# Some words of advice from a long-recovered DP/DR guy!



## PatrickPhoto8 (Jan 7, 2013)

Saw this post and figured I'd make an account. I had DP/DR back in 2003-2005. Was in Highschool and had taken a cocktail of random pills, (because exceptionally dumb teenagers do exceptionally dumb things) and I remember it vividly, because it felt like I couldn't get back to normal. It was goddamn terrifying, especially the first few months when I had no idea what was wrong and was simply trying to explain to doctors that 'I feel like I don't exist and like this is all a dream... but I know it isn't...".

I made a complete recovery. Don't listen to any doom and gloomers who say they have had it for decades, they did me no good and will do you no good either. You CAN get better and WILL. You will be fine. Unlike DP/DR's ability to come on rapidly, It doesn't just up and vanish immediately. It takes time, and eventually you realize that it is gone, and you didn't really notice when exactly it went - It's so gradual, at least was for me.

It is also strongly linked to anxiety. You'll feel it even when calm, sure... but I remember it being that much worse when panicked about it. And panicking about it all the time will just exacerbate the feeling.

Main thing to remember, don't fight it and don't dwell on it. Accept the fact: you have to deal with it for now. Acceptance will NOT hinder your recovery, it will only help it. You are not throwing in the towel either. I'm saying that you gotta seriously say F___ it. I mean that. Whenever it seems to be occupying your thoughts too much, say "F___ it" and go do something. Sure, you'll notice it all the time. F__ it. DON'T LET IT BEAT YOU! You are recovering. You are not going to get worse, you are not going insane either.

It isn't going away over night, no matter how much you wish. But it WILL go away, I promise. And it will go away faster if you stop dwelling on it and being anxious about it. I promise you, just because you are like this right now, doesn't mean you will be forever. You just have to force yourself to live again, and it will slowly go away.

I know I wouldn't have believed it back in the dark days of it when I was having this issue... but you will be okay, it will be overcome.

I used to post my entire story and recovery on forums after I had gotten better. But I feel that this short one will do for now.

Hell, I don't think I have given my past DP/DR much thought in years, until tonight when I came across this forum and figured I'd give my words of advice, from a guy who has been where you once were.

-Patrick

P.S. These forums used to look much, much different back when I was on them looking for help.


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## Justinian585 (Dec 4, 2012)

Interesting. Thanks for the positive vibes, man. I'm about 7 weeks in, and already feel like I'm recovering so I feel lucky. Very good advice though. I'd love to hear your full story sometime. Since you said that you got it a decade ago I'm sure you have had much time to reflect on that period.



PatrickPhoto8 said:


> Main thing to remember, don't fight it and don't dwell on it. Accept the fact: you have to deal with it for now. Acceptance will NOT hinder your recovery, it will only help it. You are not throwing in the towel either. I'm saying that you gotta seriously say F___ it. I mean that. Whenever it seems to be occupying your thoughts too much, say "F___ it" and go do something. Sure, you'll notice it all the time. F__ it. DON'T LET IT BEAT YOU! You are recovering. You are not going to get worse, you are not going insane either.
> 
> It isn't going away over night, no matter how much you wish. But it WILL go away, I promise. And it will go away faster if you stop dwelling on it and being anxious about it. I promise you, just because you are like this right now, doesn't mean you will be forever. You just have to force yourself to live again, and it will slowly go away.


As someone who is just beginning to recover, I think these points are very important. Once I educated myself on what DP/DR was and realized it can't harm me, but only make me uncomfortable, my symptoms immediately began to lessen. I also think people should ditch the supplements and medication. Depersonalization is a state of mind. You're not going to cure that with vitamins, you have to literally change the entire way that you think. Now you might be saying, if I say this why do I still have DP? Because deep down I still think Depersonalized. It's like learning your ABCs. Baby steps. It takes time to completely overcome this as we all know. This has been said many times, but I still find it to be the single best statement that has helped me deal with DP. This is like a blanket covering your mind. If you sit there and feel sorry for yourself, the blanket is going to remain and suffocate you. If you get up and move on with your life, that blanket will slowly begin to slip off. Keep your head up everyone. We all need encouragement, myself included and I thank you for that.


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