# Life after DP



## Dreamland (Jun 1, 2005)

I have been DP free for about three years now, and the interesting thing to me is that the fear associated with it is gone, but some of the symptoms remain. For example, I was driving to my new territory (work) today to visit some clients/accounts, which happens to be about a 180 mile one way trip to an area I've never visited before. The drive was so long and tedious....I all of a sudden began to DP and ended up in a different dimension, since thoughts relating to my home, pets, friends seemed foreign-I felt as if I wasn't "real".....just visual images not connected to a being. At the same time, I didn't feel anxious but I felt rather relaxed or accepting. My appointments went fine and I returned from this strange new world intact with everything feeling familiar again. I still get intense dreamlike detachment from time to time, but that sick feeling of doom and hopelessness is history.


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## Sojourner (May 21, 2005)

I think I know what you mean, Dreamland. I've been anxiety-free for just four months, but occasionally I will have "flashbacks" (sort of), but they are without anxiety, and they pass.

Until we realize that DP is a defensive tool we use against feeling bad, I daresay we are stuck. A defense that works for us and lets us live well is not neurotic; a defense like DP or anxiety -- that does not work and that is far worse than the pain we are defending against -- IS neurotic.


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