Hello everyone, I've joined this forum because my father has been struggling a lot with what I believe is dp/dr. He describes his main symptom as feeling foggy, cloudy, dull. He also says that nature looks colorless, not vivid. He doesn't want to go out or talk to people.
His symptoms are worse is the morning and gets better in the afternoon.
He was on Citalopram and was feeling better, but got out of them almost one year ago. Now since 6 months he's been getting worse. He got back on Citalopram and didn't help. Switched to escitalopram 1 month ago and it seems it's not working. When he takes xanax he feels better.
Does the above matches symptoms of dp/dr?
I would be grateful for any recommendations.
What has helped me the most is gradually reducing the levels of anxiety, stress, and inflammation in the body. In my experience, aerobic or aerobic-anaerobic sports really help to get rid of the excess stress (also balances hormones). For me, lifting weights didn’t really help with this, but once I started climbing things really improved. Good sleep, less sugar, and stimulants like coffee, nicotine etc. also add to the healing process. Another important (probably the most important) thing is to focus your mind on other things instead of the symptoms. It’s best not to research the condition. This is a hard thing to do, but it’s very helpful for calming your subconscious mind. When you’re consuming negative information, you might think that you can handle it but the thing is that your subconscious mind still reacts to it with fear and therefore your levels of anxiety increases.
I know that it’s hard to go out and talk to people when you are feeling this way, but it’s very important to not isolate yourself and continue living the way you should live. Don’t teach your brain to hide from the world when dpdr hits.
Another thing is that once you feel better and more in control, you should start to work on the psychological side of things. You need to identify what causes stress and anxiety in your life. I personally think that instead of avoiding the stressors, you should learn how to change your reactions to them. I think therapy could definitely help with this. Mindfulness might also work. Do not forget about the psychological part of healing! Even if you get out of the fog with the exercise, clean diet etc., and don’t change your thinking/behavior patterns, the dissociation will continue to be the primary mechanism for coping with life challenges.
Keep in mind that withdrawal from benzos like Xanax could worsen the symptoms, so he should only take it when it’s necessary.
I really hope that your father gets better. Good luck!
