[Guest]

I was thinking today about for some of us, DP/DR comes on suddenly, and we can't shake it. I was thinking about my state of mind prior to this episode of dp/dr, and realized I was pretty stressed out. I had too much going on in my life to ever relax, and I was preparing for a move, my husband had just switched careers, and our income had completely changed. The move pushed me over into dp, and I think that it is actually a defense mechanism that my brain uses in times of extreme stress. For years I suffered from general anxiety/panic attacks, and they were so frightening to me that I became agoraphobic. So for 8 years I have been trying to expand my bounderies and get out more, but anxiety is always present in everything. I think that by the time the move came, I was so worn out from life and battling anxiety all the time, that dp set in as a way to relieve me from the constant uproar of emotion that I was feeling. It's as if my mind thought that dp would be less traumatic on my body than the constant emotion and panic that I felt. To me, it seems that dp is the most terrible feeling one could experience, but maybe our bodies know differently. We become detached from emotion and the world in order to protect ourselves from the harshness of reality. Does this make sense to anyone else? I'm trying to look at the experience in a positive light, with the idea that nature knows what is best.. so perhaps my body is trying to do me a favor, even though it seems to be a nightmare. What do you think?

 

[gem]

I agree with what you have said. I believe the mind can only take so much fear. It is like an electrical socket, if you put to many plugs in what happens? I think the brain works the same way. It could not handle the constant state of fear so dp/dr is born. It is a protective mechanism even though it does not feel that way, it is actually saving the brain harm. I think exhaustion plays a part also. If one is in a constant state of fear it would be so tiring for the mind and body. I had panic attacks at one time so bad that I could not get through the day without collapsing. The constant strain it put on my body and mind was awful. I do not know how I ever got through that, the dp seemed to come on very strong and it totally stopped the panic attacks. I have had the odd one but nothing like I had, now it is constant dp. I sympathize with you on how awful the panic can be.