# Knowledge and memories are unfamiliar, its this DP?



## GillesSwitz (Nov 16, 2015)

Hi,

I'm Gilles, 26 y.o. (today is my birthday), coming from Switzerland, so sorry for the english mistake 

I have been suffering from the following symptoms since June 2015, and I'd like to know whether this sounds familiar to you. It started after 1 month of insomnia and 2 nights of violent panick attacks (I've always been a very anxious person and I was treated with citalopram for that, which I stopped in March 2015). I feel as if *all my memories and all my previous knowledge do not belong to me*, everything is blurred in my brain. I am like a *stranger* in this world, everything looks *unfamiliar* to me (e.g. watching the news, dealing with the knowledge I need for my job, hearing from anything that is related to our world and its functioning) and creates an unbearable *feeling of estrangement*. It cannot find myself in my mind, seems like I lost my identity, what I liked before&#8230; I don't know what is life anymore, it is completely crazy! Also, I don't feel any anxiety now, I feel almost nothing.

On the other hand I have no sensation from being outside my body. I don't ask myself existential questions. I can recognize myself in the mirror. I have no problem to know that my parents are my parents, that my gf is my gf&#8230;

Does this look like DP/DR?

My doctor prescribes me a SSRI (paroxtenine) and I just started lamotrigine 1 week ago (I'll move to 50 mg next Friday). I hope this will bring some relief&#8230; We also planned to use rTMS and naloxone if nothing changes.

As you might know, in Switzerland we have the so-called "assisted suicide". I really think to this solution if nothing changes cuz my life is nothing but a big mess and this will not be bearable for months.

Thanks for your reply!

Best,

Gilles


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2015)

It seems like a depression and anixety. It will pass


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## gonengg1 (Aug 14, 2015)

Unlike the above poster, this is definitely DR, mostly Derealization. How is your cognition?


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## optimusrhyme (Aug 24, 2004)

Gilles, You wont ever find yourself in your mind.. The foundation of identity doesn't exhist there... It exhists in the complete stillness and silence of the present moment.. Try Looking within towards your heart. Happy Birthday.

cheers


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2015)

gonengg1 said:


> Unlike the above poster, this is definitely DR, mostly Derealization. How is your cognition?


So now you said that there is no chances that is a symptom on a depression? It is..


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## thy (Oct 7, 2015)

Timbasse said:


> It seems like a depression and anixety. It will pass


"I don't feel any anxiety now". interesting diagnosis given that he says he experiences no anxiety or depression.

Sounds to me like DP/DR, but mostly DR.


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## Midnight (Jul 16, 2011)

100% estrangement here, your not alone. Still I logically know what happened in my past and that I am me, but it doesnt feel like it experientially.


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## inferentialpolice (Nov 26, 2012)

> Does this look like DP/DR?
> 
> My doctor prescribes me a SSRI (paroxtenine) and I just started lamotrigine 1 week ago (I'll move to 50 mg next Friday). I hope this will bring some relief&#8230; We also planned to use rTMS and naloxone if nothing changes.
> 
> As you might know, in Switzerland we have the so-called "assisted suicide". I really think to this solution if nothing changes cuz my life is nothing but a big mess and this will not be bearable for months.


Your symptoms are suggestive of a dissociative disorder beyond mere DP, but only an assessment by a dissociation specialist can know with more certainty. Here is a dissociation specialist that you might consider contacting for psychological assessment, or, if you do not live close to Lausanne, for a referral to some other dissociation specialist he may know in Switzerland:

Olivier Piedfort-Marin
Psychologue-psychothérapeute FSP
Av. de Montchoisi 21
1006 Lausanne - Suisse
Tél.: +41 (0)21 311 96 71
[email protected]

www.olivier-piedfort.ch

co-directeur de l'
Institut Romand de Psychotraumatologie
www.irpt.ch

Dr. Piedfort is trained in assessing for a possible dissociative disorder, including DP, and other dissociative disorders which have DP as part of their complex of symptoms.

If one is suffering from a dissociative disorder, medications are NOT first line treatment. If recovery is the goal, first line treatment is specialized psychotherapy targeting your dissociative symptoms.

I have other names to suggest if for some reason your consulting Dr. Piedfort is not feasible for you ... Let me know


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## GillesSwitz (Nov 16, 2015)

Hello!

Thx a lot for the answers!



> How is your cognition?


Of course my cognition is not the same as before since the DP started... I'm currently a PhD student and it's very difficult to deal with my work because everything looks strange to me, as if I've never done all my previous work. Just a mathematical formula looks very complicated for me.



> Your symptoms are suggestive of a dissociative disorder beyond mere DP, but only an assessment by a dissociation specialist can know with more certainty. Here is a dissociation specialist that you might consider contacting for psychological assessment, or, if you do not live close to Lausanne, for a referral to some other dissociation specialist he may know in Switzerland:
> 
> Olivier Piedfort-Marin
> Psychologue-psychothérapeute FSP
> ...


I know Olivier Piedfort, I met him several times. I went through some dissociation scales but it appears that they do not correspond to my symptoms... He is a friend of my current doctor.


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## katiej (Jan 21, 2012)

I feel the exact same way u do . This is what my experience of dp dr is also.


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## montrealcanadiens1996 (Sep 18, 2015)

This is exactly how I feel. Have you noticed it getting any better or worse at times?


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## GillesSwitz (Nov 16, 2015)

> I feel the exact same way u do . This is what my experience of dp dr is also.


It's of great help to know that I'm not alone to feel all of this. Very often I just don't recognize myself it what people describe (eg 2D vision, not able to look in the mirror...). Katie, what have you tried so far ?



> Have you noticed it getting any better or worse at times?


No, it's 24/7, it is never better, and just worse when I drink too much...


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## inferentialpolice (Nov 26, 2012)

> I know Olivier Piedfort, I met him several times. I went through some dissociation scales but it appears that they do not correspond to my symptoms... He is a friend of my current doctor.


Wait, you've consulted with Olivier? Did he conduct a SCID-D interview with you? If he did, what were the results of that? Did he find Depersonalization/Derealization disorder or some other Dissociative disorder?


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## GillesSwitz (Nov 16, 2015)

> Wait, you've consulted with Olivier? Did he conduct a SCID-D interview with you? If he did, what were the results of that? Did he find Depersonalization/Derealization disorder or some other Dissociative disorder?


I went through some questionnaires he gave me. But the problem was that the questions were not really pertinent, they mainly dealt with detachment between the body and the mind, which I just don't feel. I also did the Cambridge questionnaire where some questions were closer to what I feel. You know my doc and I really think it's a neurobiological issue, like if the chemical of the brain was unbalanced, or if something just don't work anymore...


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## montrealcanadiens1996 (Sep 18, 2015)

Have you had an MRI or any other type of neurological tests?


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## King Tut (Nov 19, 2015)

That sounds like depersonalization disorder, but I'm not a doctor or a psychologist. I have similar symptoms: memories and experiences that feel distant, blurry, like they belong to someone else. I think this is fairly normal for those with depersonalization disorder. Symptoms differ from person to person, and it seems like everyone has their own unique flavor of the disorder. For example, I don't have many problems with philosophical rumination, but others do. That doesn't mean it's not the same general disorder. Just like one person who gets the flu has different symptoms from another.

But like I said, I'm not a doctor or psychologist, so take my appraisal with a grain of salt.


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