# Crying and DPD



## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

The part of the brain associated with emotions is supposed to be affected with DPD, usually described as a lack of strong feelings.

I don't have this, even as a chronic sufferer. I just cried at the end of a TV series I watched. I feel less depersonalized when I cry, I feel more normal.

What's your take on this? Do you suffer from the typical suppressed emotions?


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

I went through at least seven years of DP before losing my feelings (no nostalgia or feeling butterflies around a beautiful girl), but I think its because I stopped feeling safe enough to cry (and I used to be able to cry on a dime). Every time I cry I remember how I used to feel.

And that's why I always used to never get a fck about recovering from DP or not was because emotionally I felt the same as the old me, and assumed DP was just a result of the chronic panic attacks I was having. Once I lost that connection, I really started researching about DP the way some people do as soon as they first get it.


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## Pyrite (Mar 25, 2014)

supernova said:


> The part of the brain associated with emotions is supposed to be affected with DPD, usually described as a lack of strong feelings.
> 
> I don't have this, even as a chronic sufferer. I just cried at the end of a TV series I watched. I feel less depersonalized when I cry, I feel more normal.
> 
> What's your take on this? Do you suffer from the typical suppressed emotions?


I'm the same way, I walways feel better after strong emotions, whether they are happy, sad, or angry.

Honestly, I think the lack of strong emotions has less to do with DP/DR it's self and more with how people are reacting to it.


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

Pyrite said:


> Honestly, I think the lack of strong emotions has less to do with DP/DR it's self and more with how people are reacting to it.


I feel the same way. There are people without DP, that lose their strong feelings as well.

Basically, emotional flatness and DP are two different things imo.


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## Sa-lB (Jul 16, 2013)

I don't suffer from this either.

I cry quite a lot lol.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

crying feels so awesome and so goddamn human and real. I love crying.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

We can deduce people with DPD don't always process emotions the same way.

*'A core complaint of DPD sufferers is the dulling of emotional responses, and previous work has shown that, in response to aversive stimuli, DPD patients do not show activation of brain regions involved in normal emotional processing'*

*'This study provides further evidence that patients with DPD do not process emotionally salient material in the same way as healthy controls'*

We also know the limbic system/amygdala plays a role.

Interestingly enough, the study I quoted refers to 'Primary Depersonalization.' I wonder if people with secondary Depersonalization can expect any difference.


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## Pyrite (Mar 25, 2014)

supernova said:


> We can deduce people with DPD don't always process emotions the same way.
> 
> *'A core complaint of DPD sufferers is the dulling of emotional responses, and previous work has shown that, in response to aversive stimuli, DPD patients do not show activation of brain regions involved in normal emotional processing'*
> 
> ...


My DP came from a life time of chronic stress and was capped off with a close friends attempted suicide, I assume that counts as secondary?


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

Pyrite said:


> My DP came from a life time of chronic stress and was capped off with a close friends attempted suicide, I assume that counts as secondary?


Here's my understanding:

Primary exists independently outside of another mental illnesses

Secondary is the result of anxiety or another illness

I'd like to know more about how each definition applies to us. If Dreamer drops by, she is likely well versed in the subject.


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## *Dreamer* (Feb 18, 2014)

Even when this started when I was 4 or 5 I was very emotional. I still am. I can laugh, cry, get angry, etc. These days I feel more "flat" -- that is I'm not reacting to things as much as usual -- perhaps less depression.

I was never really able to connect with "no emotions" and DP/DR. Only when the DP/DR have been hideous and I am basically completely debilitated by it ... I can't cry, laugh, etc., but I feel abject terror.

I was crying, anxious, and DP/DR from day one.

We are unique in how we experience this. I was reading a medical description again and I wonder if what is described is still a misunderstanding by a mental health professional, researcher, etc. OR, this is so difficult to articulate it can be interpreted in many ways by someone to capture a written description.

I always say, you can't understand this or any other brain disroder without experiencing it first hand, and even here when we connect with each other, experiences are still unique, and other disorders can be comorbid with the DP.

Difficult to sort out.


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## *Dreamer* (Feb 18, 2014)

supernova said:


> Here's my understanding:
> 
> Primary exists independently outside of another mental illnesses
> 
> ...


Thank you, but honestly, I don't know who is well-versed anymore, lol.

Even "Primary DP" or DP Disorder which "exists unto itself" -- I don't know how common that really is. I always hear "no mental illness occurs in a vacuum." In other words if you have DP/DR it could be considered PRIMARY if it is your most debilitating symptom. But honestly, the more I talk with people, MANY -- and I can't give statistics -- have other issues -- from anxiety to schizoprhenia (NO WE DON'T HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA).

Depression comes with anxiety and anxiety comes with depression, etc.

I'd say the ultimate 100% pure DP/DR comes with clear neurological problems -- epilepsy, stroke, migraine, severe head trauma, brain tumor, etc. And yet individuals who experience this from these causes still find it distressing, so they have an "umbrella" diagnosis, and the DP/DR somehow tags along as its own disorder.

Sorry, can't articulate this very well. It's slippery stuff to articulate.


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