# D/R After Surgery



## missmanic (Jan 23, 2013)

Hi there! My name is Dolly. I'm a 23 year old female who has recently undergone some very unexpected surgery. (The surgery was abdominal. I had a cyst in my colon as well as a peferated intestine and came very close to dying. I also expierienced complications with my incision opening up during the healing process and had to be restitched) For most of September, I was bed ridden as my body recovered.

On September 23rd, I went to lunch at a local diner with my parents. Out of absolutely nowhere, in the middle of a conversation with my Mom, my surroundings suddenly looked unreal. My heart suddenly started pounding a mile a minute, I became extremely sweaty, and thought I was going to pass out. I put my head down on the table and my legs and arm started to go numb. I was so afraid to even try to get up, but was so embarresed that I was making a scene. I eventually got out of the diner and went home. The pounding heart, shakes, and sweats didn't stop and I ended up in the ER that night thinking I was having some sort of heart attack. After tons of tests, they doctors told me it was a panic attack.

Over the past 4 months, ever since that episode, my surroundings have felt so detatched and dreamlike. Sometimes it gets very bad to the point where I feel a "switch" go off in my head and EVERYTHING around me becomes surreal. Noises sound muffeled, my legs feel like they're not going to support me, I start sweating and feel as if I'm going to pass out.

I have been out of work SO much longer than I ever planned on after my surgery. I tried going back 4 seperate times, and 3 of those times I have very servere derealization to the point where I had to leave. (I run an afterschool program for school age kids as well as teach a kindergarten class and it has just been so impossible while dealing with this)

I do not have health insurence and have been patiantly waiting to see a psychiatrist through my chairty care program from the hospital I had my surgery at.

It's gotten to the point where I can't go anywhere by myself, and avoid doing anything aside from stopping at Target or the grocery store. I'm fine in my house, but as soon as I step outside, everything seems so stange to me.

I feel like my life is on hold and I want so bad to be able to go back to work. I hope I get some help soon.


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## Justinian585 (Dec 4, 2012)

I know how you feel. I went through the same thing, although mine was following a bad experience with Marijuana. Panic attacks suck, especially the first one because you literally have no clue what's going on with your body. You feel helpless. You just have to keep a positive state of mind. Your DP/DR was triggered by the panic attack it sounds like, and DP/DR is mostly just a symptom of anxiety. I wouldn't be too worried for your health. As for your life being on hold, I can totally relate. I used to be the kind of person who was out 24/7. Since DP/DR I have barely left my house for leisure. I share that fear. You just have to reassure yourself that there is absolutely nothing to be fearful of, except fear itself. What's going to happen if you go to Target? Nothing. When I start to feel really weird, I just laugh it off and call myself stupid in a joking way. Like "there's nothing wrong with you, stop being an idiot. Stop overreacting." It gets better with time, trust me. You've already made good progress it sounds like.


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## JJ70 (Nov 1, 2010)

@missmanic What you are describing is classic DP/DR with anxiety. I'd start pushing yourself to get better now, the quicker you start to deal with DP/DR the quicker (in general) you recover.

A few points that might help; your not dying; you have a fairly common mental illness (although a horrendous one that much of the medical profession is ignorant of), your not going mad, and you can get better.

Your also not alone. If you have to wait around to get help with DP/DR then try and get help for the anxiety/panic now as this condition is also horrible and life restricting and like DP/DR the earlier the intervention the earlier the cure (usually).

From someone fully recovered from chronic DP/DR anxiety and panic disorder.

JJ


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## peanut butter (Nov 9, 2012)

JJ70 said:


> @missmanic What you are describing is classic DP/DR with anxiety. I'd start pushing yourself to get better now, the quicker you start to deal with DP/DR the quicker (in general) you recover.
> 
> A few points that might help; your not dying; you have a fairly common mental illness (although a horrendous one that much of the medical profession is ignorant of), your not going mad, and you can get better.
> 
> ...


>mental illness

>illness


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

JJ70 said:


> @missmanic What you are describing is classic DP/DR with anxiety. I'd start pushing yourself to get better now, the quicker you start to deal with DP/DR the quicker (in general) you recover.
> 
> A few points that might help; your not dying; you have a fairly common mental illness (although a horrendous one that much of the medical profession is ignorant of), your not going mad, and you can get better.
> 
> ...


Depersonalization is NOT a mental illness. It's a defense mechanism.


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## JJ70 (Nov 1, 2010)

> Depersonalization is NOT a mental illness. It's a defense mechanism.


@ Valley Girl; for many people DP/DR may be triggered as a defence mechanism, but for others it was not triggered as a defence mechanism, there are many many credible reports of this being triggered by other things.

Even if it is the minds intention of using DP/DR as a defence mechanism then this mechanism has been triggered in many circumstances where there was no threat or inner anxiety, something as relaxing as meditating for instance or smoking a joint; to name but two (of many).

DP/DR is mental illness, nothing more, nothing less and one that is triggered my many things and experienced by many people. It is also very beatable!

The cause is not the answer just the cure. Trust me; I and many others have beaten and fully recovered form this condition.


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## ValleyGirl (Nov 10, 2017)

JJ70 said:


> @ Valley Girl; for many people DP/DR may be triggered as a defence mechanism, but for others it was not triggered as a defence mechanism, there are many many credible reports of this being triggered by other things.
> 
> Even if it is the minds intention of using DP/DR as a defence mechanism then this mechanism has been triggered in many circumstances where there was no threat or inner anxiety, something as relaxing as meditating for instance or smoking a joint; to name but two (of many).
> 
> ...


In the DSM-IV-TR this disorder is classified as a dissociative disorder; in the ICD-10 it is called *depersonalization-derealization syndrome* and classified as an independent neurotic disorder.

*Dissociation* is a term in psychology
describing a wide array of experiences from mild detachment from
immediate surroundings to more severe detachment from physical and
emotional experience. It is commonly displayed on a continuum.
The major characteristic of all dissociative phenomena involves a
detachment from reality - rather than a loss of reality as in psychosis. In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanisms in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress - including boredom or conflict. At the nonpathological end of the continuum, dissociation describes common events such as daydreaming while driving a vehicle. Further along the continuum are non-pathological altered states of consciousness.

More pathological dissociation involves dissociative disorders, including dissociative fugue and depersonalization disorder
with or without alterations in personal identity or sense of self.
These alterations can include: a sense that self or the world is unreal (derealization and depersonalization); a loss of memory (amnesia);
forgetting identity or assuming a new self (fugue); and fragmentation
of identity or self into separate streams of consciousness (dissociative identity disorder, formerly termed multiple personality disorder) and complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dissociative disorders are sometimes triggered by trauma, but may be
preceded only by stress, psychoactive substances, or no identifiable
trigger at all


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## JJ70 (Nov 1, 2010)

> In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanisms


As I said DP/DR in some cases may be triggered as defence mechanism but in so many other cases it is not.

The argument between mental illness and disorder is not a clear one with DP/DR.

i.e. Mental illness = chemicals not functioning correctly in the brain eg. anxiety disorders. Mental disorder = problems with brain functioning (Autism etc). The distinctions between the two are often blurred in literature.

As for DP/DR it is probably a bit of both but not a point I could be bothered to argue on; the only thing that matters is getting better, trust me on this one.


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