# How to recover from DP



## shannoncolunga (Jan 7, 2009)

Hi everyone, I have had dp for 12 years. It first started when I tried marijuana for the second time. I have not had one moment of feeling real. I feel so bad right now and I am looking for some releif. I have been put on different kinds of medications for depression and anxiety. I am now on Cymbalta 30mgs. I have been taking it for one year now. I still feel really weird. I have four children and no husband. I need some help. I want to feel normal so I can spend some quality time with my children. I have tried to spend some quality time with them but when I do, I get irritated and that makes me hate myself. If anyone has any kind of information that might help me, please let me know. I would rather die than feel this way for the rest of my life. Please help!!


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## invisible.ink (Feb 2, 2007)

Hi. I'm sorry you have to be here.
I had the same hopes when I first came to this site...that I would peruse the forums and find some miracle cure for what I was feeling. Unfortunately there isn't one. Different things work for different people but there is no cure all. I'd recommend seeing a psychiatrist for starters.
I have 2 kids so I know how hard it can be to try to care for children while DP'ed. Do you have some sort of support system? Close friends, family? If so, explaining your condition to them and asking for help could lift some of the burden off of your shoulders.
I'm sorry that I have no concrete advice.


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## Guamboy (Jan 8, 2009)

Hello! I am a 33 year old single father who is also suffering from DP for 13 years now. I know it's really hard, especially when you had it for such a long time, it seems like there's no way out. Mine started when I smoked pot one time during college and ended up in the hospital. I think it was some kind of reaction....I ended up getting a really bad Anxiety attack as my heart felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour. Since then i just never felt like my old self. I also ended up Developing Chronic Depression and chronic fatigue. It was so severe that I started getting physical pains everywhere. Doctors always referred me to a mental institution and took prescriptions, but they did nothing. I also found out the dagers these prescriptions can do to you so now I fear taking them. I've had many broken relationships and I have isolated myself with family and friends. My whole life was going on a downward spiral. Until two years ago.

I have done so much research the past 13 years, and I have found the one and only thing that can cure me without the need of drugs. I found out that most people with these "mind related" symptoms were those who were creative, sensitive, and intelligent ones. The problem increases because of emotions and feeling that start in our minds. In other words it is "YOU" that created it. In our modern Society, we all tend ot look outside of ourselves. We look for "labels" and a pill that we can just take to make it go away even for an hour; and we talk to people like our close friends and family and we just keep searching and searching and looking around for someone to tell us "YES, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND YOU.... AND THIS IS THE MAGIC PILL FOR IT" ...then all they say is it's in your head. You become even more frustrated and by the time I was done searching, I ended up developing more disorders like ANXIETY and DEPRESSION and CHRONIC FATIGUE. Do you see the patern? We humans, tend to exclude to find anything within ourselves because we are comfort seeking beings. The only comfort you're going to get is the comfort that is from within you, not from others especially those who never have experienced it. That is how I had it for such a long time!

I found out that there are many who are sensitive to drugs, and when I took it, it triggered Anxiety. What makes the anxiety worse is "FEAR". Yes, Fear is what fuels anxiety and the more you think about "what's wrong with me?" or "what if" questions, like "what if I will go crazy" or "what if I will never be normal"..etc. etc. The longer it will be for you to heal. So my suggestion to someone who experience even a slight difference of their well being, just "KNOW" that there is something wrong....and don't freak out...don't spend hours and hours of time trying to find a "LABEL" for yourself and what's going on with you, like "do I have DP or am I schitzophrenic?"....because that will trigger FEAR and you will get WORSE! Do not expect ANYONE to understand you, because you have to ACCEPT that ther is a problem, and that YOU created it....and that YOU....can heal it....using nature's tool....your MIND. Do you ever question yourself why in the animal kingdom, they heal alot faster and are more independant? It's because they dont have "what if" thinking and don't find "LABELS" for themselves...they already know there's something wrong and use common sense for healing. Yes, they have more common sense than we do.

I am now 85% cured. I do not have PANIC ATTACKS ANYMORE for the past two years. I have not been DEPRESSED for the past two years....I still have a bit of lightheadedness, but that's it! I am living a normal life with my beautiful daughter and I can't wait for my full recovery!

Suggestions for Parents: Your mind is probably not how it used to work, so the very first thing you should do is be more organized. Get a Calendar, Sit down when you have time (and don't tell me you don't have time because if you have time to take a shit, you should have time to sit and think)....and write down a schedule for you... There is a time for everything. For example, I put down in my calendar that every First of the month will be "WORRY DAY". This will be the day I will worry about the bills, when would it Be paid off.....what days I can spend with the whole family...etc. etc. All you will do this day is to WORRY about as much as you can until you have no more to worry about. This way, everytime you want to worry and it's not the 1st of the month, you write it down in your calendar on WORRY DAY, that this is what i will worry about. This will force you to not worry the whole month except for WORRY DAY. Why? because the more organized you are, the less stressed out you are.

ACCEPT that there is something wrong and it is just a phase. Truthfully it is supposed to be temporary, but our mind keeps feeding itself negative thoughts that it slows down the healing process. Those Detatchment from relity feeling (whatever you want to call it) is your brain's way of protecting itself. It is on vacation mode for healing. Would you feed your children candy every day of their lives? Ofcourse not! In the same mannery don't feed your brain negative thoughts if you want a faster recovery! You are the RULER of your mind! When you get those negative thoughts and feelings.....try and catch yourself and convert those negative thoughts immidiately to positive ones....

If you feel like you are about to have an anxiety attack...ACCEPT IT IN....then breathe in for about four seconds...then breathe out very slowly....trying to do it without a sound..for 6 seconds.... doing this will slow down your heartbeat. keep doing it until you feel it is gone.

Spend one day out of the week where you can spend time with "others". Like friends...Family, etc. and when you are with them, don't talk too much about your problems as this will start to bring in the negative thoughts again... try to block out the negative thoughts. IF your thoughts say " I don't like the weather, I don't want to go outside, I feel lazy." .....then you say "oh no you don't..., you're not going to ruin my day and slow down my healing process! I WILL GET WELL".

Stay away from sweets, caffeene and alcohol. drink 8 glasses of water a day and sleep 8 hours a day.

Think about what matters to children. How they think. Do you think they have a track of time. No.. all they want to do is things that make them happy and fun! Be a kid at least once a week! Do something fun and laugh. Play like a child. Put it in your calendar.

Well that's all for now... gud luck!


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## eddy1987 (Dec 13, 2008)

hi shannon......you tried cannabis once and you have had dp for 12 years...
dp can last forever if you are going to keep in the cycle of checking in and worrying about it.
you tried cannabis once...cannabis wears off after a few hours and probly out of your system after a few days,.

looks like you had a bad reaction to the cannabis ...i dont know your story but it could have been a panic attack or just the sensory alteration which freaked you out...therefore the fear of it caused you to focus on it and make a habit out of it.

dp is just a habit and you need to make changes to break the habit
firslty accept its there and that it will take some time adjust.
pay it no attention....its not harmful and not serious it cannot harm you....(maybe emotionally but thats up to you to let it)
you havent changed ..the world around you hasnt changed its just you perception of things that is altered think of it as you mind slowing you down to relax.
try and excercise as this can make you feel better 
eat welll
sleep well
watch a bit of tv to take your mind off it
or even read a book
just do things that you would normally do in your day to day life and ignore the dp just let it be there
and once the habit of watching yourself breaks you will start seeing improvements.


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