[johncav]

has anyone have the same problem as me with my concentration i find it like im trying to brake through a peice of glass when im concentrating i attribute it to my dp/dr.

 

[Da'Burgh]

This is attributed to ANXIETY not DP/DR. Filling your head with so many worries is hard on your brain. It becomes fatigued and filled with to many thoughts - therefore, making it hard to concentrate. This is info I received from a very reliable source.

 

[rainboteers]

yes, I agree. Also depression can make it rough to concentrate. If you have both depression and anxiety you can't concentrate at all! It is a symptom of both. SUCKS so much.

 

[nemesis]

This is a re-post from the "Empty mind" thread as I thought it may have had some relevance

I suffered from the same blank / foggy brain symptoms. In fact I was so worried about the functioning of my mind, that I felt compelled to take a SPECT test (maps the blood flow of the brain) in an attempt to determine what was working correctly, and what wasn't.

The SPECT results were nothing short of astonishing. After suffering with DP and its fog for seven years, I had developed a fear that either drug use, medication or previous concussions had resulted in an organic brain injury responsible for my woes. The SPECT results disproved all of my fears by revealing that I was suffering from an overactive anterior cingulate gyrus and an over active deep limbic system. My mind felt blank as yours does, yet it was actually hugely active in a non-focused ?noisy? kind of way.

These two systems are commonly associated with anxiety disorders. The elevated activity in these two areas of the brain symbolized an acute anxiety response. A response that was shutting down the executive centers of my brain and making it hard to think, concentrate and access my memory.

The theory goes that an anxiety state will stimulate the early reptilian brain (limbic system), and the limbic system will then shut down the executive seat. The limbic system is far faster at processing stimuli which apparently comes in handy in the case were you find yourself being attacked by a lion. You need to react immediately - not have to think about your options of fight or flight. The same system used to save you from an imminent attack by a deadly creature can also activate itself in every day life, even one devoid of such immediate dangers.

My problem with mental function and even DP disappeared immediately once I'd understood the relationship between the limbic system, anxiety states and the way it was affecting my brain function. It seems that worrying about the DP/brain fog/etc are enough to keep the mind in a permanent state of over activation, and hence a perpetual state of DP/Anxiousness.

Paradoxically, the only way I overcame DP was to stop worrying about it.

 

[Ben]

Essentially you lost the central-role of some human features and, to a minute degree, retreated back into your animal state by the acute stress that you feel; the result of your brains attempts to deal with the stress in the most primitive and (thereby, successful) method it knows how.

When you begin pondering your life as-is, the world looks different; probably the result of the acute changes (metabolic and otherwise), that you're experiencing. You ask questions that touch reality, but your mind is running from reality and all these questions do is throw you back into a place from which you are trying to escape. The result is you've become a yo-yo with your thoughts.

I have begun to realize, now more than ever, that the human creature is the creation of multiple layers of awareness, and thinking facilities that all come together in a, relatively, harmonious fashion. When one layer begins to overtake it's place - the result is a lack of harmony within the system and disruption is created. In the case of our situation - our primitive systems (see the post where nemsis and I pasted our excerpts from various sites on this topic) surrounding fear and escape have become hyper-vigilent, and the result is "run b*tch run!" However, with no where to run as there is no definable fear...

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles scream and shout"

Grounding us holds us down and, well...I think we all get the point and I'm probably talking just to hear my own head rattle so I'll shut up.

Thanks for your posts nemisis - most insightful and scientific. Very educated reasoning. I kind of wish I were smarter about the facts, I feel the need to write a paper on this topic and summarize everything (damn, I'm a helluva geek)

 

[dakotajo]

Hi Nemesis,

Thats an amazing article. I truly believe its right on the money. Theres no doubt that dp/dr is a real mechanism and there is a physical change happening in the brain. The key is its a natural change that can occur in every human being on this earth if they are put under enough stress and anxiety. Its all part of our healthy Flight or fight response. We are not a rare bunch here with a mysterious disorder. The only thing that makes us similar is that we all suffer from anxiety in one form or another.

Joe