[Guest]

Hi, I wonder if anybody may have some tips here, when I first went into this DR state as I have stated many times it came and stayed, it does not come and go, I was doing OK because the worry was that there was something wrong with me physically and people kept telling me including doctors that I was OK, so I had relief from the worry and often days where I was not worried about anything at all, the problem started when the actually DR SYMPTOM got worse, a DEEPER more INTENSE detachment from reality, because now i am not worried what is causing the symptom, and to be honest I don't think I have anything physically wrong with me, I am just finding the actual symptom really hard to live with this intense, and I have kind of started to be scared, because I really don't like feeling so detached from everything and live in constant fear of it getting worse again, because I know how much different it is from before, it is to be honest keeping me in a state of fear, I am scared this is how I will spend the rest of my life, disconnected like this or it getting worse, I mean how far can this go? total lack of consciousness? like when you are completely drunk and barely conscious!?! and remembering nothing much at all?, I am really worrying about it despite trying to just get on and keep busy, I find it so very hard to ignore because its there whenever my eyes are open, watching TV etc, sitting in front of my PC, walking around, whatever, it is just there, always, and its really making me very depressed and upset, I cant shake the fear, I feel like my brain is half asleep, my level consciousness seems to have deteriorated, anybody got any advice? anybody else relate to this ? I really need some company to be honest.

 

[terri*]

Hey SomebodyElse,

This is exactly how I felt for so very long. It is with you from the moment you open your eyes. For so long I woke every morning, opened my eyes and with total despair thought...it's still here. Now, many years later, I usually wake up and think, oh yeah, still here, get up and get going. Time helps. Being to all the doctors and finding out it's not physical helps a bit. It still can leave you with the thought...oh, I must have something and they just can't find it. And then it seems it inevitably leads to where you are now...obsession. I mean when everything you have looked at all your life looks completely "wierd" it seems only natural that one would become to obsess on the whole damn concept. Don't you agree?

I feel for you. I hope you continue to read all the post from people that have learned or are in the midst of learning to cope with it. Try to steer away from the 'when's it going away" thought and work with the how can I cope thought. It will be so much more productive for you.

Good luck and keep posting till you find a quiet place in your head.

Most sincerely,
terri

 

[kchendrix]

My therapist showed me one day that I was breathing nearly 16-18 breaths per minute...I think he said 22 breaths a minute is hyperventalation. So He told me that some of the intensity of DP/DR can be enhanced by the way we are breathing. Try to simply slow down take some deep cleansing breaths.

The next thing is that the more we check to see if we are better this moment then we were yesterday the longer we stay in this mode.

Certainly I don't want to be like this the rest of my life either, but in the mean time You need to try to stop paying attention to it. Try to pay attention to the TV show instead of the way it looks... I know it is hard, but once you stop inducing secondary fear your body/ mind can start healing. I am not over this by any means, but you need to figure a way to cope while you are getting better. I don't know if you have been to see a Psychiatrist of Psychologist but you should seek help there also.

I keep thinking to myself , I haven't always been like this, all my life, I may have had anxiety issues, but never like this.. I can get better, I can be whole again, I believe that with all my heart and that is my hope. With Therapy while I am looking at issues in my life I am also learning ways to cope. Somedays are good, somedays are bad. Somedays everything looks good, somedays they don't.. If you can imagine being blind.... you would soon learn to cope with ways to find your way around without eyesight. When things look distorted... perhaps you can think of it as a visual handicap for now, until you get to the bottom of your DP/DR....

I feel for you, because I think everyone on here goes through some very bad moments, but get some help from professionals that can give you meds if you want or need them and also teach you coping skills. Granted sometimes we all are in the black pit where it doesn't feel like we will last another second... but it passes and you will have better days... Try and get busy , get lost in a movie or a book....

We are here for you as you are for us
Peace
KC

 

[Guest]

I simply cannot believe so many people have this thing. You have a lot of company. When I had it in the 70's (the whole decade basically) I thought I was the only one in the world who had it. I'd read about the symptom in psych books and journals, but they never spoke to my particular situation --eg, someone otherwise normal who had just this. It wasn't until I found this forum that I read from real people who had the exact same thing.

What IS IT? I don't know. There's theories, but I sure haven't seen anything solid. Nobody really knows. I think what you will find a lot of here is how you can best cope with it until it goes away. And, from what I've read here, there's things you can do to lessen its severity and even speed up its departure. Read and see. The vitamin B treatment seems to work for some, as one example.

I can tell you that in my case it "became irrelevant" after having it for about 12 years. I didn't notice it anymore then. I was in therapy for 3 years when I noticed it had passed. The "therapy" was just having someone I could talk to anything about once a week. He tried to get my mind on practical things and not knaw on my problem. Maybe that did it. Also, I made a big "life change" at that time and went back to college with a whole different major and career plan than I'd had all my life. Maybe that did it.

I respect your fighting it.