# IDENTITY CRISIS??



## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

Ive been thinking about the possibility of the relationship between common Identity Crisis and Depersonnalization Disorder.

I think everyone goes through transitional phases in their lives and its not always around the "mid life mark" either

I dont really get any "physical symptoms" of DP other than sometimes my hands look like they have a mind of their own, which feels very strange. My main symptoms are not really being able to FEEL like ME anymore, like im a diluted version of the real I, like i cant fully connect to the personality i know is in there, or that i feel someone has taken part of my soul away. My emotions towards others are fine, i laugh, cry, love, hate, so none of that has changed, no emotional blunting. I just feel blunted in myself.

I wonder how many people here are just going thought a transitional period and not suffering DP Disorder? i suppose it depends on how long its persisted for. A crisis doesnt last for 10 years now does it like some of you guys have suffered for. Ah i dunno :?

But could some cases here be attributed to a plain old Identity Crisis or is it something more like DP? i think there might be a fine line between the two.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

NikkiUK said:


> Ive been thinking about the possibility of the relationship between common Identity Crisis and Depersonnalization Disorder.
> 
> I think everyone goes through transitional phases in their lives and its not always around the "mid life mark" either
> 
> ...


MHO, some of the milder forms of DP-like symptoms could very well be attributed to an identity crisis. We're just talking 'labels' here for the sake of sorting different experiences into their own little bucket. That's probably helpful in toning down the anxiety for some people that aren't experiencing serious DP. It's all a matter of scale.

MHO, an 'identity crisis' has a very short range of affect on a person. Going to your local 'head shrinker' could probably clear that right up depending on how willing a person is to let the 'doc' help them connect new dots...build a new matrix for themselves.

MHO, it's not that simple for DP and definitely not for DR. DP is a more extreme version and has ramifications that the traditionally acccepted forms of 'identity crisis' don't possess. The impact on daily life is far-reaching. And, too, an 'identity crisis' doesn't usually create enough anxiety and stress in a person that they actually consider suicide to get away from the psychic pain.

....just a brief rundown...again MHO....


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## greatnavad (Feb 23, 2006)

HI NIK!!!!!!
how u DOINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN???

Great to see u again on these forums.

Echoing miss Walters, i would say that DP ranges in a spectrum of symptoms. At the most extreme variety , u probably would have partial amnesia, physical disablity, TOTAL loss of self,very bad DR alongwith it..
I dont know whether these are the people who contemplate suicide,but i wonder..

On the other hand, you have poeple who have occasional obessional thoughts about self or ego and which rarely interferes in life..
But these guys have DP neverthless.

I fall somewhere in b/w..i dont have amnesia or physical probs like YOU...but i have LOSS of self.. i nver had a concrete SELF in me. Of courese, it never interferes in outside world with me.
people reckon iam extremely sucessfull and they never have a doubt about my mental condition.

Text book defination says that " One can be diagonosed with DP DIsorder only when it interferes with regular functioning of life"..
Its for you to take that as u wish, but id say thats a pretty out dated Definition.
By that def, I dont have DP...

CHEERS 

Nevin.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

greatnavad said:


> Text book defination says that " One can be diagonosed with DP DIsorder only when it interferes with regular functioning of life"..
> Its for you to take that as u wish, but id say thats a pretty out dated Definition.
> 
> By that def, I dont have DP...
> ...


Okay, somebody needs to define 'regular functioning in life.' :lol: I had serious DP and not a blessed soul thought there was anything wrong with me! It took everything I had in me to maintain a facade of 'normalcy.' But I did it. It ended up making me physically sick due to having to do it so long but I did it all the same.

'Medical definitions' for DP suck canal water as far as I'm concerned. And I'm sooooo fed up with all this 'normalcy' crap. I had a friend with a very serious weight problem. She weighed over 300 lbs.!! I asked her if they had checked her thyroid. She said "Yes, and they said it was within the 'normal' range.' AAarrrgghhhh!!! Welllllll, after insisting, they put her on a low dosage of thyroid and she dropped some of that weight. The only reason she didn't drop a ton of it was because she comforted her emotional upsets with food. Part of that upset being that she had gone all those years 'within the normal range', suffering severe emotional upset in relationships...which she couldn't keep and she blamed on her weight. She created a vicious circle.

Bottom line: 'normal' is very overrated... :x


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## greatnavad (Feb 23, 2006)

HI,
Thats a good point you make miss walters.

Now iam not a Head-Doc, but id say that STUFF that REALLY INTERFERES with REGULAR FUNCTIONING of LIFE would be stuff like MPD and SCHIZOPHRENIA.

Now i know , needless to say, that some of us suffer more pain than MPD and SCHIZO's , for they are blissfully unaware of thier condition, BUT i think an MPD and SCHIZO'ed people have REAL PROBLEMS.

LIKE for ex.. an MPDed Guy may not remember who he slept with no matter how hard he tries.that makes him all illusioned and SUICIDAL.
and schizo's see things that dont exist probably, which again interferes in regular life.

DP can interfere in LIFE in an indirect way , we can push our BRAIN CHIPS to brink by thinking over unanswerable things, and FEAR provides fuel to it all the while.
BUT, IN MY OPNION, (PROVIDIED there are significant phy. symptoms), i feel DP is LOW on the LIFE-INTERFERENCE LIST.

Nevin.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

greatnavad said:


> BUT, IN MY OPNION, (PROVIDIED there are significant phy. symptoms), i feel DP is LOW on the LIFE-INTERFERENCE LIST.
> 
> Nevin.


I agree that it CAN BE low on the life-intereference list. The same as one schizophrenic can function 'normally' on meds and another one can't...meds don't work for whatever reason. It all has to come down to a 'case-by-case' basis, MHO. But letting DPer's in general know that there is 'life after DP' and also that they can do more than they realize to adjust and possibly even make their life better. I think DP can be made much worse than it would be if the person is the type that basically wants to turn their life over to somebody else to 'fix.' That's not what my sister calls a 'make wrong.' It's just the way some people's innate psychological construct is made up. They can fix that, but they may not realize it because they take their 'position' as part of 'reality' or 'who they really are' and can't recognize that it IS changeable and that they hold the controls. But i'm starting to ramble.......


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## greatnavad (Feb 23, 2006)

"I agree that it CAN BE low on the life-intereference list. The same as one schizophrenic can function 'normally' on meds and another one can't".....

I beg to differ. 
i thnk its a qustion of basically what you have and what you make of it.
A schizo has a very big Problem..serious problems..whether he chooses to make it better or not.

I dont think DP deserves to be on par with that ...no matter what the symptoms are..
Just my thoughts.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

greatnavad said:


> "I agree that it CAN BE low on the life-intereference list. The same as one schizophrenic can function 'normally' on meds and another one can't".....
> 
> I beg to differ.
> i thnk its a qustion of basically what you have and what you make of it.
> ...


Apparently you haven't had serious DP.

I agree that it's different for schizophrenics. They can't get back to 'normal' without intervention...meds. They can't 'stay normal' without meds. It's a permanent disruption of conceptual functioning.

With DPer's 'reality testing' is intact. They consciously 'know' that what's going on isn't 'normal.' They have a certain amount of conscious control as to how it affects them and how it 'shows on the outside.' But I think it's a mistake to mitigate the level of disruption that DP can cause. I still say that a 'case-by-case' basis is the only way to work with it.


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## greatnavad (Feb 23, 2006)

To argue my case further, MY LORD, i present here more evidence 

According to one of the most famous and OLD Dp websites : http://www.depersonalization.info/overview.html..:
"One key phrase in the disorder's DSM-IV definition is: reality testing remains intact,... While a degree of depersonalization may be present in other illnesses, like schizophrenia, this is not a psychotic condition. The person knows that something is terribly wrong, and grapples with trying to figure out what it is. If anything, it's the opposite of insanity. It's like being too sane. You become hypervigilant of your existence and things around you.

.......The criteria for Depersonalization as a unique disorder has been clearly spelled out says Los Angeles psychiatrist Oscar Janiger. Janiger, formerly an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Irvine, has treated many patients with Depersonalization Disorder (DP) during his 40-plus year practice, and in fact has endured the condition himself. 
But in addition to their common symptoms, DP sufferers have another shared experience, Janiger adds. Most have a pattern of going to doctor after doctor with little or no relief other than the standard trial and error treatments for depression and anxiety.

One key phrase in the disorder's DSM-IV definition is: reality testing remains intact, Janiger adds. While a degree of depersonalization may be present in other illnesses, like schizophrenia, this is not a psychotic condition. The person knows that something is terribly wrong, and grapples with trying to figure out what it is. If anything, it's the opposite of insanity. It's like being too sane. You become hypervigilant of your existence and things around you.

Indeed, chronic depersonalization often includes a sensation of overconsciousness wherein each thought seems too apparent, or too loud, like the volume of a low-playing radio suddenly turned up to its maximum according to one sufferer.

Signs of depersonalization can occur with many illnesses, however isn't clear why the condition persists in some people. Chronically depersonalized persons (or D-People as they're often called) are usually highly intelligent, and prone to intellectual ruminating. Onset is most often seen at an early age, from around puberty to the late twenties. There has been evidence of links in some cases to early childhood trauma, Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, stress resulting from life threatening situations, and Migraine. Evidence has also suggested that it afflicts females to a greater degree than males.

In time, depersonalized people can make some accommodations to the condition, ..... They know it won't kill them or make them insane. It isn't a progressive illness. It may constitute a subtle alteration of perception. It's more like adjusting to a pair of glasses that makes everything appear upside down. Eventually one may find ways of adapting.

Accordingly, people with DP disorder become masters at maintaining a front, appearing quite normal to friends, family and co-workers. The sense of being an automaton as described in DSM-IV is consistent with going through the familiar routines of a lifetime. 
..."

all this appears to suggest that DP aint so serious a problem as SChizophrenia or MPD.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

greatnavad, I'm confused. I'm not in disagreement with any of that information. I read that already, as a matter of fact, and don't see anything wrong with it. Maybe there was a misstep somewhere in our communication. Ya think? I'll have to back through the posts and see where I may have taken 'a left turn at Albuquerque.' :lol:


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

greatnavad wrote in an earlier post: "Now i know , needless to say, that some of us suffer more pain than MPD and SCHIZO's , for they are blissfully unaware of thier condition, BUT i think an MPD and SCHIZO'ed people have REAL PROBLEMS.

LIKE for ex.. an MPDed Guy may not remember who he slept with no matter how hard he tries.that makes him all illusioned and SUICIDAL. and schizo's see things that dont exist probably, which again interferes in regular life.

DP can interfere in LIFE in an indirect way , we can push our BRAIN CHIPS to brink by thinking over unanswerable things, and FEAR provides fuel to it all the while.

BUT, IN MY OPNION, (PROVIDIED there are significant phy. symptoms), i feel DP is LOW on the LIFE-INTERFERENCE LIST."

I think I see where my 'left turn' occurred. I took exception to the implication that DP's consciously and intentionally "push...BRAIN CHIPS to the brink by thinking over unanswerable things, and FEAR provides fuel to it all the while." I think I speak for many here when I say that 'obsessive/compulsive thinking, thoughts racing around in the head preventing clarity and 'normal' cognitive function' is a direct interference in everyday life. You imply that they have control over that. I disagree. At the worst of that particular DP problem, madness seems like a breath away. Not every DPer can create that 'normal front'. In many cases, the best they can do is not leave the house, curls up in a ball or go to bed or drink themselves into insensibility to stop it. We need some of these folks to weigh in here that find that particular symptom very paralyzing.

The 'Fear' involved is a natural component to the mind's perception that it is in serious dissaray and it tries madly to form an answer and stabilize itself. Beyond being a normal 'kneejerk' reaction by the body's own defense mechanisms, it is understandable that, at least initially, DPer's will dive in and participate in all that fear.

Schizophrenics are delusional. DP'ers are not but, many times, they think they are. They have emotionally impactful experience of not knowing which and what that's going on in their head is the truth and why is it all over the place and what happened to their sense of themselves? It's scary as hell.

Maybe I still haven't hit on the crux of the misunderstanding. I still think you are minimizing the impact for some people and implying that they have more control than they really do....case by case. I don't disagree that MPD and Schizophrenics have REAL problems but, as you said, they are generally unaware of it. I would think with some cases of DP and especially for DR, 'being aware' only adds to the terror of it all. I don't dismiss 'terror' as 'unreal' in the ream of 'problems.'


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## Rozanne (Feb 24, 2006)




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## LOSTONE (Jul 9, 2005)

> would think with some cases of DP and especially for DR, 'being aware' only adds to the terror of it all. I don't dismiss 'terror' as 'unreal' in the ream of 'problems.


kwgrid that is a very good point and it is why I have often wished that I was a delusional schizophrenic because I have known many of them that seem to be very happy. Many of them also kill themselves like my great uncle did but I would agree with kwgrid and place DP/DR at the same level of damage that schizophenia can cause. They are diffrent illnesses but I don't think that one is worse then the other except for the fact that DP/DR is probably much easier to cure.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

miss_starling said:


> Sorry to bypass the argument. I just wanted to confess my sins and say that I have a mid-life crisis every week; I couldn't say I am having identity crisis because I don't know what my identity is. The strongest identity I have right now is that I am a DR/DPer!!! Love.


 :lol: :lol: :lol: Love it!


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

LOSTONE said:


> <snipped> They are diffrent illnesses but I don't think that one is worse then the other except for the fact that DP/DR is probably much easier to cure.


Schizophrenia cannot be 'cured.' It can only be managed. At this point, DP/DR is in the same category. If 'cure' comes, it's not because of a 'cure' applied. Know what I mean? Also, DP, not so much DR, can be helped a lot by it's 'owner' whereas Schizophrenia cannot...other than being 'compliant' and taking their meds the right way. But, again, it depends on the level of impairment the person is suffering with their DP.


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## LOSTONE (Jul 9, 2005)

Okay managed it is then.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

LOSTONE said:


> Okay managed it is then.


My mother was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. Let me share a little bit about this, if you don't mind (editorial 'you') :wink:

My mother had tumors on her thyroid gland. Mind you, this was way back around 1958 or so. They didn't know diddly in this neck of the woods about the thyroid or the parathyroid. She had surgery for the thyroid and they accidentally cut into the parathyroid so had to remove it...or thought they did anyway. She was sent home to 'convalesce..recuperate...'.

Well, after just a week or so she went into convulsions. My grandfather took her to the hospital and they gave her morphine to 'calm her down.' She had an adverse reaction to the morphine and got wild as a march hare. Fortunately, a resident remembered reading something that had just come out about the thyroid and he suggested they give her calcium. This helped tremendously but they didn't know about or have 'thyroid' to give her to go with it so the calcium was next to useless since the thyroid regulates the calcium in the body so she went into convulsions again but they couldn't give her morphine because they knew she would have a bad reaction.

The doctor told my grandfather that they were not in a position to handle that kind of 'behavior' so they sent her to the State Hospital for the mentally ill just because they were more 'trained' (oh God, forgive me for using that term so loosely) to deal with it. Long story short: THEY PUT HER ON PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS! THEY GAVE HER SHOCK TREATMENTS! THEY PUT HER IN A CELL WITH ONLY A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE TO USE THE BATHROOM!! If you've ever seen the old move "The Snake Pit" then you have an idea of what it was like. My poor mother..  This went on for not too terribly long before they came out with thyroid supplementation but by this time her system was so screwed up that even with the thyroid and calcium she was never the same.

I talked to a psychiatric nurse that was taking care of my mother during one of her many subsequent visits to the State hospital and I told her how my mother came to be that way. Her comment: "Well, if she wasn't paranoid schizophrenic then, she certainly is now." Yeh, thanks to those psychotropic drugs!  Talk about no quality of life!!! She had to live with this mess for almost 50 more years! It tore her general health to pieces whereas prior to that she was a very beautiful and smart lady...if I do say so myself. 

I DO NOT TRUST the psychiatric or mental health community as far as I can throw 'em. I know that nowadays they help a lot of people but they are a FAR CRY from having it 'all together.'


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## Luka (Aug 30, 2005)

Here we go again...Why the comparison? :? In heavens name, will everyone stop that?! I have MPD (it has been renamed DID for 12 years now, but okay...) and why am I worse off than a person with "only" DP/DR? I have a fairly decent life you know. And why do you put schizofrenia and MPD in the same corner? People with MPD _do_ know what happens to them despite the fact that they sometimes lose time.


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## Luka (Aug 30, 2005)

kwgrid, that's so awful


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

Luka said:


> kwgrid, that's so awful


Luka, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't want to do 'awful.' Please explain.  Did I write something that insulted or otherwise hurt you? God, I didn't mean to if I did.


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

Luka said:


> kwgrid, that's so awful


Oh, you're talking about my mother? I'm so thick sometimes...


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## Luka (Aug 30, 2005)

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I just read about your mother and it hurts that people were treated that way (maybe still are...)  Poor woman!


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

Luka said:


> I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I just read about your mother and it hurts that people were treated that way (maybe still are...)  Poor woman!


Thinking about her is one of only two things that will bring me instantly to tears. The other thing is when my ex, with one hand, picked up our then 11-month old daughter by the hair on her head and threw her at me.


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## Luka (Aug 30, 2005)

People can do horrible things to one another. Unfortunately, I know first hand  But we can be different!


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## Guest (Mar 8, 2006)

Luka said:


> I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. I just read about your mother and it hurts that people were treated that way (maybe still are...)  Poor woman!


Thank you for the sentiment. I have to say it really was a bad and very sad situation....

And, yeh, you can bet your sweet bippy that mentally ill people in State or charitable hospitals are still treated that way. Maybe not the cell with only a hole in the middle but they are abused. When I was 'grown' it became my responsibility to 'deal' with mother if she had to be taken to the hospital. I personally dealt with about 10 of her 13 or so trips over there. Horrible place....

And she got no sympathy from her parents. They consider that sort of thing a character defect....or did back then. sigh... Truth is that mental health issues scare the hell out of people. They can't deal with something that is so unquantifiable.

I was thinking about mental health 'cures' that came up in another post. I don't think there's a 'cure' on the planet for any form of mental illness. It's simply 'managed' either with drugs or some other method. With the milder formof DP, I think it could be 'managed' without drugs...


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