# How I got through DR/DP



## sunshinesound (May 5, 2011)

hello friends,

i'm not going to go over the entire story behind how i ended up with DR, mostly because i've learnt that it's not healthy to relive it over and over again. i'd like to focus on how i got better, and not just in regards to DR but generally as a human being. DR is the worst thing i've experienced in my life but i believe that it gave me an opportunity to inspect myself and make necessary changes to my attitudes, habits and overall composition. i'm not very old, just turned 26 and i'd also like to point out that i got through it without any medication, just a few simple daily exercises that worked for me.

firstly, i had to fight to believe that i would get better no matter what. this was ultimately crucial in the long run because i think if you train your mind to believe something eventually it becomes part of your subconscious, and anxiety generally seems to have its roots somewhere in there. (i think)

okay. things that worked for me:

* the linden method visualization. i didn't buy it initially (downloaded it illegally) because i didn't think it would arrive by mail, though i eventually bought it because i felt good feelings towards it and wanted to support them. i did the visualization twice everyday and the first time it worked a few days into it i was so elated i sobbed. that was the first time i found a way out of the immensely sick feelings that dr creates and it saw me through right till the end, till i didn't need the visualization mp3 anymore. it basically gets you to relax deeply and gets you to visualize certain things that help with anxiety. it worked for me after the first few tries when i wasn't too analytical or fidgety about what i was listening to. if you've tried the linden method before and been put off by it, give it another shot for atleast 10 days, twice a day.

* the other thing that worked was singing. i know it sounds a little ridiculous but i'd leave a drone running throughout my days and nights at a nice frequency and low volume, masked by a little white noise and every time i felt intense dr/dp symptoms i'd close my eyes, somewhat relax every muscle in my body, breathe slowly and eventually sing either "om" or "who" to the drone, in tune with it. i don't know where i got the idea from but it worked wonders on me. i liked the vibrations of my voice resonating inside my chest and head. i felt *good*, which back then was a big thing. i turned it into a bit of a ritual where i'd wake up every morning, have some green tea, do the 20 minute visualization and then sing for another 20-30 minutes. i was functioning pretty much properly a month into this routine and could even smoke some pot when i wanted to work on my projects.

* a small dose of spirituality showed me that life means what you want to mean ultimately. there's no fixed schematic or blueprint to what our lives really are. my most depressing thoughts were existential in nature... i couldn't for the life of me (no pun intended) make sense of what my experiences meant and it would make me terribly anxious and depressed. i wanted to know what being born really meant, what dying really meant. ancient questions with no real answers! i'd look at people on the streets or at home and be filled with a strange shadowy feeling that i can't find the words to describe properly. anyway, i spent a lot of time looking at pictures of places, reading about meditation, sufism, art, history, culture and trying to immerse myself into what being a human is about. i focused on the things i found most beautiful about life in all its forms, especially creativity and nature. i stayed far away from the television, movies and most video games because i found that they'd disconnect me for a bit and when i switched them off i wouldn't reconnect back properly to the right plane of thought/being. sort of hard to explain, but i see it happening to "normal" people all the time after a movie, watching too much tv or even just chattering with other people incessantly, so i think it's normal for the most part, but enhanced in my case by the hypersensitivity DR brought about.

* sitting in the sun helped me tremendously. i would crave sunshine and i got a lot of it. it sounds odd but i feel that sitting in the sun for 30 minutes a day did something to my dreaming patterns. i started having very intense dreams and i think this is one of the most important anxiety healing methods that the established medical boffins have very little knowledge about. i eventually had a recurring dream that was so positive in its nature that i think my subconscious had finally started healing itself from the horrors of anxiety induced DR/DP.

i was pretty much cured of it exactly a year after it struck. a long, eventful year that saw me ditch plenty of bad habits and ways of thinking. it was incredibly tough and i'll admit i was pretty terrified most of the time. i embraced a lot of things that i had previously ignored or turned a blind eye/deaf ear to. in hindsight i think it might have made me a better person, though honestly if i were given the choice to live through it again i would probably not. the memory of being DR/DP'd isn't that faded though i might change my mind in a couple of years and do it all over again. i can't honestly say right now.

anyway. i think i'm done sharing the bulk of the things that worked for me... there's lots of tiny other things that helped of course but the things above form the core.

i really wanted to share my experiences with anyone suffering from DR in the hopes that something that worked for me might work for them as well.

if you have questions feel free to ask.

much love and positivity to all of you.


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## Clark (Jan 18, 2011)

thanks for your story, i also use the linden visualizaitons and I believe they have helped me, and I bought his method which has helped me. I love the sunshine too, I live in Vancouver BC where dont get much sun int he winter and it is improving now and getting out in the sun has helped so much for me too. Yoga has been a help too, they chant at the end and for some reason that seems to connect me to myself and others.

thanks again.


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## Deleted Account (Jul 26, 2010)

Thank you so much for posting this! I'm going to try this.


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## nuncle (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanks so much for your story. Do you mind commenting on how/if your vision returned to normal and also comment on how your vision was both during your experience and after you healed? I've had dp/dr for 9 months now and have been getting better (esp the DP...it has pretty much gone away), but the DR and the visual detachment (like a pane of glass between my eyes and what I am seeing) still exists.


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