[John77]

IMHO The distorted mind can be REVERSED and CURED. How do we reverse the process that distorted our perception you ask? LISTEN UP. IMHO DP/DR is just a "symptom" of a broader disorder such as anxiety, depression, OCD, intrusive thoughts, or a specific chemical imbalance. A symptom....I will say it again....and so will my doctor team......"a symptom"

In my specific case....I was given a "cocktail" which usually requires 2 different medications, for depression and anxiety. A well reviewed, and experienced phsychiatrist will identify the correct medicines that are correct for your brain chemistry. In my case it was Zoloft and Zyprexa. Anyway....the cure is... actually being able to cure the depression or anxiety........and enter the mind into a higher "feel good chemical mode" or "happy mode". When serotonin levels are raised or "happy feel good chemicals" are activated.......then DP/DR symptoms fade. Soon in time the "happy mind" takes over and DP/DR fades completely. Distortion gets reversed basically.

The first time I knew the cure was beginning to work, is on week number three of the anti-depressant starting to kick in......when I said to myself...."hey, It's a nice sunny day out, I would like to go outside and just take a walk". That was the old me. A simple pleasure I used to enjoy before DP/DR. My "feel good chemicals" were coming back. My mind forgot what DP/DR was after a while. It faded like it was all just a bad dream. After a couple of months my mind was in the same original happy mindset again.

in my specific case eventually....I was tapered off the medicine very safely by a psychiatrist. Some people have to stay on a specific dose, or maybe just a lower maintenance dose after being re-evaluated. Anyway.... I feel better than ever....but when I was sick...I was really really sick....and I needed the medicine to get well. At first I didn't even respond to therapy because I was too distorted. With the medicine, I was able to respond to therapy well. CURED. This is a real story.

 

[TDX]

When serotonin levels are raised or "happy feel good chemicals" are activated.......then DP/DR symptoms fade. Soon in time the "happy mind" takes over and DP/DR fades completely. Distortion gets reversed basically.

Unfortunately medications which increase serotonine only rarely improve or even cure depersonalization. You are lucky.

What medication do you think did the job? The Zoloft or the Zyprexa?

 

[John77]

Both did the job working together, because Zoloft was good for the depression and OCD that was causing DP/DR, and Zyprexa was good for anxiety and the delusion of DP/DR. Medication has to be taken long enough in the right mix and doses to have an effect. The administering psychiatrist has to be very experienced in general. Also you have to let the medicine work by getting back to normal daily activities. The brain adapts to the new chemicals and the "happy response" to activities which eventually does not leave any room for the "negative effects" of DP/DR. Your brain chemistry can be altered and cured. If you allow yourself to be happy....your mind will reward you. This is a medical certainty.

 

[NoFluxes]

There is no luck involved... John is right, once you are free of depression, dp will fade. You will love yourself more, and start enjoying life once again.

 

[inferentialpolice]

"At first I didn't even respond to therapy because I was too distorted. With the medicine, I was able to respond to therapy well."

Um, so you had therapy as well as medication? If so, what kind of therapy was it, and what did you discuss in therapy?

 

[*Dreamer*]

John, it's great this worked for you, but it doesn't work for everyone. Anyone with depression, anxiety, ocd, basically any mental disorder can experience DP/DR as part of the illness. So different types of medication sometimes help the symptoms of DP/DR, or can make them worse.

One person who really understands DP/DR in my "real life" is a friend who has a psychotic disorder (not clearly diagnosed) and that disorder is in remission. She has a variety of medications, none of which are antidepressants. She also uses "every tool in the toolbox" -- therapy, exercise, diet, socializing, working, mindfulness, etc., etc. EDIT: My friend originally didn't have DP/DR until some years into her illness. Then it "switched on and off light a lightswitch" -- ultimately with a change in anit-psychotic medication it "switched off" completely. However every few months, it creeps up, and she has to focus away from it. It is not chronic and will sometimes pass on its own. Mine has been chronic for essentially 50 years. And believe me, I have tried every med, and form of therapy, exercise, lifestyle, etc. My primary diagnosis is DP DISORDER. Not DP as secondary.

There are many individuals I have known over the years who have SECONDARY DP/DR as a symptom, and others whose primary problem is DP/DR. For me that is the case. Also no medication is a cure. It is considered that mental disorders improve greatly, or are in remission.

I'll again posted the latest interesting finding on DP/DR as sort of an inverse symptom of true PTSD.
See my website about me and my experience. 56, still DP/DR ... a helluva lot of verbal abuse ... and no internet, not the same meds available to me when I was a young person. I was diagnosed immediately in 1975 with depression, anxiety and DP/DR and was told by my M.D. psychiatrist at the time that "DP is incurable." That cut me to the core. He was about 45 years old. Very respected psychiatrist.

Every case is unique to each individual.

 

[*Dreamer*]

See this thread, and another theory of DP/DR ... just scroll down to the last two posts.

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50441-hemispheric-approach-to-understand-dpdr-symptoms/

Sample .... more in the last post ....

Altered Circuits May Cause 'Out-Of-Body' Symptoms in Some People with PTSD
May 01, 2015

Margaret McKinnon, Ph.D. For some people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), symptoms go beyond the flashbacks, nightmares, sleeplessness, and tense feelings that trouble many. Up to 30 percent of people with PTSD also suffer from symptoms known as depersonalization and de-realization--that is, they experience "out-of-body" episodes or feelings that the world is not real. These disturbances to awareness and consciousness are known as dissociation.
New research now reveals that brain circuits involved in fear processing are wired differently in these people than in others diagnosed with PTSD. The findings, reported in Neuropsychopharmacology, suggest that such patients need different treatment options.

.....
Some people with depression do not even respond to medication or any treatment for depression or other mental illnesses; you really can't make a generalization from yourself to everyone else, even though it is great you are doing so much better.

 

[John77]

Hey nferentialpolice, you wanted to know at what point I responded to therapy? In my specific case, the psychiatrist had told me that I was not ready for therapy, and I needed medicine first. He wanted me to get well first. I was very sick, and that was my specific case. There is nothing wrong with trying therapy at any point, but in my case.....I really really needed medicine also. They say cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is good for this condition, because it teaches your mind how to react and think more positively and different, but it all depends on getting the right therapist that fits your personality also. Again in my specific case......I rejected an aggressive therapist, especially before getting the right medicine. I guess I am also very stubborn, but that's just me. Instead of that type of therapist, I actually enjoyed simply talking about my feelings and experiences with a more mellow therapist. Actually, she was an attractive mature woman therapist haha. I actually started doing better when I was simply going to couples therapy with my wife for other things, and this attractive therapist is someone my wife had seen for therapy a few times before we went together. At that point, I had been on the medicine for months, and it was just a great release to talk about my DP/DR episode like a thing of the past. We all laughed off the crazy stories and issues that I had when I was going through it. This is simply called psychotherapy. You see......this is how it works........your mind has to make it a thing of the past. It all becomes a faded memory, like it was all just a bad dream. This kind of talk therapy is a great release, and it helps your mind figure out where you went wrong. The bottom line is, that people need a therapist that fits them like a glove.

Hey *Dreamer*, you also replied to my post.....so here is a reply I have with some more insight.........

DP/DR was actually the primary disorder in my case. It had completely taken over my mind......I was in tremendous pain from it. Before I found this site, I was not even sure how popular DP/DR was. Nobody understood what had made me soooo sick, and so severe that I could not function. It is a very complicated disorder so in my original post for this topic I tried to simplify it just like my psychiatrist did for me, "DP/DR is a symptom" of anxiety or depression etc. BUT.........This is the complicated version I left out.....and here is the order: First the anxiety or depression or panic attack triggers it, and then we realize we are stuck in the DP/DR state of mind because we had a predisposition to this disorder already when we were growing up. THEN........when we inherit the DP/DR we may fall into severe or clinical depression or anxiety from the DP/DR.....BUT still this vicious cycle can be treated and cured by the correct medicines in treating the anxiety and depression. So the medication for this disorder is actually the same medicine that treats anxiety, depression, OCD etc. So there is a CURE. Will it work?..........It will if someone gives their mind enough time on the medicine that is working for them, and it has to be medications that ALTER brain chemistry. The patient will also have to make up his or her own mind that they are going to have more fun in the process and be happy....and enjoy the medicine. Yes, the medicine works on brain chemistry, but so do we. We can actually say "FUCK this DR/DP shit" until our mind is actually laughing at it. The brain can do all these things, while introducing a new brain chemistry. It's like falling out of love with someone who hurt you.....or you just want to forget about. Then you introduce the new "chick" in your mind....and then fuck her doggy-style until everybody is happy. Haha. It's all just a "mind-fuck". The brain can change. Chemical bliss or happiness achievement is always there for the taking. It is always available for us. We can opt in, and activate the waves. Ever feel like your DP/DR went away for a few seconds, a minute, or even a few minutes? That is the proof. A slight change in brain chemistry is the cure. So, if your brain chemistry goes through changes long enough, then DP/DR will gradually decrease until it is not part of your brain chemistry at all anymore. This is already documented. Millions of cases of brain chemistry changes, and results associated with "the cure". The cure is available to us now.

 

[nolulolu]

Hey John77 what do you mean by "Zyprexa was good for anxiety and the delusion of DP/DR" what do you mean by delusion? Did you have delusions, like psychotic features?

 

[nolulolu]

Hey John77. When you wennt thru your DP stuff have you ever had some visual disturbaces like floaters and stuff? And once you recovered were you the same person you had been before all of that horrible DP stuff hPpened?