# Who here has absolutely no thought process or a blank mind?



## Walkingzombie

I was wondering who else on this forum has a blank mind on a daily basis. I know I have talked to a few members of the forum that suffer from this, but I wanted to address the forum as a whole and see what type of response I get back. I know my blank mind is horrible. It's by far my worst symptom of DP. I was just curious to see who else lacks a normal thought process. Thank you!


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## Parachutes333

My mind isn't sharp anymore... I have brain fog... My memory seems impaired, or maybe It's mind over matter. I don't know. Can anyone relate? Also I have visual disturbances. Visual snow. Does anyone have this?


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## baking_pineapple

Yup, blank, blank, blank, blank on a daily basis. Try to fill it up with words, sentences, and ideas but they do little to hide the vaccum benath.


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## Reborn

This seems to be a pretty common symptom of DP. I've had the blank mind thing for a couple of months now, once in a blue moon it will go away for a few hours though. It definitely makes socializing and school really hard for me.

My theory is that since DP is mainly a mechanism that disconnects you from "harmful" things that the thought process is also affected since negative and fearful thinking is part of what may have caused DP and/or can make it worse.


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## Walkingzombie

School and socializing are also impossible tasks for me. I sit in class trying to learn and listen but everything I hear goes in one ear and out the other. There's no absorbing of material. On a daily basis I probably only say 100 words and just about all 100 are ok, I know, and yup. I simply don't have the thought process to be able to respond in a normal fashion. It makes me feel so stupid. What job can a person with no thought process possibly work? It makes the future seem very bleak.


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## Guest

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/26397-thought-process-symptoms/


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## chrisxyz

Well, I have it, and I think it's the worst symptom of mine. Someone asked if we have visual snow too.. Well.. I do!

Peace.


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## Surfingisfun001

I have no thought processes also. By far the most difficult symptom. Makes daily functioning near impossible.

Before DP I would map out my day in my head, I could think, "OK today I'm going to run to the market, then get gas, make a phone call before heading to work, tell my boss I need monday off, say hi to Sean, cook steak for dinner, etc.

With DP none of that is possible. I can't map out anything in my head, nor can I visualize anything in my mind. The concept of time is non existent.

The best analogy I've come across to describe this is if the brain were a computer, typically capable of processing all kinds of information, the blank mind is like the computer in "safe mode". The screen is still on, the person "me" is still aware and alive but none of the functions work. Typing on the keypad and clicking the mouse is pointless. In the same sense when trying to think anything, visualize something, or form concepts in the mind it just doesn't happen.

It's difficult to explain this to people because the response I get is... "how are you able to describe this then?"


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## Walkingzombie

surfingisfun001 said:


> I have no thought processes also. By far the most difficult symptom. Makes daily functioning near impossible.
> 
> Before DP I would map out my day in my head, I could think, "OK today I'm going to run to the market, then get gas, make a phone call before heading to work, tell my boss I need monday off, say hi to Sean, cook steak for dinner, etc.
> 
> With DP none of that is possible. I can't map out anything in my head, nor can I visualize anything in my mind. The concept of time is non existent.
> 
> The best analogy I've come across to describe this is if the brain were a computer, typically capable of processing all kinds of information, the blank mind is like the computer in "safe mode". The screen is still on, the person "me" is still aware and alive but none of the functions work. Typing on the keypad and clicking the mouse is pointless. In the same sense when trying to think anything, visualize something, or form concepts in the mind it just doesn't happen.
> 
> It's difficult to explain this to people because the response I get is... "how are you able to describe this then?"


People have a hard time understanding the fact that I don't have a thought process because it's so human and natural to existence. Everyone has a thought process. People don't simply not have them. It makes daily functioning near impossible. I'm currently working a job right now and I walk around the office blank minded and not talking because of it. I have extreme Social Anxiety and if I only had extremely social anxiety and not a blank mind I would be able to accept it, but having a blank mind makes my SA so much worse. I'm only 18, but I know that I can't work a real job later down the road because of it.


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## lil P nut

i have this too. Just telling my dad tonight that i cant think!...he's like "you can too think." ughhh, it just doesn't make sense to people w/out dp. Ive been doing some chakra clearing and right/left brain excersises on youtube and they've helped a little.


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## InfiniteDivine

This is also one of my symptoms. Just as many people have noted above, it's easily one of the most difficult symptoms to deal with. What I always find interesting about this symptom is that people who think are always saying they wish they could just shut their mind off. People talk about all their stress coming from their uncontrollable mind. I have practiced Zen Buddhism for a few years and many people actually try to get this "clear" mind where they are only reflecting the present moment and nothing else. However, I think the difference with DP is that the usefullness of the mind is also completely wiped away. You can't think of past or present even if you want to. You can't come up with things to say in conversation, your memory is completely gone, and you are stuck in the same monotonous moment day in and day out. It's a horrible feeling for sure. The mind just seems blank, dull, foggy, stuck, and overall just useless. It feels horrible.


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## stasha

Walkingzombie said:


> I was wondering who else on this forum has a blank mind on a daily basis. I know I have talked to a few members of the forum that suffer from this, but I wanted to address the forum as a whole and see what type of response I get back. I know my blank mind is horrible. It's by far my worst symptom of DP. I was just curious to see who else lacks a normal thought process. Thank you!


Yup ! blank mind on a daily basis... i really space out even when talking to people. But i think its different from brain fog which for me is more like my thoughts are all mixed up & sort of distant, a blank mind for me means no thoughts whatsoever..


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## stasha

InfiniteDivine said:


> This is also one of my symptoms. Just as many people have noted above, it's easily one of the most difficult symptoms to deal with. What I always find interesting about this symptom is that people who think are always saying they wish they could just shut their mind off. People talk about all their stress coming from their uncontrollable mind. I have practiced Zen Buddhism for a few years and many people actually try to get this "clear" mind where they are only reflecting the present moment and nothing else. However, I think the difference with DP is that the usefullness of the mind is also completely wiped away. You can't think of past or present even if you want to. You can't come up with things to say in conversation, your memory is completely gone, and you are stuck in the same monotonous moment day in and day out. It's a horrible feeling for sure. The mind just seems blank, dull, foggy, stuck, and overall just useless. It feels horrible.


well written-- and too true


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## FacelessJane

So, has anyone found anything to help with the brain fog? Supplements? Vitamins? Exercise/diet?

Going on three years here with brain fog and sick of being hopeless... heh


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## Walkingzombie

I've kinda accepted this perpetual state of blankness. I'm starting CBT, but truthfully don't think it'll be able to help. I'm mostly doing it for my patents because they don't really understand DP and how it can last for years. It's really a bitch, but what can we really do about the shitty hand that we were dealt? If there's one thing I've learned is that you can either fight it or accept it, but both ways you still have it.


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## thatguy

I suffer from this 24 fucking 7.

I wake up, no thoughts. I try to think, no thoughts, i try to talk, no thoughts.

But when i do talk its always about my perspective, i'm not even aware of anyone else living in this world we me, I have no percption of other peoples persepctive. It makes me feel anxious and selfish.

I try to string together a thought process, but have no internal dialouge. it's petrifying. Memorys shot, I can't feel emotions, and when I speak its often negative or defensive.

I'd rather having racing thoughts than non at all.

i also suffer from visual disturbances, it seems like other peoples eyes hav this life about them, this gentle slow, yet "alive" movement to them, mine are stuck in place, and when i do move them its very abrupt and unrelaxed looking/feeling.

Sometimes it feels like I have no eyes.

I also feel like im very dull, and feel like im losing all the knowledge ive ever gained, and it seems like im not evolivng as a person, just getting more and more immature with each day because its the only way I know how to converse with m friends, when I do hang wiht them.

Even when i drink, I have this brain dead feeling, this emptiness, and have no life in me, so its hard to blame anxiety because its not just that.

Its like my brains shut down its ability to process information.

BLANK


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## mattv30

I had the blank mind for five months, I was so frustrated with it that I didn't know what to do. Ironically, I started to focus on some other stupid symptom of DP and my mind came back on without me even realizing it. It was kind of weird, I was focused on something else which somehow repaired my mind a little bit. Now, I can think a little more clearly then I used to. I can remember things about my past and what I did yesterday and so forth, when a month ago I could barely function on a daily basis. What seemed to help me was not to focus on any particular symptom, just let it be there and get on with the day. Now, DP seems to be in the back of my mind instead of in the forefront. It went from feeling like a 200 pound gorilla on my back to a monkey jumping up and down wanting me to notice it. Yesterday, I had a conversation with my dad about a movie I watched four years ago and described to him in detail about what happened, I couldn't even do that a month ago. So, it gets better. For me, I just stopped focusing on particular symptoms and moved on and it has gotten better. I'm not completely cured, but I feel a lot better then what I did.


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## Walkingzombie

mattv30 said:


> I had the blank mind for five months, I was so frustrated with it that I didn't know what to do. Ironically, I started to focus on some other stupid symptom of DP and my mind came back on without me even realizing it. It was kind of weird, I was focused on something else which somehow repaired my mind a little bit. Now, I can think a little more clearly then I used to. I can remember things about my past and what I did yesterday and so forth, when a month ago I could barely function on a daily basis. What seemed to help me was not to focus on any particular symptom, just let it be there and get on with the day. Now, DP seems to be in the back of my mind instead of in the forefront. It went from feeling like a 200 pound gorilla on my back to a monkey jumping up and down wanting me to notice it. Yesterday, I had a conversation with my dad about a movie I watched four years ago and described to him in detail about what happened, I couldn't even do that a month ago. So, it gets better. For me, I just stopped focusing on particular symptoms and moved on and it has gotten better. I'm not completely cured, but I feel a lot better then what I did.


That's awesome to hear you're overcoming it! I wish I could say the same for myself. It's been a year since my blank mind started and I really can't imagine it changing any time soon. I haven't spoken first in months. It's beyond fucking frustrating to not be able to talk to any of your family or friends. It's like what's the point of having family and friends when you can't even connect with any of them on any level.


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## mattv30

walkingzombie....I wanted to tell you a website that helped me tremendously with it, it's called anxietynomore. google it, and look at all the past blogs and people's replies. What you will find is people with the exact same blank mind symptom that did overcome it. My mind is working better, but it's kind of weird because when it came back online all kind of weird distorted nonsense popped into my mind and I focused on that for like two weeks. It was like my mind was waking up from a coma and all kinds of weird stuff popped up. But, when I just accepted that it would be part of me for the time being and that I will be back to normal eventually, it doesn't happen nearly as frequently. I know you're frustrated with it, but trust me, it can and does get better. You have to, as hard as it is, accept for the time being you have this symptom and do your best to concentrate on something else. I was like you, I couldn't even hold a conversation with anyone because I had no idea what to say because I couldn't think of anything, at all. Now, I can talk naturally and my brain is clearer, it isn't completely clear, but it's working enough for me to function and move on. Read that website I gave you and buy that book by paul, he went through the same thing and is completely normal again, as well as a ton of other people that post on there. You have to start to focus on the positive and have faith in yourself, you will get through this, as I am getting through it too.


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## mattv30

You also said that you can't imagine yourself getting better, that's part of the problem. I was the same way. As long as you keep that attitude you will keep feeling this way. You have to change your attitude through understanding why you have it in the first place. I was like that, I felt like I was gonna be stuck like this forever, until I wised up and realized that I am not and if I am, so what? I might as well just get on with it. That attitude gave my mind a rest and a break that it needed.


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## Nordmaster

I feel the same, everyday its completely calm in my head, there's nothing going on. I'm also having emotional numbness, I can't feel any feeling at all and my memory is so bad. Anyone of you recovered from that? Is there anything I can do against it? I tried all the advices like socializing, doing sport, getting busy but I'm stuck on that moment for over 9 months. I don't have the feeling its getting better.


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## alaskashill

Hi all, I have been seeing something similar show itself in my life in the past 4/5 months. Suddenly my mind no longer allowed me access to my thoughts, so it is nothing but blank up there. My memory is shot, which isn't totally new but has gotten worse with this. I still feel emotions. And there has been drastic visual changes as well. The reason I'm writing is because I saw a question/comment on visual changes and this is the first place I have seen the two things mentioned together. Why did you ask about visual changes? I'm new to looking into this and have looked a bit into dP/DR and things like that. My therapist doesn't know how to help me. Should I be looking to see a neurologist? Please and thank you. I'm not sure I should even be worried. It doesn't bother me really. My vision is like I'm high, on pot or a little bit of mushrooms. It makes things sharper , visual acuity, but it also looks/feels/seems a lot like a dream, a lot less solid than ever before. I'm not sure there's more to it, but it was weird to me because my visual perception and my mind drastically changed from what I've been used to my whole life. I don't mind a blank mind, its kind of nice actually. But please let me know what you think. I really appreciate it, this is my first time reaching out.


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## themindless

I can completely relate to this, I've been dealing it for longer than I can remember.

I actually made a video about it


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## empty

Worst symptom by far.


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## Ningen

empty said:


> Worst symptom by far.


No question.


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## Kiwi89

I have the same blank mind thing. I feel like I can have a conversation for about 10 minutes and then my brain just "dies" and It's very difficult to keep talking or process whatever the person that's talking to me is saying. Does anyone else relate with this? The blank mind thing isn't so bad when I'm home relaxing and playing video games, it's really REALLY bad in terms of socializing. I've been isolating myself whenever I can for four years now. I used to make the effort to be social and keep up with friends but I just burned out so quickly and can't do it...


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## MichelleH

RIP John Swink Fite - 3/30/93 to 8/17/17 AKA ImCharlieGordon - I'm deeply saddened to find out that John had committed suicide back in August. He had posted on this forum with the username "themindless." He was also the only one with a YouTube video on the Blank Mind. This was his YouTube Video he created back in May 2016:






I felt like I could really relate to him and believed that we could share some tips on how to relieve our symptoms. I tried to send him emails numerous times. I had my fingers crossed that he would eventually respond back to me. I guess now I know that I will never get to speak to him. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Originally, I found out about the sad news on his mom's Facebook page. I feel that we should always be open about our mental health concerns and never let the stigma get in our way of getting help. If you need support dealing with "blank mind" depression, please check out this Facebook support page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/932176823526514/ If you are considering suicide, please call 800-273-8255.﻿

This is his obituary his family made:

http://www.memorialparkfuneralandcemetery.com/obits/john-fite/

New Edit: Added Clickable Links


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## Pondererer

Another fallen one.. Seems like they come more frequently lately.

R.I.P


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## REB

I'm shocked. This is absolutely devastating. I last talked to John back in july, and i was sharing the links to his videos just minutes before i stumbled upon this thread.

John was the spokesman for the blank minders, and also to my knowledge the man who coined the term.

I also want to add that it saddens to me to see that John's death gets attributed to and obscured by the psychiatric umbrella term "depression".

This is an oversimplification of John's struggle that has to be pointed out if. Blank mind and depression are polar opposites on the spectrum of mental disorders.

We need to make more people aware of this vile, debilitaing illness that are shutting people's brains off. This is not achieved by calling everything depression.

Rest in peace, brother John.


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## Surfingisfun001

REB said:


> Blank mind and depression are polar opposites on the spectrum of mental disorders.
> 
> We need to make more people aware of this vile, debilitaing illness that are shutting people's brains off. This is not achieved by calling everything depression.


Yes, I agree. The truth of the matter is that Depersonalization/Blank Mind isn't known and understood by most mental health professionals, let alone the general public. We are the experts as of now. I never experienced depression in my life until after many years of having DP. It is nowhere near the same thing and for me personally depression is a cakewalk compared to the actual DP itself/blank mind.


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## nicewon

fuck this condition man rip themindless


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## Hedgehog fuzz

It is very sad, but what is a person supposed to do? How do you live this this forever?

I was in education for 23 YEARS only for my life to fall apart and a perpetual blank mind. It is beyond a tragedy.


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## PermanentBrainFart

I am deeply saddened to hear that John has passed away. I showed his video to my mum and flatmate, it was a VERY relatable and insightful experience for me. I also could see him as a potential friend. I got in contact with him and eventually got a response in July, but it seems I didn't get back to him fast enough... Completely lost for words, even more so than usual.

RIP John 

We need to go nuclear on this illness.

Does anyone want to set up a group chat for the blank minders? It could just be a place where we can talk about our symptoms, what helps, but also a place to find companionship during the difficult times. Whatsapp is free, so that could be a good place to start. Ideas very welcome!


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## Chip1021

I have the opposite. I feel like i exist as nothing but disembodied thought. My thoughts are very rich and complex, but when people try to talk with me I can't seem to penetrate reality and I sound like a moron. In school i would have all these great ideas for projects, papers, research, speeches, etc., but then when it came time to present them I couldn't get my thoughts out. As a result, I was constantly criticized because it was assumed that I didn't prepare, when the reality was that I prepared far more intensely than most everyone else. Frustrating, to say the least.

It makes me wonder whether or not an understanding of DP would be improved if we separated the "blank mind" people from the "constant mind chatter, confused thoughts" people.


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## Numbed

Nordmaster said:


> I feel the same, everyday its completely calm in my head, there's nothing going on. I'm also having emotional numbness, I can't feel any feeling at all and my memory is so bad. Anyone of you recovered from that? Is there anything I can do against it? I tried all the advices like socializing, doing sport, getting busy but I'm stuck on that moment for over 9 months. I don't have the feeling its getting better.


Any improvement?


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