# You can do it! I did!



## LOS (Feb 27, 2012)

I haven't been a member on this site up until recently because I didnt want to post unless it was going to be beneficial to others. I didnt want to drag sufferers down and make things worse like other members... (please note, I am NOT a doctor or psychiatrist...just a person who has come out of the other side, and wants to show what got me through it!)
DP basically "feeds" off itself - the more you think about it, the more you notice it, the more you worry about it, the worse the symptoms get!! It is nothing but a viscious cycle predominantly caused by stress and anxiety, and you need to break the cycle!
You may feel "lost" in your own world and hopeless, but please please please try the following for a couple of weeks - and stick to it!!
1) When you`re out doing your running, DONT spend your time thinking about the DP, comparing life now to how it should be etc etc....Try to TOTALLY forget about it - IT DOESN`T MATTER, it`s just you out for a run, and you`re well on the road to making yourself better!!
2) Whilst running, FEEL your feet hitting the ground, LISTEN to the sound of your trainers/feet hitting the floor, FEEL the aches and pains in your legs and if and when you take a break, just admire the SIGHTS and SOUNDS.......dont worry if it doesn`t look and sound "real" or "normal" or "how it used to" - it WILL in time, I promise you! (REMEMBER, BLANK THE WHOLE ANXIETY/DP THING - IT`S NOT GOING TO BEAT YOU!!)
3) Visit friends/family and socialize - I KNOW this is one of the hardest things to do, but please, no matter how bad/weird/strange you feel, you MUST NOT THINK ABOUT THE DP, and join in as usual. JUST BE WHO YOU ARE, dont try to be "as you were", this will return in time!!
4) SMILE!! Even if you dont feel like it, even if it`s a fake smile - and hold the smile for about 10 seconds each time - do this at least 10-20 times a day. Smiling releases endorphins "feel good" chemicals into the brain (yes, even fake smiles as the brain gets confused!!!)......your chemical balance is probably a little unbalanced due to the stress/depression/anxiety etc......and this REALLY DOES HELP EVEN YOUR MOOD OUT IN TIME! (You could also try funny videos on youtube, comedy`s etc etc)
5) Continue to EAT WELL, and EXCERSISE (even if it`s just 5 minutes a day, as this also releases happy chemicals, and make sure you use techniques described in 1)
Basically, the main thing to remember is to BLANK the DP at all times, if you feel yourself thinking about it, just tell yourself "IT DOESN`T MATTER, I`M ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY







- then forget about it and MAKE YOURSELF BUSY. Either carry on with your work / go for your run / go and visit your friends and keep up the grounding techniques.
REMEMBER, EVERY TIME YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR DP, YOU`RE MAKING YOURSELF WORSE - BLANK IT, FORGET ABOUT IT, AND CARRY ON WITH YOUR LIFE REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU FEEL.......EACH TIME YOU BLANK IT, ITS ONE STEP TO RECOVERY!
Break the cycle !!! It may be weeks or months, but I can guarantee you, that by doing this, you will be back to your old self.
P.s (Dont obsess about the grounding techniques, these just help take your mind off the dp, but also help "ground" you i.e make you feel at one with life again)

I was just like many of you when I first developed DP! Always looking for a cure always conciously and subconciously checking my symptoms to see if I felt any better.I would look into the mirror and get freaked out because I couldnt recognize myself! My mind would not shut the fuck up telling me that their had to be something wrong... etc etc! The truth is you are in control! You have always been in control! The mind is extremely and i mean extremely powerful! But you are in control! So make up your mind right NOW to once and for all let your mind recover, and in the mean time get on with your life and live it to the fullest! I never started to truly feel better until I completely stopped worrying about it and just LIVED MY FUCKING LIFE! Im telling you I WASTED yes WASTED MONTHS AND MONTHS on the internet desperately searching for answers not knowing that the more time I spent worrying about this shit the worse I felt. I have NEVER heard of anyone with depersonalization or derealization that eventually went "crazy", or progressively developed some crazy mental illness because of it . That is precisely why this disorder/symptom/illness has been so overlooked in the medical community. That is why any of you who have gone to the doctor and had every possible test performed on you have not had any negative results. That in itself should tell you there is NOTHING to worry about. Depersonalization does not lead to schizophrenia or any of those other crazy illnesses most of you are worried about! If you research recovery stories or read books on recovery they always tell you the same things that I just told you. So their is no need to frantically search the internet thinking that you will find the hidden link to the magic "CURE". Now im sorry if I dissapointed some of you for not saying take this and this supplement or this medication and in one weeks time you will notice a great improvement. WHY? Because their is no such thing when it comes to dp/dr. Yes supplements do help but they DO NOT CURE! Only YOU can cure yourself! As far as medications I personally never took any because I was always paranoid that they would make the symptoms worse.I wouldn't suggest medication either. ALSO MINDFULNESS is amazing maybe one of the best things to ease strong episodes!!! 
Please take my advice, and let this be your last post that you read on dp/dr and live your life as if you never had dp/dr. Everyone is different so therefore recovery times are different. But one thing is for sure this disorder/symptom/illness/ whatever the hell you want to call it is not permanent! You can fucking do it get the hell off whatever electronic device is that you use to research this shit, and LIVE! PS. This is my first and last post on this site. I have given you all the advice I can give. To be honest the advice I gave is what you will read oover and over and over (but some of you will keep researching this shit even though what you need to do is right in front of you). I'm telling you now DO NOT read negative posts on the subject as it will only prolong your symptoms. Do not listen to any of these negative people who will tell you about how horrible this "illness" is. They have been caught in this viscious cycle for so long because they can not stop obsessing over this and will not stop looking for the magical unknown "cure".
You guys can do it just like I did. I promise! THE CURE LIVES IN YOU!


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## ooAntoo (Aug 5, 2011)

Excellent post, positive, informative and inspirational, well done I am sure may will gain true courage from your words and congrats on your recovery!


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## Ingrid (Feb 1, 2012)

Very positive,exersice very important thank you for reminding us i disagree about not thinking about the illness..with me i accepted it,even ignored it for years,just recently i decided to learn more about it...i understood that my DP comes from anxiety,drastic change in diet ( went completly gluten free) helped me enormously ...so sometimes ignoring it works sometimes doesn't for me being mindful about my symptoms helped me to be better.I am very happy for you and thank you for your post,


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