# blank mind symptom



## azteca (Dec 28, 2013)

For those of you that have the experience of no inner monologue/ blank mind symptom, how do u try to recover from this. It's not that my brain isnt thinking. I can talk and work and exercise but I can't think like I used to. I don't feel like a 'self' with a will/inner monologue. Please help. The only thing that brings my mind back reliably is weed, acid , very strong coffee, or being really hungover. And none of that is sustainable because I can't be high at work or around people.


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## Ningen (Apr 16, 2015)

I have the same prooblem. Does weed cure you completely temporarily?


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## azteca (Dec 28, 2013)

Weed only cures me for a couple hours. Acid is great too because it is active for several hours. I feel like maybe we should get prescribed adderall xr or something that will get us to release neurotransmitters again.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

I already told you in this thread what you should do next:

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/50420-drugs-and-repersonalization/#entry352068

"You should try medication to alleviate your symptoms. Your response to many illegal drugs could be a hint that medication might be able to help help you. A link between the effect of all the drugs you used might be the stimulating effect, which is caused by a temporary increase in dopaminergic activity. So, a first step might be Bupropion. If it doesn't help you could try Selegiline, Ritalin or Adderall (in this order)."


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

There is also a supplement which might be interesting:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044191/

It faciliates dopamine release in certain parts of the brain and inhibits glutamate release by a mechanism different to lamotrigine. In my opinion it may have an anti-depersonalisative effect in some people.


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## Ningen (Apr 16, 2015)

I heard adderall worked for one guy, but for another guy it didn't do jack.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

Abilify or a low dose of Amisulprid might also help.


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## ThoughtOnFire (Feb 10, 2015)

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/48635-blank-mind/


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## Ningen (Apr 16, 2015)

Abilify made it 3x worse, would not recommend.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

Well, Ability is a D2-partial-agonist, which means it activates the D2-receptor only to a certain degree and blocks it for endogenous ligands, which activate it fully. This means it would be stimulating if there is a lack of dopamine, but it does the opposite if dopamine levels are normal or abnormally high.

But even antipsychotics which block the D2-receptor do not necessarily make symptoms worse (although it's true that they often make things worse). For example I have taken Seroquel for some months and I didn't notice a change. At the psychiatric clinic I met a person with severe depersonalization (CDS = 221) who also did not report worse symptoms due to Seroquel.


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## azteca (Dec 28, 2013)

I would be willing to try a prescription drug but can't for the next year because I am still on my parents insurance and that would involve telling them about my dp. It seems that most symptoms of dp are relieved by distracting yourself from them but this symptom seems so hard to distract yourself from. I try to take my mind off the numbness but there is not a strong enough internal monologue to focus my attention on something else. I try to live in the present moment but have not succeeded without the use of drugs yet. A good way to put it is that I can think but I think without conviction. It's like there is not a thinker putting effort behind the thinking if that makes sense. My mind is not completely blank, just very quiet/numbed.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

> I would be willing to try a prescription drug but can't for the next year because I am still on my parents insurance and that would involve telling them about my dp.


What's the problem about that?


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## gasspanicc (Mar 21, 2012)

the inner monalogue is stillthere, u just gotta open up to it. it is annoying, but clearly you can still think as you are replying, and coming to dpselfhelp everyday.:v


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

At least in my case these symptoms are accompanied by marked cognitive deficits (concentration difficulties and working memory deficits) that have been objectified.


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## azteca (Dec 28, 2013)

Do you guys typically have a mood much of the time. Mine is pretty flat


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

Yes. The blank mind seems to be almost always accompanied by emotional numbness.


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## azteca (Dec 28, 2013)

I started taking NAC recently. Haven't noticed a difference, still relying on coffee and weed on the weekends.


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## TDX (Jul 12, 2014)

In most studies they used a dosage of 2400 mg/day and the maximum was 3600 mg/day:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3044191/

If you don't see results at such a dosage over some time it doesn't work. But you should toss away the cannabis, because it could make things worse in the long run. It might also interact with the NAC.


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## LiamGamerr (Oct 25, 2014)

I have this blank mind symptom. I have no thoughts, no inner dialogue, nothing at all inside my head. I have recently been prescribed Venlafaxine for anxiety because my anxiety is rather severe and the doctors believe the anxiety is what is keeping my depersonalization. So the theory is I fix the anxiety and the depersonalization hopefully starts to go away. But yeah this 'blank mind symptom is VERY disturbing.

I am hoping to start the venlafaxine tomorrow morning. Here goes everything.


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## Ningen (Apr 16, 2015)

Tell me how it goes with the venlafaxine.


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