# The Slow but effective reality of recovery.



## person3 (Aug 10, 2004)

I have been recovering, over the last couple of years, but mostly over the last 10 months or so. Here are my things:

First, I had someone whom I could trust and relate to, whom I shared my deepest darkest secrets with. In substance abuse programs they tell addicts that they're only as sober as their darkest secret, and I believe that we are only as mentally sick as the things about ourselves we refuse to tell. Slowly opening up to people (and sometimes just jumping into a big secret with a person I trust) was a cornerstone to recovery.

Also, one of the biggest, if not the biggest contributors to my recovery was joining Alcoholics Anonymous. Don't ask me how or why, I just knew I belonged there when I entered the local AA rooms. I'm not a drinker, I can barely stand alcohol. But I am an addict of many things, including control (which many DPers and alcoholics alike are addicted to). I realized the thinking that traps someone into dp is very similar to an alcoholic mind as described in AA literature. Also, I have friends. TONS of friends. I have 175 numbers on my cell phone. I am slowly building friendships with women, something that I have not done well before. I'm slowly learning to let go of my codependent dating patterns. But most of all, I'm having fun and becoming a stronger, more mature, more peaceful and stable person. I really believe AA has something to offer people with mental issues. It has saved my life.

I would go as far to say that the DP might be the best thing that's ever happened to me, because if I had been a mentally healthy person I wouldn't have joined AA, and I wouldn't have met all the cool people I've met and had support and caring in my life like i do now.

Another thing that has really helped with my self esteem and confidence is to be really taking care of my body. Before, I would take care of a medical issue if I felt that it could somehow cure DP, now I take care of things for the sake of taking care of them. This means that as a female I make regular visits to the OB-GYN, and that I make my other appointments. Something about being timely and responsible for my body, DP or no DP, brings a great amount of relief, as I begin to respect myself and my body more (something I hated pre-DP).

I have found a decent psychologist, as I think the time was ready. It's only been two sessions, but things seem to be looking up well.

My intuition. The more I work on myself, the more I can trust my gut feelings, which lead me to further bits of recovery.

Getting down to core issues. One thing that I have addressed with my psychologist is my eating disorder history. I truly believe that if I had not had an eating-disordered mindset that I probably would have never had DP, so I think it's important to address that core issues. I would invite you to look at any other major issues in your life, ie certain behaviors, disorders, or addictions, and be willing to peer into them and the feelings and motivators behind them.

This recovery has been slow at times and fast at times, and sometimes good and bad. But I am much better off, I feel, than I was a year ago. I'm learning- sometimes- to accept a slow recovery, to be patient with myself. When I accept the slow process I immediately feel better and find that life can still be very fun and enriching. I believe the patience acquired in recovery from a mental illness will be a great tool in the future, when life calls me to be patient in other areas as well. Believe it or not, but our battles with DP are giving us important tools for life that we needed anyway. So there is some good in the worst of it.

I hope some of this will help you guys, or that it is something to consider!

Best,
M


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## Welshlad (Jul 11, 2005)

first visit back here and wow, i can really relate to this. The patterns of thoughts we keep ourselves locked to are definately the perpetuating factor in all of this. I'm sure I've said this before, but as soon as I saw this and stopped thinking about my DP-related thoughts I have been getting gradually better ever since. I'm not sure I'll ever be who I was before, but maybe that's for the best. I can cope better now and I no longer fear my dr. Well done P3 and good luck . hope things continue to get better 4 u.


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## person3 (Aug 10, 2004)

thank you! you too.


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## widescreened (Jun 22, 2005)

well done person3!!i read your posts extensively about 6 months ago and found them very helpful.glad to hear you are going in the right direction,but you always appeared to be doing that anyway.


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