as of yet. Valium calms me down but doesn't stop the DR, just makes it unscary for some reason. I can't believe this will go away. Can anyone offer any hope? I'm really feeling hopeless and stuck right now...

[Tando]

DP/DR is fear and feeds on fear. The more you involve yourself in it, the more it'll run after you. Go about your daily routine and let it flow through you. DR is pretty cool, your eyes are adjusted in a way by adrenaline so that you can see everything in your periphery with ease, hence the 2D effect. DP happens when you think too much and have too much stress, so your brain says "I'm getting out of this one! This is too much!"

To cure DR, you've got to say to yourself "Well... I don't see any danger, I feel safe." And go about your daily routine.

To cure DP, stop thinking so much, get out there and stop wasting your time on a stress response from adrenaline, it's silly.

You're letting this consume your life, anxiety is not dangerous, it's just an annoying unwelcome friend that's saying "Hey I'm here to protect you.. hey I'm here to protect you.." like a knight with a big sword that keeps following you saying "I'LL GET HIM FOR YOU! I'LL DEFEAT THE MONSTERS" when there's nothing around. Just let him follow you around until he gets tired.

[viking111]

Hey!
I experienced the same things and it was truly awful.
Drugs won't help really, you need to understand certain things.
All this you're experiencing is your body's strange evolutionary way of protecting you from hard emotions.
Like, your brain makes you think all this weird stuff.
Just don't pay attention to it and live on. Distract yourself, play videogames (not too much of course), do sports, read books, learn etc.
I honestly thought I would never come out of this and everything felt so bad and unhappy.
But please have hope, this will end, it is not temporary, you will come out of it and you will be fine, trust me.

[nursie]

Hi, I'm new here - saw ur post. OMG I have the same stuff. It's terrifying. Thank u for ur post. I'll be reading replies with interest.

---------- Post added at 02:30 ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 ----------

i'm confused. Is it temporary or not?

[Floods]

Hi, I'm new here - saw ur post. OMG I have the same stuff. It's terrifying. Thank u for ur post. I'll be reading replies with interest.

---------- Post added at 02:30 ---------- Previous post was at 02:20 ----------

i'm confused. Is it temporary or not?

Hey, I hope to re-assure you this can get better...

When I was writing this I had DPDR at full blast... now it's still here, unfortunately, but much more mildly. I still have this feeling of not being myself, of fatigue, of no subjective self, etc, but the philosophical rumination, the sheer panic, the unreality is fading or has gone. I'm slowly getting better, and you can too!

In any case, see your GP, or any other relevant services. I;m not sure if this is *just* anxiety, but treatment for anxiety seems to be (slowly!) making things easier...

[emmalami]

Hey, I hope to re-assure you this can get better...

When I was writing this I had DPDR at full blast... now it's still here, unfortunately, but much more mildly. I still have this feeling of not being myself, of fatigue, of no subjective self, etc, but the philosophical rumination, the sheer panic, the unreality is fading or has gone. I'm slowly getting better, and you can too!

In any case, see your GP, or any other relevant services. I;m not sure if this is *just* anxiety, but treatment for anxiety seems to be (slowly!) making things easier...

What medicine are you on if any?

[lisa0406]

same here :( I can't even read books or anything, everything "human" just seems so strange, I hate it.
I can assure you the DR/DP will go away, with me it did after 5 or 6 months. The existential thoughts are my aftermath and they are hell...

[BrokenAge]

These first two comments are extremely helpful and inspirational. When I feel disconnected it feels as if I just need someone to tell me I'm ok. Best of luck to everyone who experiences this. It's hard but the feeling always fades.