Does anyone else have a whole mess of things mixed in with their DP/DR?
DP/DR IS a whole mess of things. It's your body's natural response to a perceived threat (real or not.) There's a wide range of feelings you can experience when your stress hormones kick in (tingling, faintness, invasive thoughts, rumination, etc) - but the earliest onset feelings are responsible for what most people here call DP/DR.
Anyone who has stress hormones in their system experience them on physiological level, but people who have lasting symptoms (like lasting DP/DR) tend to be extra-sensitive, and the feeling bothers them so much they become afraid of having the feeling - and now their panic/anxiety (and subsequent stress hormone release) ironically becomes a response to the anticipation of that very same feeling - and welcome to the panic cycle.
It's been incredibly hard with the lot of it. I'm on vacation and I think the jet lag triggered my DP, plus being away from my "safe place".
Both sleep deprivation (jet-lag) and being in a new place can tax your already stressed system. I'm not surprised you have more anxiety / symptoms than usual. BUT that doesn't mean you can't handle them.
At this point, I get so depressed from feeling this way. My mind can't even pick up on one thought, it's as if my brain is mushing together so many thoughts and feelings I can't extract one from another and I'm a jumbled mess. Even this post sounds like a mess!
Makes sense - you're trying to use your brain which is the very thing thats on the fritz to rationalize your way into feeling better. You'll have to look elsewhere - to a deeper place (your heart, or some deeper wizdom in your body, or a higher power) to re-balance yourself. It requires a little faith (for lack of a better word) that there is a way out, and that you will be okay and this is just your body's way to protect itself from a mis-perceived threat -
it's that you're more scared of the symptoms because you're extra sensitive (me too) that you're having trouble - but that's it in a nutshell. You'll get it under control with practice and some coping mechanisms, and then you'll be back to your old self.
Please let me know if anyone can relate or has words of wisdom xx
You're traveling right? I'd focus on anything you get an inkling of enjoyment out of - coffee (maybe decaf for you), the warm sun on your face, or maybe dipping your legs in a pool if your too hot - ice cream - peeling your socks off, etc. If you can find any pleasure in anything then enjoy and distract yourself with that.
Forget any notions about what you SHOULD be doing - most "normal" people wouldn't be able to tolerate what you're going through without bursting into tears or going to the hospital. You're a soul warrior for even going traveling while you have these kinds of symptoms, and I bow my head in respect.
If you need any help or support, myself and everyone else in this community of people who actually understand and empathize with what you're going through are standing at the ready.
Cheers.
