# How I Overcame Depersonalization Symptoms



## Alexis

Hey everyone!
My name's Alexis and I'm twenty years old. I dealt with severe depersonalization symptoms from the time I was 16 to around 18. I still experience symptoms to this day, but I consider the experiences normal. Everyone experiences depersonalization at some point in their lives, and I believe having an actual depersonalization disorder is rare. I realize now that figuring out this disorder took over my life. Like many of you, I became obsessed with finding help, believing I had a brain tumor or some other mystery illness, etc. I believe that my depersonalization stemmed from having a best friend pass away when I was sixteen years old, and then having my father pass away 7 months later. I suffered from severe anxiety, and I believed it manifested itself into depersonalization as a defense mechanism. I got over my depersonalization symptoms by accepting them instead of fighting them. If you try to fight off your depersonalization symptoms, you will only become anxious; therefore, producing more depersonalization. I did a few things that helped dramatically decrease my symptoms:

1. I got off these boards and stopped researching. I believe it is a good thing to learn how depersonalization occurs so you don't believe you're going "crazy," but I don't believe obsessing over the disorder will help. I believe that by obsessing over this illness, a person becomes introverted and more depersonalized.

2. ACCEPTANCE. This is the hardest part...You really have to accept your symptoms as being a part of who you are. Once you truly no longer fear the symptoms anymore, you lose your feelings of unreality.

3. Remember, recovery is a gradual thing, and you will have setbacks. The more you focus on important issues on your family, friends, job, school, etc. the less time you have to think about depersonalization.

4. Get help. Talk to a doctor and rule out other causes for depersonalization. You can sit on these forums day and night, but you will never find a cure, nor feel confident if you haven't talked to a health professional. I was prescribed 20 milligrams of fluoxetine (Prozac) and 10 milligrams of Klonopin. I took half of a ten milligram Klonopin if I was having a hard time accepting my symptoms. Honestly, Prozac has changed my life, and I wish I had tried it sooner. I was against being on an antidepressant for a long time, but after being on it, I feel sooo much happier and normal!

5. If I was having a rough day, I'd refer to this article I bookmarked.

http://www.anxiety-hub.com/featured/depersonalization-disorder-treatment-tips/

I definitely would recommend reading it. This article never failed to calm me down, and gave me a more positive outlook on my condition.

6. Practice mindfulness. All you have to do is focus on your senses. If you're in the shower, focus on the smell of your shampoo, water temperature, etc. I find that being mindful really helps to ground you.

7. Be social. It really helps to have friends and family you can talk to, whether it's about depersonalization or not.

8. Go out and have fun, even if you can't enjoy the fun at first. You'll start to feel emotion again, it takes time.

I swear I had one of the most horrible cases of depersonalization anyone could have. I came back to this forum because I don't believe people that recover choose to come back; thus, you won't hear many positive stories. There is hope and you WILL get better. I believe if I got better, anyone can.

I really hope this helps some of you, and read that article!


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## JenS

GREAT Article! Thanks so much. JenS


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## rightwrong99

Why does no one ever respond to posts where people recovered?! lol
Thanks for the post.
Im definitely recovering.. but Im almost scared of it, if that makes sense. Im not used to feeling like myself again. And Im so scared of it coming back all the time my anxiety has gone haywire!! Definitely at a weird transitional phase right now.


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## Guest

nycall21 said:


> Why does no one ever respond to posts where people recovered?! lol


because they don't care about recovery. all they care about is talking how hard their life are, and how their DP is chronic. DP is their religion.


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## toshibatelly

Lowrey said:


> because they don't care about recovery. all they care about is talking how hard their life are, and how their DP is chronic. DP is their religion.


I don't agree with your main point, I don't think most people on here want to have DP/DR; many would give their right arm to get rid of it. However, there is something to be said for not knowing more than you need to know about something, like DP, which is made worse by overthinking the problem. At some point the DP-anxiety-DP ad infinitum chain has to be broken, and the easiest way is to reduce anxiety about the DP rather than trying reduce the DP itself and hope the anxiety goes away.


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## = n

Alexis said:


> Hey everyone!
> My name's Alexis and I'm twenty years old. I dealt with severe depersonalization symptoms from the time I was 16 to around 18. I still experience symptoms to this day, but I consider the experiences normal. Everyone experiences depersonalization at some point in their lives, and I believe having an actual depersonalization disorder is rare. I realize now that figuring out this disorder took over my life. Like many of you, I became obsessed with finding help, believing I had a brain tumor or some other mystery illness, etc. I believe that my depersonalization stemmed from having a best friend pass away when I was sixteen years old, and then having my father pass away 7 months later. I suffered from severe anxiety, and I believed it manifested itself into depersonalization as a defense mechanism. I got over my depersonalization symptoms by accepting them instead of fighting them. If you try to fight off your depersonalization symptoms, you will only become anxious; therefore, producing more depersonalization. I did a few things that helped dramatically decrease my symptoms:
> 
> 1. I got off these boards and stopped researching. I believe it is a good thing to learn how depersonalization occurs so you don't believe you're going "crazy," but I don't believe obsessing over the disorder will help. I believe that by obsessing over this illness, a person becomes introverted and more depersonalized.
> 
> 2. ACCEPTANCE. This is the hardest part...You really have to accept your symptoms as being a part of who you are. Once you truly no longer fear the symptoms anymore, you lose your feelings of unreality.
> 
> 3. Remember, recovery is a gradual thing, and you will have setbacks. The more you focus on important issues on your family, friends, job, school, etc. the less time you have to think about depersonalization.
> 
> 4. Get help. Talk to a doctor and rule out other causes for depersonalization. You can sit on these forums day and night, but you will never find a cure, nor feel confident if you haven't talked to a health professional. I was prescribed 20 milligrams of fluoxetine (Prozac) and 10 milligrams of Klonopin. I took half of a ten milligram Klonopin if I was having a hard time accepting my symptoms. Honestly, Prozac has changed my life, and I wish I had tried it sooner. I was against being on an antidepressant for a long time, but after being on it, I feel sooo much happier and normal!
> 
> 5. If I was having a rough day, I'd refer to this article I bookmarked.
> 
> http://www.anxiety-hub.com/featured/depersonalization-disorder-treatment-tips/
> 
> I definitely would recommend reading it. This article never failed to calm me down, and gave me a more positive outlook on my condition.
> 
> 6. Practice mindfulness. All you have to do is focus on your senses. If you're in the shower, focus on the smell of your shampoo, water temperature, etc. I find that being mindful really helps to ground you.
> 
> 7. Be social. It really helps to have friends and family you can talk to, whether it's about depersonalization or not.
> 
> 8. Go out and have fun, even if you can't enjoy the fun at first. You'll start to feel emotion again, it takes time.
> 
> I swear I had one of the most horrible cases of depersonalization anyone could have. I came back to this forum because I don't believe people that recover choose to come back; thus, you won't hear many positive stories. There is hope and you WILL get better. I believe if I got better, anyone can.
> 
> I really hope this helps some of you, and read that article!


Thank you for your great story (and coming back to tell it!)

I think maybe sometime fifty or one hundred (when there are that many, or however many there are) recovery stories should be assembled into a mega post- or a post with lots of links to all the threads in it and it should be stuck right at the front page of this website and at the top of the list of sub-forums or something.

'YES, YOU CAN RECOVER, AND HERE ARE 100 PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECOVERED FROM THIS SITE.'

It would be useful to people just finding the site AND it would help us all to see what those who recover might have in common.


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## Guest

toshibatelly said:


> I don't agree with your main point, I don't think most people on here want to have DP/DR; many would give their right arm to get rid of it. However, there is something to be said for not knowing more than you need to know about something, like DP, which is made worse by overthinking the problem. At some point the DP-anxiety-DP ad infinitum chain has to be broken, and the easiest way is to reduce anxiety about the DP rather than trying reduce the DP itself and hope the anxiety goes away.


what you should notice, is that the biggest I-will-tell-you-the-truth-about-DP members here are the ones who still suffer. they get the most attention, and not the guys who ACTUALLY recovered, therefore know how to. just sayin.


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## rachaelp

hey just want to say thanks so much for this, it gives me hope as this is something that is scaring the shit out of me as i feel like i cant escape it. and i think you are right about getting of these boards as it creates an obesseion rather than going out and actually living, but i do think it helps when i feel so alone. thank you and i hope to one day be able to come back and give advice


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## sputnik

Amen to that, Alexis ! Thanks (link is broken, though...)



Alexis said:


> Hey everyone!
> My name's Alexis and I'm twenty years old. I dealt with severe depersonalization symptoms from the time I was 16 to around 18. I still experience symptoms to this day, but I consider the experiences normal. Everyone experiences depersonalization at some point in their lives, and I believe having an actual depersonalization disorder is rare. I realize now that figuring out this disorder took over my life. Like many of you, I became obsessed with finding help, believing I had a brain tumor or some other mystery illness, etc. I believe that my depersonalization stemmed from having a best friend pass away when I was sixteen years old, and then having my father pass away 7 months later. I suffered from severe anxiety, and I believed it manifested itself into depersonalization as a defense mechanism. I got over my depersonalization symptoms by accepting them instead of fighting them. If you try to fight off your depersonalization symptoms, you will only become anxious; therefore, producing more depersonalization. I did a few things that helped dramatically decrease my symptoms:
> 
> 1. I got off these boards and stopped researching. I believe it is a good thing to learn how depersonalization occurs so you don't believe you're going "crazy," but I don't believe obsessing over the disorder will help. I believe that by obsessing over this illness, a person becomes introverted and more depersonalized.
> 
> 2. ACCEPTANCE. This is the hardest part...You really have to accept your symptoms as being a part of who you are. Once you truly no longer fear the symptoms anymore, you lose your feelings of unreality.
> 
> 3. Remember, recovery is a gradual thing, and you will have setbacks. The more you focus on important issues on your family, friends, job, school, etc. the less time you have to think about depersonalization.
> 
> 4. Get help. Talk to a doctor and rule out other causes for depersonalization. You can sit on these forums day and night, but you will never find a cure, nor feel confident if you haven't talked to a health professional. I was prescribed 20 milligrams of fluoxetine (Prozac) and 10 milligrams of Klonopin. I took half of a ten milligram Klonopin if I was having a hard time accepting my symptoms. Honestly, Prozac has changed my life, and I wish I had tried it sooner. I was against being on an antidepressant for a long time, but after being on it, I feel sooo much happier and normal!
> 
> 5. If I was having a rough day, I'd refer to this article I bookmarked.
> 
> http://www.anxiety-hub.com/featured/depersonalization-disorder-treatment-tips/
> 
> I definitely would recommend reading it. This article never failed to calm me down, and gave me a more positive outlook on my condition.
> 
> 6. Practice mindfulness. All you have to do is focus on your senses. If you're in the shower, focus on the smell of your shampoo, water temperature, etc. I find that being mindful really helps to ground you.
> 
> 7. Be social. It really helps to have friends and family you can talk to, whether it's about depersonalization or not.
> 
> 8. Go out and have fun, even if you can't enjoy the fun at first. You'll start to feel emotion again, it takes time.
> 
> I swear I had one of the most horrible cases of depersonalization anyone could have. I came back to this forum because I don't believe people that recover choose to come back; thus, you won't hear many positive stories. There is hope and you WILL get better. I believe if I got better, anyone can.
> 
> I really hope this helps some of you, and read that article!


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