[willbarwa]

WARNING TRIGGER DP

I was wondering if this DP is not only a chemical imbalance but a psychological one too. I'm sure that is possible seeing as DP can be caused by a few underlying problems. What if to some extend our DP is caused by a from of self-deceit.

Perhaps our subconscious mind created this barrier to protect us from further mental harm.

This sounds crazy and probably nerdy but hear me out before considering this childish.

I used to watch this anime called Naruto and long story short there was this ninja called Itachi who was fighting

this other ninja called Kabuto.

Now the battle was intense but Itachi had visual techniques that could be performed with his eyes.

Those eyes were called "Sharingan" in Japanese this means "copy wheel eye".

Now in Buddhism, other eastern philosophies and even some western philosophies, the "wheel" represents cycle.

Cycle of life and the continuous ebb and flow of existence.

It is to no surprise that nature fitted us with the capacity and faculty to recreate in physical form this wheel.

We used it merely for transportation, yet a deeper working is at hand here; we are constantly moving in accordance to this simple notion.

Our legs may not be circular or spherical but just like a wheel, it has a resting point and a starting point which repeats itself.

Our mind too, we think, act, think and act again. This repeats itself like a wheel.

Anyway back to the ninja showdown.

Itachi, the guy with eye-powers, sets in motion a special technique called "Izanami". In the anime, this technique allows the caster to trap the victim in a loop kinda like groundhog day.

Kabuto, the victim, has not realized he is stuck in this loop, as of now, his physical body is still, however, in his mind he believes he is still fighting Itachi.

It takes him a while to realize he is trapped in some illusion and yet he continues to "fight" is way out of it (kinda reminds me of DP).

Eventually he realizes he can't get out of this illusory damnation unless he accepts who he is and what he was as a person.

You see in the show, Kabuto fought with his inner sefl all the time, he always had some conflict between who he was and what he thought he should be, this caused some sort of duality in him. He became this unnecessary villain despite all the good he had done in the past. In the end he reflects on his past and understands that this ''illusion'' can only be broken if he can see past the illusion.

But not to see as in seeing with your eyes, but a more metaphorical meaning as in mentally "seeing" out of one's own delusions and illusions we have of ourselves.

Of course, im not saying some ninja dude put a spell on you on your way to work but maybe this parable can give some insight as to what is going on in some ppl's mind when it comes to DP.

 

[Alan]

I've never liked this term "chemical imbalance", I hear people use it all the time with regards to numerous mental health conditions and I feel it is simplistic and dismissive with regards to mental illness. Often neurotransmitters are involved in the pathology of mental illness but numerous other factors (psychology/physiology/neurology/disease) can play a part as well.

I'm not trying to criticise you in any way, I just think that use of the term spreads misunderstanding.

Anyway, certainly, this is completely how I understand dissociative symptoms as a phenomenon, as a barrier to protect us from further mental harm.

 

[willbarwa]

I apologize. Sometimes the very terms we should examine closely, are the ones we tend to use too hastily. In my defense, I do believe that a lot of other factors are at play too. My DP was most likely caused by anxiety and childhood trauma. Other people's DP are triggered by different conditions.

 

[Alan]

Sure, no apology needed, like I say I wasn't trying to criticise you.

If anything I think this "chemical imbalance" idea has proliferated more by big pharma who obviously have a vested interest in promoting drugs to treat a (simplified) problem, and people have just adopted the term.