Unless you've forgotten all about it, it's very hard to NOT think about something, so I tend to prefer the term thought dismissal to distraction, as this is about dismissing anything relating to symptoms and giving them as little attention and power as you can. So you might think something quick and simple like, "that's nonsense," and turn your attention to something practical and "real world," thereby orientating yourself in actual life.
A similar way is thought substitution, where you immediately replace delusional or destructive thinking with something more constructive, realistic and positive.
Not saying it's easy because it takes time, but as with all these things getting the ball rolling is the hardest part, and it does get easier with practice. Thoughts are habits and the more attention we give the destructive ones the more power they have. Place DP on a pedestal and worship it, and it will be your god, so belittle it, undermine it, give it as little attention as you can, and think of it in any way that makes you feel better and more empowered.
For example, some people balk when someone suggests simply telling yourself it's "just anxiety," but leave theoretical debates to the master-debaters and just see if it makes YOU feel better about it by looking at it in a diminished way, as mundane, even boring. If you feel lighter and less overwhelmed then that's all that matters.
Sometimes it goes deeper than this and we have to look at why we are tearing ourselves apart in the first place, and behind this can be a destructive core belief that we are flawed, damaged or bad. The more we identify with this idea instead of challenging it, the more we pick ourselves apart with habits like self-checking and brutal self-analysis, but we can use the same substitution technique here too. When we identify with negative thoughts as our own we are in effect sleeping with the enemy, because often they came from other people who were not concerned with what was best for us. Imagine if a bully hit you with a stick for a while, got bored and left, then you picked it up and kept hitting yourself with it for the rest of your life. It's like that.
Anyway, hope this helps and gives you some food for thought on potential ways of approaching recovery.