[jen]

i'm still reeling from the shock of my diagnosis this past weekend. although, when i think about it, so much is coming together... i'm just glad 'depersonalization' has a name. yesterday though, i had a really severe episode when, armed with this knowledge, began to wonder if it didn't inflitrate EVERY ASPECT OF MYSELF AND MY DAILY EXISTENCE... obviously this is the classic dp trap (now i'm learning.)

but consider this. i have always been passionate about philosophy. i even plan on getting my phd and becoming a professor and all that. it's the only thing i've really stuck to in my identity. and now, reading about dp, and reading some of your thoughts, could it be that i'm finding out why... am i my disease?

is there a philosopher in me... or is it just my dp...?

great. here comes another episode.

 

[Sojourner]

Did they also tell you that "depersonalization" can be a completely normal experience? I daresay that those who do philosophy are quite familiar with it.

The problem seems to be when it's foisted on people without their voluntarily seeking out a transcendent experience. Unsought, it's downright terrifying, but in my opinion, it is part of anxiety/panic, even if we are not aware that we have either.

You will probably make an excellent professor when you are able to choose the DP for the insights it brings, rather than be in it unwillingly.

Are you not able to take medicine to lessen the effects of DP? When I feel even the start of a panic attack -- I guess you could call it the first stroke of things changing to the DP viewpoint, well before the fear of imminent death strikes me -- I take a .5 mg Ativan. No panic and no DP. I've never taken more than one in the evening, so I'm not afraid of getting addicted.

Have you asked for something? The sooner you deal with what's bothering you -- your fantasies, whatever else -- the sooner you can be free of DP naturally.

In the end, yes, I think DP will definitely help you in a career in philosophy -- your memory of it, that is, and your ability to dip into it when and where you want to!

 

[enngirl5]

One of the reasons I got out of psychology (I was majoring in it for a brief time) was because I couldn't deal with thinking about mental illnesses 24/7. Even though I do anyway. So I think it's really cool that you have the courage to stick with what you want to do. Eventually you will be dp free and will have your degree and end up being an awesome professor. Take care.

 

[Guest]

While dp/dr indeed facilitates the transcendence of thought as well as the breaking of traditional "axioms," it can be, as you stated earlier, a trap. One can spiral down beyond nihilism into a dark abyss that denies all existence, all thought. When you reach that point, as I did (after reading Nietzsche, too, weird, huh? You'd think the opposite would be true. It was "Der Wille Zur Macht," btw), that is when you start to feel yourself dissolving atom by atom into that cold, excruciating void. One never does quite recover from that harrowing experience, so please be careful.
I wish you success in your bid to procure a PhD!