# How do most people recover?



## whatislife (Aug 19, 2019)

I've read quite a few recovery stories but would like an opinion from someone who has dug a little deeper than I have. How have most people recovered from this disorder? It seems like the most common answer is to not think about it and engage with life as much as possible. I've heard one person say he did intense cardio (3 hours a day for a week) and that cured him. Someone else said they cured themselves by fasting for a week straight. Can anyone recover if they distract themselves and engage with life despite how challenging it can be at times? How do you convince your brain that there's no threat and it can chill out?


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## Chiara699 (Aug 8, 2018)

Hi! 
I can tell you from my own experience that distraction only works up to a certain point.
I had my first episode when I was 16, it lasted 7 months and I'm not sure how I got out of that one to be honest, it was quite mild I think. 
My second episode was mild as well and it lasted only a month. 
My third episode was by far the worst. I got to the point of not being able to put two words that made sense together. That time it lasted 7 months again but I decided to treat it with medication and therapy. 
In hindsight I think therapy is good to learn how to cope and after you're well it can help with prevention, but in my experience it wasn't really a 'cure'.
Medication, on the other hand, helped me immensely to make my severe dp become so mild that I could actually forget about it. It's like when you have very bad DP you feel kinda 2D, I could only feel a void and/or anxiety and couldn't really be bothered with anything. Medication (zyprexa in particular but also Cipralex to some degree) helped me feel 3D again and in a month and half DP disappeared after five months of pure HELL. I wasn't the same as before, my perception of reality changed, but I felt whole again and that was super fine with me.

I relapsed a couple of weeks ago and I was already feeling hopeless about the months of pain I was gonna feel, but I've been taking zyprexa and Cipralex again and I already feel 70-75% better. It's just crazy how much this medication helps me. I don't know if it's a placebo effect but honestly I don't care. I would give a shot to an atypical antipsychotic+ SSRI, many people responded well.

I wish you good luck


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## Chiara699 (Aug 8, 2018)

Also, if you go the medication route just remember it’s trial and error. The first 3/4 SSRIs I tried actually made my DP worse, but once you find the ones that work for you you’re good to go.


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## Pablopizah (Aug 29, 2019)

You just try it over and over and over again even if that means you do it 1000 times, but its not the same doing it , and doing it with a healthy mindset, where you dont let your thoughts take control of situations , you have to be more stuborn than your anxiety and fear, if medication helps fone but you will see alot of stories with bo medication, medication can help lots of people as a bandaid for anxiety, but for others might not, it only works because it calms the anxious state , but you can do it also using this technique of beijg more stubborn, its a hard non linear process , when yoi do you will see some days when you enjoy alot of what your doing for at least 1 hour this must show you its possible, just push it everyday, its ok if you hve a bad day and you just feel like laying down, but continue and continue to engage and living life not obssesing


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## whatislife (Aug 19, 2019)

What SSRI's worked for you and which ones didn't? Thanks



Chiara699 said:


> Also, if you go the medication route just remember it's trial and error. The first 3/4 SSRIs I tried actually made my DP worse, but once you find the ones that work for you you're good to go.


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## Chiara699 (Aug 8, 2018)

tpbrandon said:


> So after these episodes the symptoms went away and you felt back to your normal self?


Yes absolutely. I was even able to enjoy the little things more. I still felt weird from time to time especially at night but I was fine 90% of the time (of course with fine I don't mean I was always happy, just that I had normal mood fluctuations... with DP I didn't have a mood at all). Everything slowly came back to normal without me even realizing it.


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## Chiara699 (Aug 8, 2018)

whatislife said:


> What SSRI's worked for you and which ones didn't? Thanks


I'll make a list of all the meds I tried and how I reacted to them:

-daparox: sent my anxiety over the roof for the first couple of weeks but had no effect afterwards

-prozac: no effect

-anafranil: side effects were so bad I ended up in the hospital, I kept having panic attacks

-cipralex/citalopram: I think this one slightly helped in combination with zyprexa. I was on it alone for a couple of months but I didn't see many results.


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## fieldsmatt31 (Dec 16, 2009)

I see it like this. DP is a physiological reaction to stress overload. It's like a spiritual rash. That's how it seems to me.

When you relax enough and become stable enough psychologically and emotionally, it simply goes away.

How to do that? Dieting, exercise, relaxing, meditation, doing fun activities that you enjoy, etc.


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

whatislife said:


> I've read quite a few recovery stories but would like an opinion from someone who has dug a little deeper than I have. How have most people recovered from this disorder? It seems like the most common answer is to not think about it and engage with life as much as possible. I've heard one person say he did intense cardio (3 hours a day for a week) and that cured him. Someone else said they cured themselves by fasting for a week straight. Can anyone recover if they distract themselves and engage with life despite how challenging it can be at times? How do you convince your brain that there's no threat and it can chill out?


If anybody on here knew the answer to that question none of us would be stuck were we are....

Its complete trial and error unfortunately....There is no one size fits all treatment for DP...Its drastically under researched sadly...And at best most doctors, therapists and shrinks are guessing as to how to treat it...

BUT if you find something that works my advice is to stick with it.......Even if its a medicine....If its not broken dont fix it is my advice when it comes to DP...

The only medicne I would NOT suggest to start relying on is any of the Benzos....They are a potential addiction disaster waiting to happen and you dont want to end up with that on top of DP...

The other thing I suggest is if you are taking illicit drugs or drinking alcohol you need to stop....NOW!!!


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## eddy1886 (Oct 11, 2012)

Chiara699 said:


> Hi!
> I can tell you from my own experience that distraction only works up to a certain point.
> I had my first episode when I was 16, it lasted 7 months and I'm not sure how I got out of that one to be honest, it was quite mild I think.
> My second episode was mild as well and it lasted only a month.
> ...


This has been exactly my experience with this med combo....Its not a placebo effect Chiara699...I can guarantee you that if you stopped the meds again you would be ill within a few days.....Low dose Atypical gave me my life back...An SSRI on top of that acts as a complimentary mood enhancer...

BUT in my experience its the Atypical that does all the hard work NOT the SSRI...

Which in turn has led me to believe over the years that when it comes to DP its Dopamine regulation that needs to be targetted not Serotonin levels...


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## fieldsmatt31 (Dec 16, 2009)

The best way I can explain how I recovered from DP is like this:

I basically accepted myself and my condition as I was and carried on with my life as I would had I not had a mental illness or as if I were an ordinary human being who simply needed to develop myself to become stronger and healthier. And so I made exercise routines for myself, I did things to decrease anxiety and fear, I learned different meditations for perspective, relaxation, and for relieving tension and stress. I learned yoga and stretching, I jogged a lot, I ate healthy food, I avoided unhealthy things like cigs, drugs, negative people, etc, I traveled, I went to college, and I did things that I enjoyed all in an effort to improve my physical and mental health which caused me to become stronger and healthier and more capable to navigate in life peacefully and confidently and the DP just went away.

I read many recovery stories of people who pretty much say the same thing. It seems to me that the best way to remedy DP is, acceptance, self improvement, lifestyle changes, and healthy living. Please visit youtube and watch recovery stories and advice from people who have recovered. Ill leave a couple of links for example


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