[Inflammed]

Derealization or depersonalization is characterized by feelings that the objects of the external environment are changing shape and size or that people are automated and inhuman. Depersonalization disorder usually begins in adolescence; typically, patients have continuous symptoms. Onset can be sudden or gradual. An estimated 2.4% of the general population meets the diagnostic criteria for this disorder. However, the prevalence rate is questioned by many clinicians and may be lower. This disorder frequently coexists with mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.

Mental status

The DSM-IV defines depersonalization disorder as the occurrence of persistent or recurrent episodes of depersonalization and/or derealization that are not related to any other mental disorder and cause marked distress.
Depersonalization is defined as persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached, as if one is an outside observer of one's mental processes or body. Results from reality testing are usually normal during the experience. The episodes cause clinically significant distress and/or impairment in social, occupational, and other main areas of functioning. The depersonalization does not occur exclusively during the course of another mental disorder and is not due to direct effects of substance abuse or general medication.

Treatment

Unfortunately, at this time, a specific and effective treatment plan has not been developed for depersonalization disorder. Studies show that psychotherapy and medications are not effective. Reports indicate that some patients respond to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or benzodiazepines. Further studies are needed to find an effective treatment regimen. At his time, the most viable treatment is to assist the patient in achieving comfort and stability, away from traumatic interactions.

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3484.htm

 

[Guest]

well Im filled with alot of Hope now

:roll:

 

[dreamcatcher]

that post really doesnt give any hope.......but we all have to realise there is some hope....i mean janine had this for years and she is ok now.....so there has to be some cure somewhere....something has to click it all back into place.....doesnt it?????????????

 

[Inflammed]

Why do you guys always wait for a fu**nig medical treatment ?
What if there was no hospitals or doctors ?
You would simply die of despair ?
You are responsible for your own life...take charge please.
If you all keep waiting for THEM to find the miracle pill or cure...well, you'll wait for a long time.

Be your own savior...

Damn, put your pants on and wage war against your problem !
Well...you'll need a good pair of boot too for DP DR

 

[Guest]

^ why the fuck did you make this post than?? Your posting an article about how there is no " cure" or whatever and than saying, " fuck medication and treatment" just cure yourselves.

wtf?

 

[Inflammed]

I meant that the hope and beleifs must come from within you.
Not from medical advances and researches.

We have DP/DR, or whatever it might be...
I say we cannot wait untill they found a miracle pill...
We must simply follow our guts and find our own way out of it.

 

[Guest]

Noooo....all confused here, guys.

First, nearly ALL mental symptoms are remarkably difficult to treat. You hear otherwise from ads on TV by the drug companies because that's their business, but it's not reality. Mental symptoms are TOUGH. tough to live with and even harder to recover from. Nobody says this is easy, or that if you haven't found a solution yet that it implies anything more serious is wrong. About the only symptom that is even bordering on "easy" to cure is panic disorder. All the rest are bears.

Plus, on top of that, DP in particular is doubly tough, not because the Symptom of DP is anything more complicated than other symptoms, but because the Personality types who get DP are very very resistant patients. WE are hard to treat, not our dp.

And in that article above, they are talking about "Depersonalization DISORDER" which as it says up there is a name usually reserved for dp symptoms that do NOT have other symptoms that ride alongside. If you are DP and have NO anxiety, no obsessions, no hypochrondria, no depression, and no phobic reactions to anything...then yep, that's Primary Depersonalization. That is what the article is describing.

Everyone here who posts is "NOT THAT" - you guys also suffer from a myriad of other emotional (or neurotic) or psychological symptoms. Psychiatrists are used to seeing such a large package - that's nearly always how we patients arrive. We're general messes, lol....and we each have certain symptoms that bother us more than others, but the doctor sees the larger picture.

The only tools they have to treat symptoms are meds to reduce anxiety or depression - and that usually makes many symptoms diminish.

Other than that, there's long term therapy. And the key word is LONG term. We didnt' get this way overnight. We THINK we did, but we didn't. And we don't change overnight either.

But every day people recover from crippling mental symptoms. Of course they do. I was ill longer than I've been well, lol...it takes hard work and time and requires major changes. But it's completely possible and if you DO the work, it's highly likely.
Peace,
Janine

 

[Guest]

janine,

you are a shining star

 

[Guest]

Very True Janine, like always

hey Kari how you been? I haven't talked to you in a while??

 

[sleepingbeauty]

you cant put dp/dr in a nutshell. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT. there are sooooo many avenues and treatments that can do wonders for one and do squat for others. personally i think taking deep whiffs of gary coleman farts is the all around cure we are looking for.

 

[Guest]

Sleeping B, you're right. Each person has their own set of symptoms and reasons for them. Agreed.

I was speaking up there in the earlier post to what I do believe is a very large contingent of DP sufferers - many, but not all.

Many of us have:

worn masks for many years;

have siginficant narcissisitic issues (tend to fluctuate between feeling Superior to feeling like nothing, tend to be dependent on something to keep us flying high and feeling special, only to plummet into self-loathing when those narcissistic supplies fail us)

are obsessed with the inner workings of our own minds

have always had a hard time accepting reality and limitations. We want to choose CORRECTLY, and never to regret. We want to KNOW the "right path" rather than explore, fail and learn. We want to already know, not have to gain awareness. We want to keep all options open for fear of making a poor choice and being less than we could have been. We tend to do all those things so obsessively that we often never take an actual step forward at all. (or if we do, we tend to "undo" it, as if "That doens't count...I want to go again!")

we stay at the Drawing Board of life so long we nearly die of old age without ever jumping into the playing field

are mesmerized (literally, almost entranced) by cosmic questions, philosophy, life/death, infinity, etc. and simultaneously terrified by same

tend towards hypochrondria - always trying to find the WHAT is wrong with ourselves, in our bodies, with our bodies....as if there is some secret illness or defect that no one has yet found

probably had a very hard time ever really being WITH other people. We can be what someone wants, or be what they DON'T want, or try to get them to be what WE want. But just "being with" where both of us retain our selves...that is rarely available. Sometimes all relationships feel like a forced choice that will destroy one of the parties, as if "I can have/be me" OR "I can have US/this relationship" - as if I can choose only one.

want to get well on our own terms. Want to go BACK to how we were before the dp started, and can't fathom that we might need to intrinsically alter the entire structure we set up in the first place.

are afraid of other people and feel inadequate. also feel superior to most of the world and easily criticize and condemn silently.

There are more, lol...plenty more. But THAT is the Personality Type I was referring to.

Apologies though, sincerely, as I do not mean to imply that everyone who has dp falls into this category.

Peace,
J

 

[kenc127]

The only treatment, regardless of what our mental symptoms are, is to change the way we handle outside problems. If we need some AD's or calming drugs to aid us while we are learning this, then we should go for it. People who suffer this disorder must learn to handle outside issues more effectively, or else DPDR will remain as the only defense because we haven't taught ourselves anything better and more effective.

We can attempt to numb this thing all day long with "treatments" and symptoms may lessen, but DPDR will stay with us as long as we don't tech ourselves better more current mental defenses.

This is the challenge that lies before us, and this is the challenge we must face head on.

Ken

 

[Guest]

I think most of us here suffer from the effects of depersonalization/derealization. Not all, but most.

I understand "depersonalization disorder", as a unique malady - is quite rare. To me, that indicates most of us here are experiencing DP/DR along with something else. As a symptom of something else.

Our symptoms are remarkably similar, although that might be a little strong. The brain may be an amazing organ, but there's only so many things that can go wrong with it. What's interesting to me is that, while we all share many similar effects - the way we got here varies all over the place. Our paths into DP/DR are very personal to each of us. It follows then that the way out for each of us will be different.

Some people seem to find relieve through medications. I don't, but some do. Others seem to benefit from various talk therapies. I am only just now starting with that so I don't have anything to report yet. We even had one long time member who found relieve through treatment for sleep apnea.

I disagree with one opinion that seems to be voiced here often: I DO NOT think "fighting it" is the answer. If anything, I think that approach only adds power to the symptoms. Also, this is not simply a matter of just pulling your socks up, putting on a smile and getting on with life. I do that already, and I am still DP.

I somehow managed to surive the Christmas party at work (where I spend at least 50 hours a week), our own celebration here at home with my children (whom I spend countless hours a week with, taking them here and there, coaching their teams, going to games, etc), traveling to my parents and doing the holiday thing over there, then hopping back in the car and going to my wife's mother's house to do the same. I even went to the mega-super-mall today to return some items. On the busiest shopping day of the year.
My socks are pulled up as high as they will go. I am living life - in spite of this stuff.
And I am still so DP/anxious I feel I will die at any moment.

I agree with Janine, in that I think those of us with DP/DR are of a particular "type". The same personality traits that helped get us into this mess are what's making us so difficult to treat. Yet even though we share some of the same traits, we are each completely unique. We are each our own little puzzle. The solution will be different for every one of us.

But even after all this time I firmly believe there is a solution for each of us.

 

[Guest]

In my post to homeskool I mentioned that my psychiatrist said pretty much what Janine said about psychiatry and treatments.
I guess I should give him some credit he's been treating people for well over 20yrs.

The one thing he does not agree upon is long term psychoanalysis for the treatment of dp and he used to do analysis.
He wouldn't mind at all if I tried it,hell he'd wouldn't care if I did rebirthing or fire walking.

I simply get so bored with talking about myself and particularly the past.
Who knows if I could find the right person but the cost?it doesn't come cheap.
The average private psychiatrist here charges about $150-$200 an hour.
A psychologist about $80 an hour.I fear to imagine what this would cost in N.Y or any other major American city.
Forget getting good help under any government benefits here,these people just don't have the time.

Janine can you offer any alternatives for cost effective therapy?
I'm sure a lot more people here would give it a go if it weren't for the cost.

Cheers Shelly

 

[Guest]

Janine is right, I would listen to the people who have experienced DP .

 

[person3]

If you are DP and have NO anxiety, no obsessions, no hypochrondria, no depression, and no phobic reactions to anything...then yep, that's Primary Depersonalization.

No, I'd call that a fucking neurotic problem all on its own. NO one is like that!

 

[g-funk]

I don't understand Primary Dp disorder. The nature of feeling dp'd is feeling anxious as hell...how can anyone not feel panic stricken? Suppose we all experience it differently like we said.

That's really true about what you say Janine about 'just being'. Its almost easier to be given some context in which to 'be'. Like being given a part in a play or a certain situation. I find it easier to talk to or entertain a crowd of people (when Im not feeling anxious) than to have one-on-one conversations. I find them really unnerving, as if im under scrutiny and start squirming. I become aware of my facial expressions and worry about how I come across.

On the note of hypochondria - I was bought 3 copies of 'The Hypochondriac's Handbook' for Christmas. Everyone thought they were so witty...

 

[Inflammed]

No, I'd call that a f--- neurotic problem all on its own. NO one is like that!

Erhmmmm....

I have no anxiety, no panic, nothing...
DP DR strikes me almost each day around 3pm, without any reason, there is a sudden change in my body.
Like a drop of some vital fluid, I start feeling weak, seeing flashes, all perceptions are altered, distance is now only a theory.
Then anxiety rises, panic, fear and misunderstanding.
I had this for 10 years and I wrote everything down, making some graphics of the frequency, symptoms, time, sleep, food, everything.

People DO have primary DP, I do.
I don't have anxiety problems, no obsessing toughts, no fear, no other psychological problems, untill DP strikes. When it rises, I have them all.
I beleive it was drug induced, thats my most logical explanation.

I tried to heal my mind for so long, but there is simply nothing to heal.
My psychologist is telling me to see a doctor, but doctors tells me to see a psychologist.
So I deceided to heal myself, physically, giving my body strength and health.

And it worked...
I modified my sleeping habits, eating habits, exercisse habits, my whole way oflife has changed.
No excess, no alcohol, no drugs, no stress, no modified foods, nothing unhealthy.

MY DP DR is 80% gone since a while, the 20% left is more than bearable and I beleive it will be 100% soon because of my new habits.