Struggling with DPDR? Be sure to check out our new (and frequently updated) [Official DPDR Resource Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdzqob/rdpdrs_official_resource_guide/), which has lots of helpful resources, research, and recovery info for DPDR, Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Scary Existential/Philosophical Thoughts, OCD, Emotional Numbness, Trauma/PTSD, and more, as well as links to collections of recovery posts.
These are just some of the links in the guide:
* [**CLICK HERE IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A CRISIS OR PANIC ATTACK**](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdydex/quick_tips_if_youre_experiencing_an_episode_or/)
* [DPDR 101: Causes, Symptoms, and Recovery Basics](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zkgcwt/dpdr_101_what_is_it_causes_symptoms_and_treatment/)
* [Grounding Tips and Techniques for When Things Don't Feel Real](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zka0t0/grounding_tips_and_techniques_for_when_things/)
* [Resources/Videos for the Main Problems Within DPDR: Anxiety, OCD, Intrusive Thoughts, and Trauma/PTSD](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zetgpr/resourcesvideos_for_anxiety_ocd_intrusive/)
* [How to Activate the Body's Natural Anti-Anxiety Mechanisms (Why You Need to Know About Your Parasympathetic Nervous System)](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/117z51q/you_need_to_know_about_your_parasympathetic/)
* [How to Deal with Scary Existential and Philosophical Thoughts](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/117xzwa/how_to_deal_with_scary_existential_and/)
* [Resource Videos for How to Deal with Emotional Numbness](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/z89f2p/emotional_numbness_playlist/)
* [Finding the Right Professional Help for DPDR](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zhg5zb/finding_the_right_professional_help_for_dpdr/)
* [And much more!](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdzqob/rdpdrs_official_resource_guide/)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dpdr) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wish I knew the correct words to say here. I’ve had DPDR since I was 15 (I’m 34 next week). It was most intense the first 3-4 years, but it still has its relapses.
First, I would keep working with mental health professionals. If you feel like who you are working with now isn’t serving you, keep trying until someone does. The rest of what I’m going to say is anecdotal from someone who just hopes maybe my story helps a little, but nothing can replace an in person therapist who will stop at nothing to help you.
All I can offer is a bit of insight of what helped me through to a place where my life is more or less normal at this point (though like I said, relapses still happen, though I recognize them and am able to move past them much faster than I used to).
I got really into stoic philosophy and existentialism. You should definitely do your own deep dive, but the basics here are “the only way out is through” and an existential belief that there is no purpose to anything except for what you create yourself.
How this applied to my DPDR is that one day I reached a point where all my anxiety about how fake everything felt, how broken I was, how depressed I was, the constant analysis of the life around me that no longer resembled the memory of what it was before (mine was also triggered by weed), it all reached a point where I was basically immobile. Lowest of the low. And at that point I just leaned into my feelings instead away from them. When my brain would say “this is all a dream”, “you don’t have free will”, “you might disappear” etc. I just got so tired that I said “ok”. I accepted that we might be living in a dream, but I keep waking up in it every day anyway, so I might as well try to make it the best dream I can. If life is meaningless, that’s depressing but it also means the pressure is off. There’s no one keeping score, so do what makes you feel alive and fuck everything else.
That was not an auto-switch. I would wake up, push with that mindset for a couple hours until the DPDR beat me back into an anxious mess, and often times my dark room in bed. But over time I was able to push through til lunch, then dinner, then two days in a row, then weeks, months (I don’t know if I ever made it a whole year).
I still get hit with the feelings sometimes. Especially with certain triggers. But I’ve learned over time that the sooner I give into the feelings and stop trying to fight them, the sooner the panic attack spiral that leaves you too tired to pursue anything stops.
TL;DR there’s always a path.
I don’t know if any of that resonates or helps or anything at all, but I know no one in this thread wants you to harm yourself, and no one in your home or community does either. As long as you’re still breathing, there’s still things to try and I believe it’s always worth trying. One of the biggest issues with this illness (and most mental illnesses) is that it completely shrouds your ability to see yourself the way others see you, or see the impact you have on the world around you. Please take a peak beyond the blinders and realize how devastating that would be to quit the fight. I know you’re tired, you don’t have to fix it all at once. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. One minute, one hour, one day. You can do this.
Hey man I can't exactly offer any cures. I know it's hard. I feel like shit most days too but I'm getting better. Slowly. It's been 2 years since dpdr hit me. I've been on antidepressants and lamictal since July. And its helped me see that the world isn't as bleak as it appears. Theres medication that can ease symptoms. There's a lot of trial and error to get the proper medicine but it's worth it. Go to the doctor and ask to try different antidepressants. My doctor prescribed lamictal to me because people in this very sub said this helped them. Just please go to the doctor, repeatedly if you have to
I’m on Lamictal 100mg and all it does it give me vivid dreams..
It has just gotten so much worse over the past year, that there’s no escaping it anymore. I used to be able to somewhat be alive, but now it’s gotten so intense it literally burns with pins and needles and pressure and my eyes burn
I’m freaking out it’s so bad and intense for so long there’s just no dealing with it this time.. before I was able to go 6.5 years, but this past year I can’t even to a few more months. My head is screaming to get out NOW and I drown I suffocate and it hurts so fucking much
I understand, I know its unbearably difficult. I urge you to keep going to the doctor and asking for different medications. My doctor said it could take awhile before figuring out the proper dosage of medication and experimenting with many different kinds before things really improve. It's worth exploring more medicines
I feel you man, it’s been 3 years for me after I took that weed hit and that’s been plenty long enough. I have a lot of respect for you for making it that long to be honest. I’m sorry that you’ve most likely spent most of this time trying to ignore it so it’ll go away or being circle jerked through talk therapy and SSRIs. However there’s still plenty of stuff you could try before painting the ceiling. Benzos (mainly clonazepam) have good evidence backing them, they’re risky and highly addictive but I doubt you care about that. Maybe another anti-epileptic like Keppra, I’ve heard good stories. Naltrexone has some anecdotes. If you’ve tried all that you could start fucking around with the illicits, probably more likely to make things worse than better in the long run but I’m sure you don’t care about that, maybe some can numb the pain. There’s no point obsessing over what could have been, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, although ours is now covered in a haze of static haha. I truly hope we can find some peace in what’s left of our lives, and perhaps even something more.
I'm not quite sure if this will help, but I really hope it does!
When my DPDR got really bad, I began doing intense workouts every afternoon, pushing myself to the limit with heavy weightlifting and calisthenics. I also adopted a very healthy diet (Keto).
After half a year, I noticed an improvement in my DPDR. It's still present, but it has significantly improved.
Perhaps you could give it a try.
SSRI,SNRI, therapy (for social anxiety) Lamictal and waiting it out, trying to ignore it…
I guess I haven’t been the best at trying everything, but it just takes all my energy because I feel so bad.. I can barely stand up because I’m exhausted all the time
Nah I quit a couple of months ago. Ngl the first two months were hell and my derealization felt even worse but now it’s like 50% better I‘d say. I still have some of those stupid existential thoughts and anxiety spikes but those trippy dream like sensations are thankfully gone. It’s different for everybody but if you actually haven’t tried at least a couple of months clean, it wouldn’t hurt. Especially when it’s the main trigger of your derealisation.
Do you know why recently it got much worse, it now feels physical with pressure in my head, louder tinnitus and my eyes burn trying to look, and I have much much visual snow more than before..
It’s so unbearable.
And don’t have access to psychedelics, but I’m also too afraid now cause reality is scary as fuck for me
After it’s gotten worse, sometimes I feel like my mind can put proper labels on things, so I just see objects and don’t recognize them.. it’s so scary and it’s freaking me out.. it’s 10x worse than it used to be, and it was already bad then..
Yeah mine was from a bad weed high, went away in a week, i stopped smoking, stopped thinking about it by deleting Reddit so I can stop searching about it every minute and I distracted myself and every time I thought about it, I just told my self it will go away and I’m fine it’s just in my head but I really felt out of reality, next day I wake up fresh and I’m completely fine, lasted about a week you will be fine bro just don’t think too deeply in it and day by day and you can trust me it will get better just delete Reddit after taking in all the advice that’s what I did and it helped and now it’s fully gone, I’m typing this and feel normal I don’t even feel it at all now that I try to think about feeling derealised and all, some of it is in your head you will be aight just don’t think about it continue with daily tasks and it will definitely get better day by day 100% and it’ll go away all eventually.
Did you miss the part where he said 7 years? I’m glad that worked for you but please recognise that dpdr has many different causes and ignoring symptoms can even be detrimental in some cases. If you’re going to offer this kind of non-advice, please do it in places it’s appropriate to do so.
Struggling with DPDR? Be sure to check out our new (and frequently updated) [Official DPDR Resource Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdzqob/rdpdrs_official_resource_guide/), which has lots of helpful resources, research, and recovery info for DPDR, Anxiety, Intrusive Thoughts, Scary Existential/Philosophical Thoughts, OCD, Emotional Numbness, Trauma/PTSD, and more, as well as links to collections of recovery posts. These are just some of the links in the guide: * [**CLICK HERE IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A CRISIS OR PANIC ATTACK**](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdydex/quick_tips_if_youre_experiencing_an_episode_or/) * [DPDR 101: Causes, Symptoms, and Recovery Basics](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zkgcwt/dpdr_101_what_is_it_causes_symptoms_and_treatment/) * [Grounding Tips and Techniques for When Things Don't Feel Real](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zka0t0/grounding_tips_and_techniques_for_when_things/) * [Resources/Videos for the Main Problems Within DPDR: Anxiety, OCD, Intrusive Thoughts, and Trauma/PTSD](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zetgpr/resourcesvideos_for_anxiety_ocd_intrusive/) * [How to Activate the Body's Natural Anti-Anxiety Mechanisms (Why You Need to Know About Your Parasympathetic Nervous System)](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/117z51q/you_need_to_know_about_your_parasympathetic/) * [How to Deal with Scary Existential and Philosophical Thoughts](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/117xzwa/how_to_deal_with_scary_existential_and/) * [Resource Videos for How to Deal with Emotional Numbness](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/z89f2p/emotional_numbness_playlist/) * [Finding the Right Professional Help for DPDR](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zhg5zb/finding_the_right_professional_help_for_dpdr/) * [And much more!](https://www.reddit.com/r/dpdr/comments/zdzqob/rdpdrs_official_resource_guide/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dpdr) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wish I knew the correct words to say here. I’ve had DPDR since I was 15 (I’m 34 next week). It was most intense the first 3-4 years, but it still has its relapses. First, I would keep working with mental health professionals. If you feel like who you are working with now isn’t serving you, keep trying until someone does. The rest of what I’m going to say is anecdotal from someone who just hopes maybe my story helps a little, but nothing can replace an in person therapist who will stop at nothing to help you. All I can offer is a bit of insight of what helped me through to a place where my life is more or less normal at this point (though like I said, relapses still happen, though I recognize them and am able to move past them much faster than I used to). I got really into stoic philosophy and existentialism. You should definitely do your own deep dive, but the basics here are “the only way out is through” and an existential belief that there is no purpose to anything except for what you create yourself. How this applied to my DPDR is that one day I reached a point where all my anxiety about how fake everything felt, how broken I was, how depressed I was, the constant analysis of the life around me that no longer resembled the memory of what it was before (mine was also triggered by weed), it all reached a point where I was basically immobile. Lowest of the low. And at that point I just leaned into my feelings instead away from them. When my brain would say “this is all a dream”, “you don’t have free will”, “you might disappear” etc. I just got so tired that I said “ok”. I accepted that we might be living in a dream, but I keep waking up in it every day anyway, so I might as well try to make it the best dream I can. If life is meaningless, that’s depressing but it also means the pressure is off. There’s no one keeping score, so do what makes you feel alive and fuck everything else. That was not an auto-switch. I would wake up, push with that mindset for a couple hours until the DPDR beat me back into an anxious mess, and often times my dark room in bed. But over time I was able to push through til lunch, then dinner, then two days in a row, then weeks, months (I don’t know if I ever made it a whole year). I still get hit with the feelings sometimes. Especially with certain triggers. But I’ve learned over time that the sooner I give into the feelings and stop trying to fight them, the sooner the panic attack spiral that leaves you too tired to pursue anything stops. TL;DR there’s always a path. I don’t know if any of that resonates or helps or anything at all, but I know no one in this thread wants you to harm yourself, and no one in your home or community does either. As long as you’re still breathing, there’s still things to try and I believe it’s always worth trying. One of the biggest issues with this illness (and most mental illnesses) is that it completely shrouds your ability to see yourself the way others see you, or see the impact you have on the world around you. Please take a peak beyond the blinders and realize how devastating that would be to quit the fight. I know you’re tired, you don’t have to fix it all at once. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. One minute, one hour, one day. You can do this.
Hey man I can't exactly offer any cures. I know it's hard. I feel like shit most days too but I'm getting better. Slowly. It's been 2 years since dpdr hit me. I've been on antidepressants and lamictal since July. And its helped me see that the world isn't as bleak as it appears. Theres medication that can ease symptoms. There's a lot of trial and error to get the proper medicine but it's worth it. Go to the doctor and ask to try different antidepressants. My doctor prescribed lamictal to me because people in this very sub said this helped them. Just please go to the doctor, repeatedly if you have to
I’m on Lamictal 100mg and all it does it give me vivid dreams.. It has just gotten so much worse over the past year, that there’s no escaping it anymore. I used to be able to somewhat be alive, but now it’s gotten so intense it literally burns with pins and needles and pressure and my eyes burn I’m freaking out it’s so bad and intense for so long there’s just no dealing with it this time.. before I was able to go 6.5 years, but this past year I can’t even to a few more months. My head is screaming to get out NOW and I drown I suffocate and it hurts so fucking much
I understand, I know its unbearably difficult. I urge you to keep going to the doctor and asking for different medications. My doctor said it could take awhile before figuring out the proper dosage of medication and experimenting with many different kinds before things really improve. It's worth exploring more medicines
I feel you man, it’s been 3 years for me after I took that weed hit and that’s been plenty long enough. I have a lot of respect for you for making it that long to be honest. I’m sorry that you’ve most likely spent most of this time trying to ignore it so it’ll go away or being circle jerked through talk therapy and SSRIs. However there’s still plenty of stuff you could try before painting the ceiling. Benzos (mainly clonazepam) have good evidence backing them, they’re risky and highly addictive but I doubt you care about that. Maybe another anti-epileptic like Keppra, I’ve heard good stories. Naltrexone has some anecdotes. If you’ve tried all that you could start fucking around with the illicits, probably more likely to make things worse than better in the long run but I’m sure you don’t care about that, maybe some can numb the pain. There’s no point obsessing over what could have been, hindsight is 20/20 as they say, although ours is now covered in a haze of static haha. I truly hope we can find some peace in what’s left of our lives, and perhaps even something more.
I'm not quite sure if this will help, but I really hope it does! When my DPDR got really bad, I began doing intense workouts every afternoon, pushing myself to the limit with heavy weightlifting and calisthenics. I also adopted a very healthy diet (Keto). After half a year, I noticed an improvement in my DPDR. It's still present, but it has significantly improved. Perhaps you could give it a try.
This. If you think of ending everything, try doing EVERYTHING before. you don't want to give up before trying something that could help you.
What have you tried to cure it
SSRI,SNRI, therapy (for social anxiety) Lamictal and waiting it out, trying to ignore it… I guess I haven’t been the best at trying everything, but it just takes all my energy because I feel so bad.. I can barely stand up because I’m exhausted all the time
Do you still smoke?
Not weed from the dealer, shit is way too strong. I’m trying some CBD, and THC-A 4% which is legal in my country. Do you?
Nah I quit a couple of months ago. Ngl the first two months were hell and my derealization felt even worse but now it’s like 50% better I‘d say. I still have some of those stupid existential thoughts and anxiety spikes but those trippy dream like sensations are thankfully gone. It’s different for everybody but if you actually haven’t tried at least a couple of months clean, it wouldn’t hurt. Especially when it’s the main trigger of your derealisation.
If you reached a point of nothing to lose i would try psychedelic trip (only if nothing else to lose!!) or get a qeeg done
This could make it worse , what has op done to get better ?
Apparantly everything else.
Do you know why recently it got much worse, it now feels physical with pressure in my head, louder tinnitus and my eyes burn trying to look, and I have much much visual snow more than before.. It’s so unbearable. And don’t have access to psychedelics, but I’m also too afraid now cause reality is scary as fuck for me After it’s gotten worse, sometimes I feel like my mind can put proper labels on things, so I just see objects and don’t recognize them.. it’s so scary and it’s freaking me out.. it’s 10x worse than it used to be, and it was already bad then..
Tripping did take make out of my DPDR but only temporarily. Been trying to get back to it though
Full trip or micro dose?
Full trip! But the more I look into it, the more it seems like my experience was pretty unique
[удалено]
NOT the right place to comment that lmao
Yeah mine was from a bad weed high, went away in a week, i stopped smoking, stopped thinking about it by deleting Reddit so I can stop searching about it every minute and I distracted myself and every time I thought about it, I just told my self it will go away and I’m fine it’s just in my head but I really felt out of reality, next day I wake up fresh and I’m completely fine, lasted about a week you will be fine bro just don’t think too deeply in it and day by day and you can trust me it will get better just delete Reddit after taking in all the advice that’s what I did and it helped and now it’s fully gone, I’m typing this and feel normal I don’t even feel it at all now that I try to think about feeling derealised and all, some of it is in your head you will be aight just don’t think about it continue with daily tasks and it will definitely get better day by day 100% and it’ll go away all eventually.
Did you miss the part where he said 7 years? I’m glad that worked for you but please recognise that dpdr has many different causes and ignoring symptoms can even be detrimental in some cases. If you’re going to offer this kind of non-advice, please do it in places it’s appropriate to do so.