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12 Posts
Let me help you out. I was depersonalized for a year waiting for it to fade away. I had some aha-moments when I had spent hours without feeling strange. That's when I was doing something absorbing. That's when I realized this dp was nothing serious but a matter of focus. I learned to handle uncertainty in a healthy way and now I'm dp free. I can suggest myself into dp any second if I want to but I can choose not to.
Dp is an obsession. Nothing more. You cope with uncertainty by trying to figure it out. You check, you try to feel like yourself, you look for reassurance, you read articles, you spend countless hours on google... all this trying to solve the feeling and trying to make the feeling go away. You check and you check until you can't feel certain about anything. The uncertainties become unsolvable like "what if I'm not real?". Let me tell you something. This is called compulsive behavior. When you have obsessions, compulsive behaviors are the fuel that keep obsessions going. You can't handle the uncertainty so you react with compulsions. Compulsive behaviors feel like they are the solution, but in fact they are the root of the problem. Don't go after obsessions, go after compulsions! By identifying your compulsions, you can start cutting them out. Look for anything you do in order to cope, control and check. Then cut those behaviors out! When you do this, your anxiety will rise. You'll feel a need to go back to compulsive behaviors. But when you resist and move your focus back to the real actual situation that's going on, your brain will learn dp is nothing to be afraid of. It's just a feeling and never leads to anything else. You'll learn you feel depersonalized every time after you engage in checking compulsions. When you learn to react to uncertainty in a healthier way, dp will start to fade away.
"Am I feeling the right way?"
"Do I feel real? Do my memories feel real? Do my loved ones feel real?"
"Do I feel as secure as I should? Do I feel as grounded/connected as I should?"
"Do I feel the right amount of love towards the things I really care about?"
"Does this feeling mean I'm going to lose it and go crazy?"
"Did I really understand the advice juustopallo was giving me?"
"What if I believed I was an alpaca?
Etcetc. --> mental checking!!
Accept the feeling. You can have any feeling, any thought and still act according to the actual situation and according to your values. Live your life and stop trying to solve the feeling. Feelings aren't things to be solved. It's ok to not feel like yourself all the time. It's ok to feel uncertain. It's ok to feel anxious. Refocus your attention and take the unpleasant feeling with you. It's ok to not feel connected. When you learn this, you can react to the feeling by not engaging in compulsive checking behaviors. Cutting out the compulsions will make you feel normal again. Make the things you care about the center of your life again. See your friends, study, go to work, excercise... all the normal stuff! Do it every day no matter how you feel. This way you'll learn dp stops you from nothing. It's just a feeling and you can have any feeling!
I hope this helps! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Dp is just an obsession! All obsessions are the same and they can be managed!
Dp is an obsession. Nothing more. You cope with uncertainty by trying to figure it out. You check, you try to feel like yourself, you look for reassurance, you read articles, you spend countless hours on google... all this trying to solve the feeling and trying to make the feeling go away. You check and you check until you can't feel certain about anything. The uncertainties become unsolvable like "what if I'm not real?". Let me tell you something. This is called compulsive behavior. When you have obsessions, compulsive behaviors are the fuel that keep obsessions going. You can't handle the uncertainty so you react with compulsions. Compulsive behaviors feel like they are the solution, but in fact they are the root of the problem. Don't go after obsessions, go after compulsions! By identifying your compulsions, you can start cutting them out. Look for anything you do in order to cope, control and check. Then cut those behaviors out! When you do this, your anxiety will rise. You'll feel a need to go back to compulsive behaviors. But when you resist and move your focus back to the real actual situation that's going on, your brain will learn dp is nothing to be afraid of. It's just a feeling and never leads to anything else. You'll learn you feel depersonalized every time after you engage in checking compulsions. When you learn to react to uncertainty in a healthier way, dp will start to fade away.
"Am I feeling the right way?"
"Do I feel real? Do my memories feel real? Do my loved ones feel real?"
"Do I feel as secure as I should? Do I feel as grounded/connected as I should?"
"Do I feel the right amount of love towards the things I really care about?"
"Does this feeling mean I'm going to lose it and go crazy?"
"Did I really understand the advice juustopallo was giving me?"
"What if I believed I was an alpaca?
Etcetc. --> mental checking!!
Accept the feeling. You can have any feeling, any thought and still act according to the actual situation and according to your values. Live your life and stop trying to solve the feeling. Feelings aren't things to be solved. It's ok to not feel like yourself all the time. It's ok to feel uncertain. It's ok to feel anxious. Refocus your attention and take the unpleasant feeling with you. It's ok to not feel connected. When you learn this, you can react to the feeling by not engaging in compulsive checking behaviors. Cutting out the compulsions will make you feel normal again. Make the things you care about the center of your life again. See your friends, study, go to work, excercise... all the normal stuff! Do it every day no matter how you feel. This way you'll learn dp stops you from nothing. It's just a feeling and you can have any feeling!
I hope this helps! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Dp is just an obsession! All obsessions are the same and they can be managed!