# Born Anew



## TheGame (Feb 1, 2011)

Hey maggots!

Its your boy Game. Ive now been struggling with DP for about 7 months and im approaching full recovery. the only reall symptoms i have left are social anxiety and a slight unreal feeling. other than that i have only a few more months of this left i feel.

so here is what i have done to get better every day and notice the difference week by week.

1. Excerisce - i know that you have heard alot about this and the effects it has on the brain. very vital for fast recovery.

2. Socialize - the best lessons ive learned while in DP-mode are those i learned while socializing. it takes focus away from you your condition and it makes you realize vital truths about how stupidly anxious you are about everything and that you dont have to be. Its also great to just meet people and have support from all around.

3. thoughtpatternchange - reprogramming is one very essential part in getting out of depression and anxiety learning how to change your perception of things that are going on around you and perhaps reframing some of the negative limiting beliefs that came with the depression and dp. 
positive thinking and affirmations (create affirmations for yourself that speak to you) WILL help you when the DP calms down a bit and will reaffirm you that you are a strong, healthy and wonderful person.

4. Supplementation - supplements such as b-complex, minerals, vitamins and omega 3 will help in the long term, if you are on any medication some of the supplements help them along (SSRI's, antipsychotics) and will make you gradually feel better and will also help your brain heal faster.
along with this seek to eat as healthy as you possibly can get yourself to eat. eat fruit and veg every day and skip pizza's and burgers and saturated fats for a while. your body WILL thank you and your wellbeing will increase and relieve DP symptoms.

5. Stop working/going to school - Im saying this because alot of people out there ive found are working and going to school at the early stages of their DP recovery witch worsens their DP symptoms and makes the condition only worse and not better. I urge you to get of work and school for at least a few months to let your overactive brain and stressed out body have time to relax. This Can be VITAL for your recovery as you all know the long term effects of high stresslevels. It might actually leave you permanently damaged. both in brain body and soul and that my friends are what leads most people to burnout and burnout can in some cases lead to psychosis if not catched at an early stage.

6. Medication - this is a last resort, i got hospitalized in a psychward for 2 weeks due to total burnout and i had panic attacks two to three times a day. i was in LSD mode DP-wise and i have never felt any such hell as i did then. i probably had worse DP than most people on here and the doctors and practitioners literally fed me seroquel 100 mg and put me to bed to rest. if you feel like the stimuli of ordinary living gets you anxious or overwhelmed id strongly suggest you go see a GP or convince your parents to take you to a psychward. explain to your parents or loved ones that you have the condition and that you need their support trough this.

7. letting go - when you have the time now to focus on your recovery id urge you to find ways to focus on things you like doing. and im not talking about suring the net for 15 hours a day or watching the television for exactly as long. find something that needs your concentration and full attention. i play guitarr and ive found that it really helps in centering me and getting me to get my attention of the sensations in my body and the anxiety diminishes. find something you like doing. create something, draw or paint or play boardgames with a friend. 
so back to letting go







Letting go is a hard part of dp in the begginning because you feel like you dont have a strong enough self to actually let go of it and face the fears that needs to be faced. This however is vital to stop fearing the condition itself. After youve stopped hanging onto the little bits of your self and faced the fear of actually not being anything thats when the sence of self comes to you and at great speed. you need to throw yourself of a few cliffs to be able to move on.

8. Fearing the condition - This was a huge huge one for me, i literally felt like i was going insane and i was affraid of developing something like DID (dissociative identity disorder aka schizophreina) as i read about it here though i found that at least half of the people here had that same fear and told me to face the fear of going insane and as i did i not only realized i was far away from going insane i was actually closer to sanity than id originally thought. just ask your friends or parents how they look at you and you will expand your perception of yourself in a positive view. crazy people are crazy and your not crazy your scared. now that my fear of the condition is gone so are alot of the sensations of dissociation and i realize that it is infact this fear that keep alot of the condition going. this is however something that requires practise and doesnt happen over night. its a habit that you'll have to learn to entertain during your recovery. but trust me when your fear is gone. so is most of your dp.

9. thinking about it - as a product of fearing the condition alot of thinking about it takes place that totally distorts your view of yourself and the world around you. you start treating it as a problem that you have to "solve" or "get out of" and that makes you want to instinctively figure it out. There is nothing you need to figure out. it ALL is figured out as you go along, one day at a time, moment by moment. i found that i go stuck on one emotion or one thought and then a thought that almost automatically followed was. omg i must be crazy if this is the way i think about the world or of people. and then you stay stuck on having thought those things or felt that fear and you start the loop all over again making every sensation and thought something to worry about rather than just letting it pass and treating it like you normally would. as a thought and an emotion that will pass and it doesnt say anything about you as a person. your actions is what makes you the person you are. not what you think or feel on any given day.

10. sitting with it - my biggest strategy for dealing with the sensations of dp and the condition as a whole and thoughts is sitting with them. that means feeling the fear, feeling the anxiety REGARDLESS of how strong it is or how much you want to run away from it. this boosts your confidence and it turns anxiety into wellbeing in a flash. i look at anxiety as a source for wellbeing rather than something that is hellish and painfull. because i know that the reward for feeling fear or anxiety is confidence and wellbeing. Ill also make a paragraph here about running from yourself and emotions and sensations in your body. this was huge also i was running from everything, people, situations, circumstanses and truths of reality. what i did to no longer run away was i faced what i had to face not making a thing about the running away from it. i acutally conciously ran from things at times to just see what the hell it was that was so frightening. and as i did that i almost laughed at myself for wanting to run so badly. it is a sick form of wanting to run and it can only be cured by trying to face everything as it is. And you ARE going to ask yourself what the hell was i trying to run from?

Get it?

This is what you have to do to get out of the conditions and im sure you allready have some personal coping strategies that work for you. Good! Keep whatever works up. on a sidenote i read alot of selfhelp books along the way to help my thinking along a bit. Its alot like CBT learning to reprogram yourself etc. Also relaxation and breathingtechniques at night before going to sleep has helped me alot in just calming down when ive had a rough day. 
Please feel free to ask any question nothing is stupid to ask and dont think like you wont ever come out of it because you will. the only thing is this shit takes time. time time time time. hehe thats what people around me told me. Be patient you WILL get better. and i have time has been my friend and enemy like that. your brain is fried







face that too









Again stop thinking about it, just try to implement that habit refocus all the time and ill say it again THINK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSe.

Congrats! your one step closer to your old self =)


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## Visual (Oct 13, 2010)

Hey Game, your title made me think you were getting religious (born again?) ... lol

Thanks for the run down, especially liked the advice to take some time of work/school to recover - when you are overloaded you just need to drop the load for a while. Curiously, there was a time in the past that some when to Sanatoriums for rest - some were like hotels.

Keep up the good work, in time the remaining 15% should melt away. And hey, if you are stuck with a little residue, you still are able to enjoy your life now.

Take care


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## TheGame (Feb 1, 2011)

yes it is easier to enjoy things. thanks =)


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## LizzyB (Jun 7, 2011)

tnx for sharing this, i hope u recover soon


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

Hey man,

First of all, glad your almost recovered!

I agree with everything you've said here except for the "stop work/school"

It was definitely hard going to school this year with DP no doubt, and it wasn't easy. But luckily I got through all my classes and I have 4 months off now. You are right in a way, it's probably a bad idea to work full time or school full time and stress/burn yourself out.

But If I were to just "stop" work and school, first I'd be mad not having money, second your just going to sit at home bored and become depressed when all your friends are at school or work.

Sometimes work is hard for me but sometimes it becomes a distraction.

So I wouldn't say "stop" work/school, but modify it so you can manage it.


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

O great now I read that being burnt out leads to psychosis. Now my SZ fear is back, FUCK


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## Gypsy85 (Sep 23, 2010)

I totally agree with Jayd.

The feeling of being "needed" in this world is a basic human need and if you can -in any way- manage to go to school or work, I think you should do it. It is even a good chance to socialise... of course, too much stress should be avoided, but a regular day pattern and work should help in most cases I guess.


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## Dyna (May 13, 2010)

Gypsy85 said:


> I totally agree with Jayd.
> 
> The feeling of being "needed" in this world is a basic human need and if you can -in any way- manage to go to school or work, I think you should do it. It is even a good chance to socialise... of course, too much stress should be avoided, but a regular day pattern and work should help in most cases I guess.


Hi Thegame. Congrats on your recovery. Just wondering Are you taking any meds. Thanks, Dyna


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## TheGame (Feb 1, 2011)

Dyna said:


> Hi Thegame. Congrats on your recovery. Just wondering Are you taking any meds. Thanks, Dyna


yes i am taking seroquel 200 mg (down from 300 now) and citalopram (SSRI 20mg).


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## Dyna (May 13, 2010)

TheGame said:


> yes i am taking seroquel 200 mg (down from 300 now) and citalopram (SSRI 20mg).


Thanks. Alot of people find citalopram good. Do you think the meds helped you or just gave you a kick start?


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## TheGame (Feb 1, 2011)

The meds helped me alot in just calming me down and taking my time to do stuff. They still help me and they are going to be a part of my diet for at least 4 more months. Citalopram helps me reduce stresslevels and give me that extra wellbeing that i need to feel to get trough the day ok.









But as i said im starting to come out of DP/DR completely. And i have reduced my intake of seroquel down to 200 mg from 300 mg


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## Dyna (May 13, 2010)

TheGame said:


> The meds helped me alot in just calming me down and taking my time to do stuff. They still help me and they are going to be a part of my diet for at least 4 more months. Citalopram helps me reduce stresslevels and give me that extra wellbeing that i need to feel to get trough the day ok.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks!


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## Infinitevoid (Mar 25, 2010)

Have any advice for someone who doesn't really experience anxiety anymore but still has massive DPDR? Kind of tired of talking with someone else's mouth, etc. I used to have panic attacks but got over them. I take vitamins every day, eat healthy, exercise, have a low stress job, talk with friends. Wat do?


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## TheGame (Feb 1, 2011)

Infinitevoid said:


> Have any advice for someone who doesn't really experience anxiety anymore but still has massive DPDR? Kind of tired of talking with someone else's mouth, etc. I used to have panic attacks but got over them. I take vitamins every day, eat healthy, exercise, have a low stress job, talk with friends. Wat do?


work on the behaviours that still keep the condition going for you. Like dissociative running away behaviour tends to keep DP going at least. As for DR you only have to wait and sit with it and it will eventually subside. And also let it take time man, your body and mind are fucked and need healing. Do everything in your power to make it so that your brain is comfortable. i stopped watching movies for a time until my mind had settled down a bit.

I played guitarr during that time and it hasnt bothered me but sure helped my brain heal faster.


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