My DP/DR experience...

Hello, my fellow dpselfhelpers!

You wanna know my story?

Well, do ya?!

Here it is, lol. :lol:

It all started back in February of this year. My DP/DR was brought on by panic attacks sustained from an unhealthy lifestyle. I'm a nursing student, so use your imagination as to what I might be implying... (staying up late, stress, tests, assignment/projects, clinical rotations, studying, coffee "abuse",the freshman 15, the works). Just in case it didn't register, lol. :lol:

I had suffered a panic attack just after the new year. It was around 11 pm when I was sitting at my desk finishing up an assignment during my maternity rotation when all of a sudden...BOOM! You guessed it: I suffered my first full blown panic attack. Thankfully, this occured during my week-long break and the family had a vacation planned for the next day until the end of the week. Score! I needed that vacation. It took my mind off the anxiety and was enjoyable.

But the real rollercoaster ride started at the end of the month. The anxiety I experienced before the vacation crept back up on me and I was sucked into a whirlwind of panic attacks (well, two anyway -_-). Although the number of "attacks" was low, the "anxiety" lingered. At this point, a thought popped into my mind where I questioned "whether or not my mom was my really my mom." This intrusive thought opened up the flood gates to all the other thoughts you yourself have probably experienced.

To cut a long story short, I started questioning my own reality like all of you probably did. This resulted in a suppression of my emotions and a development of depression that lasted for a while. And yes, every intrusive thought you could think of off the top of your head came up. And YES, I started thinking I was in a dream, like the decisions I was making weren't my own, yada yada yada. :wacko:

I had DP/DR for 4 months since February of this year. I am happy to say that the effects of DP/DR have worn off since the beginning of this month (June). I still have that annoying, lingering brainfog, but from what I've been able to gather from people with a similar experience on and off this forum, it should lift soon enough, given I remain on the road to recovery.

So...that's my epic saga!

What were MY coping mechanisms?

Religion (Islam) (not meant to patronize anyone, and please save the jokes, I've heard 'em all ), spending as much time with family and friends as I can, keeping busy with hobbies and work, forming new interpersonal relationships (i.e. making new friends), being as selfless as possible, but most importantly...you ready for this??

TACKLE THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF YOUR DP/DR!!!!

Mine was anxiety. So if I tackle the anxiety, I can tackle the DP/DR.

Questions, comments, concerns, need consolation? Message me or reply!

أسلام عليكم (Peace be with you, from the beginning of this rollercoaster, till the end of it )

Regards,

Ziad