Hey guys,
I'm just chipping here now to tell you that chronic dissociation (regardless of how you like to define your individual situation - "drug-induced derealisation", "chronic DPDR", "intermittent depersonalisation"..) is cured in the same way. I completely respect that this is impossible to see while trapped in the horrible, frankly terrifying symptoms that come along with things/yourself feeling 'unreal', but this is an absolute truth that you should try your best to believe.
Why? Believing this will push you 30% towards recovery. The longer you spend watching youtube videos that try and further guide you towards diagnosing yourself differently/analysing "whether you have chronic/intermittent dissociation", the more you are falling into identifying as a patient, ruminating more, etc. This will sustain your symptoms, whether they are permanent or arise sporadically.
I can tell you that I suffered from severe chronic (really 24/7) depersonalisation and derealisation triggered by drugs and sustained by 'reality-checking' and OCD tendencies. And, I managed to direct my flow away from reality/my condition, and have been 100% cured for years.
Don't let anyone tell you that chronic DPDR is a different beast in terms of recovery, for it isn't. In terms of experience, sure - there are undeniably huge differences between the experience of someone who experiences occasional dissociation when stressed and someone who permanently feels 'drugged' and dissociated.
But, let's be careful and not mix up what's interesting/valid to analyse (i.e. what could be studied and talked about) and what's relevant to recovery.
There are hundreds of things that we can scrutinise and categorise etc. when it comes to dissociative symptoms, but trust me, they are better accepted as the umbrella concept that they are and treated as so. This attitude will be seem super counterintuitive and 'overly-simplistic', but it is exactly what allowed me to slip out of (and remain free from!) the most horrendous, chronic DPDR that I believed to be "permanent and nothing to do with anxiety".
That's all - I hope this answer resonates with whoever reads it, and that it doesn't come across harsh. I'm just so, so passionate about imparting every last shred of information that I know to be true regarding this sneaky, illusory disorder (that, as a side effect, makes you want to research it excessively and make things more complex than they are!). If I see anyone talking in a way that I know to be limiting/make recovery less likely, I'll swoop in and share my two cents now that I'm totally cured.
thank you for your long reply.
i was able to recover from my dpdr once also. and i had a very wrong and mistakeful life after it. i hadnt thought „i have to enjoy my life, im free of dissociation“. no. i had abused emotionally myself. i had hated my self because i had said to me „you are very ugly and worthless because of this no woman wants you“. and after all that mistakeful life i got a very severe relapse with incredible anxiety and major depressive episode. thats not the same thing like before. the first time it was a childs play for me to overcome it. there are differences between dpdr as symptom of anxiety and dpd. and im unfortunately sure, this one will not cure. i feel that impossibility. my brain says to me no..