# I guess I don't get the whole "let go" thing



## kathrynloveee (Feb 11, 2015)

I've had dp since 2011? but then again it's made my hold on memory nonexistent. I had two brothers that committed suicide over the past four years, and I'm pretty sure when I smoked weed it started, but who knows. Anyways, I recently just learned what it is and am confused when people say to "let it go and distract yourself" mostly just because I didn't know I had it and didn't pay attention to it at all really, thinking it was normal..and it didn't go away. I'm just curious on what people's take is on this. Also I just started taking L-Theanine for anxiety, so I'm hoping it helps.

Thanks so much. xxx


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## colealarse (Mar 1, 2015)

Dp can be caused by traumatic event like that and a trigger can be weed. Like for me my mother and girlfriend both tried to commit suicide over the past two years but I didn't start dp till I smoked weed.


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## horrorart (Feb 14, 2015)

Distracting myself can help if i'm having a hard time dealing with DP and always thinking of it, it's still always there but can reduce my anxiety and panic.


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## newbie101 (Nov 13, 2014)

let go...... well in my case I didn't typically "let go" until 4-5 months into my journey... I was pushing the whole "letting go thing". I literally just one night said fuck this shit... and that was the first night I felt good. no anxiety... no fear.... that's when my recovery truly started. Its been a long ride for me  But I pushed through and im Stronger then ever!! Anyone can get there girl, please don't ever give up


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2015)

kathrynloveee said:


> I've had dp since 2011? but then again it's made my hold on memory nonexistent. I had two brothers that committed suicide over the past four years, and I'm pretty sure when I smoked weed it started, but who knows. Anyways, I recently just learned what it is and am confused when people say to "let it go and distract yourself" mostly just because I didn't know I had it and didn't pay attention to it at all really, thinking it was normal..and it didn't go away. I'm just curious on what people's take is on this. Also I just started taking L-Theanine for anxiety, so I'm hoping it helps.
> 
> Thanks so much. xxx


Gosh that's terrible about your 2 brothers. So sorry to hear about that. That's a lot to cope with obviously.

'Letting go' is a bit of a bandaid solution really. Same with distraction. They both help to a degree but in the long run if dpd is caused by significant trauma, the trauma itself needs to be processed. The effects of trauma on the body and mind don't just go away if you choose to stop thinking about them.

One of the big problems with people who're dissociative is, trauma gets 'stored away' and doesn't get processed at all. It sits inside of us and slowly eats away at us. The horrible feelings don't go, they sit there in our subconscious and we don't even realise. It affects our every day living and can make us depressed, anxious, fearful and downright miserable - and we don't even realise. As you said Kathyrn, it feels normal b/c we're so used to that way of being, but it's not typical, that's not the way 'normal' people experience the world.

All people experience some degree of trauma in their lives and the majority of people have the opportunity to express their feelings and process the events, and move through it so it looses it's 'sting'. Dissociative people don't get that opportunity - we push away the memories and feelings and 'box them away' before we have the opportunity to process it.

It IS possible to reverse this way of being though. After all, the ability to dissociate events and memories is a learnt thing in the first place, there's no reason why it can't be reversed.

Take care

Zed


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## BadVoodoo (Dec 23, 2014)

I didn't read the other comments in detail but newbie101 is right. I have had it for 6 years and continued to pretend like it didn't exist, however in doing this I was still thinking every third thought or so "will this ever go away, will I ever be normal again" to the point the thought pattern was an endless loop. I was pretty stable with it for a about 5 years and was able to see past DP and enjoy life but one day it just shifted like a ton of bricks and catapulted me into the darkest place I have ever been in. The only way out of it for me at least was to force the bad thoughts to manifest themselves. While you are in it's grip you have the thoughts but you try to supress them and pretend like they don't exist. During this time for me it was the same mental strain for me as running ten miles and telling your self over and over not to quit. Accept It would never end, so one night i said screw it and bring it on and I just let them flow freely. Yes it was terrifying but eventually they start to go away because you just get bored of them. The past two or three days have actually been pretty good for me, I still have DP but I'm in a much better state than I was before and I feel like I might be finally crawling out of the deep hole I was in. That's another thing is you don't really know how much it's affecting you I till you hit rock bottem. For me hitting rock bottem was a terrible but necessary experience for me to start recovering as strange as it sounds. Hang there it gets better! I understand my method my seem unconventional to other people but it seems to be working for me. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask i check daily.


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## BadVoodoo (Dec 23, 2014)

I should take a writing class. My paragraphing and punctuation is terrible haha!


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## energy92 (Jul 29, 2014)

kathrynloveee said:


> I've had dp since 2011? but then again it's made my hold on memory nonexistent. I had two brothers that committed suicide over the past four years, and I'm pretty sure when I smoked weed it started, but who knows. Anyways, I recently just learned what it is and am confused when people say to "let it go and distract yourself" mostly just because I didn't know I had it and didn't pay attention to it at all really, thinking it was normal..and it didn't go away. I'm just curious on what people's take is on this. Also I just started taking L-Theanine for anxiety, so I'm hoping it helps.
> 
> Thanks so much. xxx


if you want to "let go" embrace your "FEAR" that keeps on triggering your dp/dr then your conciousness would start shifting towards recovery and ignore your surroundings and what they would think of you if you did certain things


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