# Can DPD last for an entire lifetime?



## Quarter Pounder (Jun 17, 2011)

Quoting directly from Wikipedia (from the Cannabis (drug) article):



> (...) However, cannabis has been consistently shown to induce depersonalization disorder. There are case reports in the literature where chronic depersonalization is induced by only short-term cannabis ingestion. In a series of 117 individuals with depersonalization disorder, about 13% reported the short-term triggering of chronic depersonalization by marijuana smoking. There are cases where individuals have gotten depersonalization disorder when trying cannabis for the first time. *Chronic depersonalization disorder can last an entire lifetime, and to date there are no specific medical treatments* (just medications which ameliorate the negative symptoms of depersonalization disorder, which are mainly depression and anxiety), although some research has been promising.


Is this true? I mean, I've seen cases of people with +10 years of DP/DR and it sounds bad enough. But lifelong? And with _no_ known treatments?
Really, I'm begining to question why don't I just top myself off for good.

Why does this disorder even exist? Makes no sense at all to me... All other illnesses make sense. This one doesn't.
A single bad experience with weed -> Detached from reality, emotions and the people you love for the rest of your life? What the fuck is that?


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2011)

Of course it can last a life time, and why does this not make sense to you? its a fucking defense mechanism.


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## Depersonal Eyes (Oct 10, 2011)

That was definately SoulSeeker's edit to Wikipedia! You found it!


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

It doesn't make the most sense beauae we don't understand all the wrkings of the mind yet. It can last that long, if you don't do anything about it, or continue to use drugs in that case. There are theories and treatments out there, but you have to make a move. And if you did get it from pot and don't have other things going on you might be able to swing a spot in a study


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

I think everyone needs to remember that sometimes you can just snap back out of DP, but reading all the negative shit here will probably prolong that. It does happen.

Another thing, fortunately my family doctor has dealt with people with DP. And he says that everyone hes dealt with has gotten progressively better as time went on. But in my personal opinion I believe those are the people who got off sites like this and really just get on with life.

For the past week I have seen like 3 things on suicide, I don't know about you guys but that affects me negatively. Is it wrong for someone to feel that, no it isnt.


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## Felicity (Feb 7, 2011)

I think it is based on fucked up brain chemistry, and so, as long as those chemical conditions exist, can last for a lifetime. There may be some completely innocuous and obvious cure though, like more sunlight, or less exposure to zinc or something.


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## InfiniteDivine (Aug 9, 2011)

You know sometimes I get the idea that people forget that life is painful and difficult even for those without DP. Yes I know DP is a hell in itself and it's easy to remember how wonderful life was before DP. But on the other hand, DP or not, people are on this earth for like 80 years, and sometimes I think people get the idea that if their DP just vanished, the rest of their life will be a cake walk. This is just fantasy. I mean, especially in the western hemisphere our minds are gear towards instant gratification. People who don't have DP still hope for that ONE thing that will change everything and make the rest of their life flow with ease and happiness. Suffering is part of the human condition. DP lasting a lifetime or one week is irrelevent, I think for every single human, even the ones who appear to be so happy, life is a struggle and the number one way to get through it is just to try your best every day. That's it. DP or no dp, being human is fucking hard, and there is no cure for that.

I mean, I'm 21 years old. If my DP just disapeared tonight, It's not like the next 60 years (if I lived a full lifetime) is going to be a blissful, happy, fullfilling experience. There is still so much ahead, so many obstacles.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

The thing people are missing and not really beleiving yet, is that thoughts and emotions and actions can change brain chemistry and function just lik. Chemistry can change thoughts and emotions. No it's not easy but it may be simple. Every thing is entwined with everything else, that why therapy *and* medication has been found to be the best treatment for mot mental illnesses together. How you think can change how you are, yes it takes time, but it can happen. It's good to have healthy support, but you can lt be dependant on one source , like a website.

And I will not discourage anyone from talking about suicide (not saying anyone else was) , that's one of the things that you need to tell someone if it's going on, if you don't want to read it don't. But please keep posting if it's needed


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## SSJ3Lotokun (Nov 21, 2011)

InfiniteDivine said:


> You know sometimes I get the idea that people forget that life is painful and difficult even for those without DP. Yes I know DP is a hell in itself and it's easy to remember how wonderful life was before DP. But on the other hand, DP or not, people are on this earth for like 80 years, and sometimes I think people get the idea that if their DP just vanished, the rest of their life will be a cake walk. This is just fantasy. I mean, especially in the western hemisphere our minds are gear towards instant gratification. People who don't have DP still hope for that ONE thing that will change everything and make the rest of their life flow with ease and happiness. Suffering is part of the human condition. DP lasting a lifetime or one week is irrelevent, I think for every single human, even the ones who appear to be so happy, life is a struggle and the number one way to get through it is just to try your best every day. That's it. DP or no dp, being human is fucking hard, and there is no cure for that.
> 
> I mean, I'm 21 years old. If my DP just disapeared tonight, It's not like the next 60 years (if I lived a full lifetime) is going to be a blissful, happy, fullfilling experience. There is still so much ahead, so many obstacles.


I think about this a lot. Looking back on my life I don't think I've ever known anyone I'd consider sane. Everyone is quietly suffering in their own way. And most people are working towards "happiness" as if it's a place that can be reached. But happiness is more like a series of moments that come when you least expect it.

I've been dealing with this illness for as long as I can remember, far longer than I knew it was even a real issue. I honestly hope to make peace with it (and with myself) since that feels more likely than recovery at this point.


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## perd (Oct 17, 2011)

Jayd said:


> I think everyone needs to remember that sometimes you can just snap back out of DP, but reading all the negative shit here will probably prolong that. It does happen.
> 
> Another thing, fortunately my family doctor has dealt with people with DP. And he says that everyone hes dealt with has gotten progressively better as time went on. But in my personal opinion I believe those are the people who got off sites like this and really just get on with life.
> 
> For the past week I have seen like 3 things on suicide, I don't know about you guys but that affects me negatively. Is it wrong for someone to feel that, no it isnt.


jayd when you say progressively got better , you mean they got better, or they reached a point where they are 100% cured?


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## PhoenixDown (Mar 3, 2011)

Soulseeker spreading the word worldwide.


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## PhoenixDown (Mar 3, 2011)

> Why does this disorder even exist? Makes no sense at all to me... All other illnesses make sense. This one doesn't.
> A single bad experience with weed -> Detached from reality, emotions and the people you love for the rest of your life? What the fuck is that?


of course this shit doesn't make sense. It's sent straight to earth like a bat from hell.


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

perdurabo said:


> jayd when you say progressively got better , you mean they got better, or they reached a point where they are 100% cured?


Well he didnt tell me exactly if they recovered 100% but he made it sound like things just get overall better to the point where you dont feel DP'd anymore. Not exactly sure.


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## Chris P Bacon (May 31, 2011)

There is such a thing as primary depersonalization disorder apparently, which you cannot recover from, however, it is extremely rare and its much more likely that you have got this through anxiety/drugs.

For me, I got this after 2 months of terrible anxiety, its the people who didn't have a trigger that I feel sorry for, at least I know that if I can get over my anxiety then I'll be well on my way, for them, they musn't know where to start.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

Actually the latest lit on traumatic dissociation has shown much much more promising results when treating a primary dissociation, and the secondary dissociation is the one that can predict slower more dificult outcomes


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

Chris P Bacon said:


> There is such a thing as primary depersonalization disorder apparently, which you cannot recover from, however, it is extremely rare and its much more likely that you have got this through anxiety/drugs.
> 
> For me, I got this after 2 months of terrible anxiety, its the people who didn't have a trigger that I feel sorry for, at least I know that if I can get over my anxiety then I'll be well on my way, for them, they musn't know where to start.


Yeah I don't know what my trigger was, I just remember waking up one morning and everything was different


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## perd (Oct 17, 2011)

Jayd said:


> Well he didnt tell me exactly if they recovered 100% but he made it sound like things just get overall better to the point where you dont feel DP'd anymore. Not exactly sure.


can you please ask him and report back to us?


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## toshibatelly (Sep 13, 2011)

It probably can last a lifetime, it is, after all, a chronic condition. However, a lot of the time it doesn't, and even if people have recurrent bouts of depersonalization throughout their lifetime it doesn't mean they don't have periods when they are symptom free; I had 5-6 years without any major symptoms (very occasional, as in less than monthly, panic attacks with accompanying depersonalization).

I don't think dwelling on worst case scenarios is a very healthy thing to do. Know all the possibilities and discuss your fears with others by all means but if you can avoid it don't spend time thinking about what if X happen, doing that is no way to live your life.


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## Quarter Pounder (Jun 17, 2011)

InfiniteDivine said:


> Yeah I don't know what my trigger was, I just remember waking up one morning and everything was different


That must feel so horrible man... You still don't know what was your trigger?


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## rob (Aug 22, 2004)

Quarter Pounder said:


> Quoting directly from Wikipedia (from the Cannabis (drug) article):
> 
> Is this true? I mean, I've seen cases of people with +10 years of DP/DR and it sounds bad enough. But lifelong? And with _no_ known treatments?
> Really, I'm begining to question why don't I just top myself off for good.
> ...


I've had DP for 40+ years .. so yes it probably is true.

Whilst I have heard of DP'd people who's condition has improved and people who have learnt to get on with their lives, I have never met or heard of anyone who has been 100% "cured" of DP - ie. completely back to "normal" with no qualifications/residual symptoms.

I have met a couple of people with other issues (both entirely different) who seem to drift in and out of DP for months and sometimes years at a time.

On very rare occasions I have felt completely "cured" for anywhere between a few minutes and an hour. One of those occasions was sitting on a bus after talking with my psychiatrist .. another was after smoking "skunk" .. people around me were wasted .. I felt completely straightened out .. DP/DR gone ..

These rare and temporary remissions suggest to me that DP is *not* hard-wired into our brains.

But something ongoing in our psyche is apparently able to trigger this strange mechanism indefinitely.

We can try to interfere with the material functioning of DP (medication/TMS) or we can try to identify and nullify the trigger (therapy and/or medication to deal with underlying anxieties).

DP is a difficult, if not impossible condition to unravel. Perhaps you have to start with the fear of DP itself and work back. It's different for everyone and nobody understands it.


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## Quarter Pounder (Jun 17, 2011)

rob said:


> I've had DP for 40+ years .. so yes it probably is true.
> 
> Whilst I have heard of DP'd people who's condition has improved and people who have learnt to get on with their lives, I have never met or heard of anyone who has been 100% "cured" of DP - ie. completely back to "normal" with no qualifications/residual symptoms.
> 
> ...


That's quite interesting. And I agree, DP is not hard-wired into our brains, something -neurological or not- must be re-triggering it constantly and keeping it alive. The key with this condition is to find out what exactly is doing this.
But it could be a million things, that's the problem. Maybe one day one of us takes a pill for I don't know, blood preasure or diabetes (?) or something like that, completely unrelated, and gets cured and we then find out that was the antidote we were needing. Maybe with another drug (e.g. Ayahuasca, LSD, etc.) or even perhaps, depending on the person, a successful emotional insight brought with proper therapy. Who knows.

And yes, DP is a very very _very _complex condition and won't probably remain known as an awry condition until the brain and it's internal functioning it's completely figured out. We still don't know how much is interconnected with the rest of the body.

It's really shitty, though, that 3 years after I got this I know as much as I knew the first day (for practical purposes, of course).


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## Devon (Oct 28, 2011)

Feeling unreal (the book) talks about many cases where it lasts a lifetime. I guess the most famous case is Henri-Frédéric Amiel, who died with the condition and never became all he could be.


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