# On becoming a doctor



## dreamingoutloud (Apr 22, 2014)

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here so I'll keep it short. I am aggressively searching for ways to feel better these days. I've had dp/dr for a little over 10 years now. The fun part: I'm a medical student. As of late, I've fallen into a slump as my symptoms have worsened. I've been reading about every possible way to get better, and I'm not sure what to do. I try to exercise every day, eat well, go to class, and keep up with friends, but that's not helping my symptoms.

I'm considering trying cognitive behavioral therapy as recommended by a psychiatry professor at school. If anyone has any tips or would like to share their experience while they try to recover or if they've already recovered, that would be much appreciated.

Also, has anyone tried CBT with any luck? SSRIs?


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## marry1985 (Dec 1, 2013)

I tried SSRI and CBT and didn t help me.


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2014)

I guess the way to treat dp is to treat the symptoms you get along with dp as they usually are the cause

for example if its anxiety then try an ssri or other anxiety meds like buspar and if you wanna go the non med route then just try and work out and stay away from recreational drugs and eat right and do things that make you happy and see a good therapist

I have done talk therapy for around 1 year and my therapist would incorporate cbt into our sessions but not a super proper form of it but it did help me just be more rational about things and not jump to conclusions and think in a healthier manner without catastrophing about things or doubting or worrying about things


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## dreamingoutloud (Apr 22, 2014)

Thanks for your replies guys! I still haven't tried any medications yet. I'm just sick of seeing suggestions to get your life in order (eat well, abstain from recreational drugs etc) when that doesn't work for a lot of people. So if anyone has other solutions, I'm willing to try!

Still, it's hard to see many of my classmates on ritalin while struggle to focus for more than a few minutes.

I want people to know that even when it's chronic, and it feels like there's no way out, you can accomplish any of your goals...it just might take a lot more effort than everyone else. I think trying is worth every second.

I'm on my way to becoming a neurologist hoping to help figure all this out.


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## heartless (Apr 29, 2013)

Psychodynamic therapy helped me.


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## Cotillion (Oct 23, 2012)

dreamingoutloud said:


> Also, has anyone tried CBT with any luck? SSRIs?


CBT is great when you have depression. It helped me to reduce the symptoms of depression a lot. However, when it comes to treating dp and anxiety it is very counter-productive. The problem is that it makes you analyze your behavior and thoughts more, when in reality, you should do the exact oppposite if you want to feel better. So my humble advice would be to stay away from CBT if you want to treat dp, it's simply not the right tool for it.


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