# I don't know anymore...



## SistA HazeL (Aug 10, 2008)

Hey peeps!

just letting you know i'm learning heaps from this forum 

Even tho i only been here for several days, I'm still new to this DP thing.

Man, what a full on week i had this week.

Went to see the counsellor yesterday morning (Friday morning AEST -- Australian Eastern Standard Time) told her everything that i'm experiencing. Also showed her the list of symptoms that Mark gave out on one of the posts. 
I answered yes on most of those symptoms. Towards the end of the session, she warned me about self-diagnosing which i wasn't really but yeah, she recommended me to go see a psychologist.

I'm kinda nervous seeing a psychologist... i hope it helps.


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## AntiSocial (Jul 12, 2008)

im self diagnosed but im pretty sure this is what i have. i hope seeing a psych helps you


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## Mark (Jul 21, 2008)

Hazel, tell you shrink he might be a latent homosexual (not that there is anything wrong with that) it drives them nuts.

That Mark guy thinks he is so smart. He just got that "test" from a NODID paper called:
"De-constructing depersonalization: Further evidence for symptom clusters", Psychiatry Research, Volume 157, Issues 1-3, 15 January 2008, Pages 303-306
Daphne Simeon, David Stephen Kozin, Karina Segal, Brenna Lerch, Roxanne Dujour and Timo Giesbrecht,

Haha finally exposed as a fraud. 
I will make it my life?s work to destroy Mark. 
I will make him grow old and die!!!


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## peachy (Feb 9, 2008)

many of us wouldnt be anywhere if we didn't self-diagnose but i still hate the idea of it so much. but what with shrinks not knowing much about this, it's really all we got. i wish i could be for real diagnosed because i'm pretty sure i've lived with this my whole life and yet i can't 100% agree with the fact that i have it because i haven't been told this by a professional. they told me i had ADD or depression. and then i was left in the dark wondering "well what do the other majority of my symptoms mean?". i find it so odd that there are so many health professionals trying to prove to us that we don't have this or something. it's like they want to pick a disorder that they can easily treat us with.


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## AntiSocial (Jul 12, 2008)

peachyderanged said:


> many of us wouldnt be anywhere if we didn't self-diagnose but i still hate the idea of it so much. but what with shrinks not knowing much about this, it's really all we got. i wish i could be for real diagnosed because i'm pretty sure i've lived with this my whole life and yet i can't 100% agree with the fact that i have it because i haven't been told this by a professional. they told me i had ADD or depression. and then i was left in the dark wondering "well what do the other majority of my symptoms mean?". i find it so odd that there are so many health professionals trying to prove to us that we don't have this or something. it's like they want to pick a disorder that they can easily treat us with.


yeah just toss some pills at us and send us on our way


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## Scott.S (Jul 10, 2008)

No need to be nervous... It will help settle you down a bit. Its nice to have someone to open up to and most of all they will help you to explore yourself a bit better than you could do on your own. Just don't hold back , be sure to tell it like it is. You have to try to get to the root of the problem, as far as waht might have gotten you here.

As far as self diagnossis goes, Im right there!!! If I had not done my own research I might still be going nuts wondering what the f**** I was dealing with. Beleive me Depression does not feel like this... Its pretty Obvious once we have done our homework to what we have. Being that this DP is not on the radar screene of many professionals out there we must take the first steps!

Hang in there!

Scott

P.S Your going to a Phycologist right?? If that is so It will be to talk things out, they don't perscribe Meds so dont worry about it.


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## SistA HazeL (Aug 10, 2008)

Hiya all! 
Thank you for the replies. Much appreciated. What i have experienced had its good and bad times. Most of the time... hell-ish :-( so yeah i really do hope going to a psych will help.

Question - what is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?


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## Scott.S (Jul 10, 2008)

I don't want you to feel like you are alone... It is Hellish, hek Im 43 years old and I have always taken pride in being strong , but this crap tests you beyond our strength at times. Hell is the word I used alot last year, this year its more like being tormented I guess. You just have to dig deep within you and gather up everything your made of and use it to get through all of this. You will be ok and most of all you will Recover!!

Scott


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## Scott.S (Jul 10, 2008)

Sorry... In regards to your question....

About $100,000 a year !!! Maybe more...

Seriously though... a psychiatrist is a MD and they can perscibe Meds ect... and charge you alot more for the vist too! Both will use talk therapy, but nowdays psychologists are the ones you go to for the most part to talk you issues out with...

psychiatrists are lucky to give you 15 min of their time if you are lucky.

Scott


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## SistA HazeL (Aug 10, 2008)

Thank you, Scott for the info.


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## SistA HazeL (Aug 10, 2008)

So what do i say when i go see the Psychologist?

Do i tell them something like, "i think i have depersonalization" or tell them stuff first then say that?


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## Mark (Jul 21, 2008)

SSolanik said:


> Sorry... In regards to your question....
> 
> About $100,000 a year !!! Maybe more...
> 
> ...


I just read an article in the paper about this. In the US insurance companies pay a higher rate per min for a 15 min than a 45 min. It's a bit sick. In Canada that is not the case so if you need it you get the 45 min.

These days I find that after about 25 min I start asking him questions about how he is doing.
Last time I saw him we argued about the gravitational effects of the moon on people. What a load of crap that is. 
Einstein would fall over laughing. :lol: Then he would realize that he was already dead :shock: and that he looked like this :mrgreen: which made him feel like this  and then he kept checking to see where his brain was :roll: but it was gone and being tested for scientific purposes and that :evil: had taken his soul and given it to this guy :twisted: the whole thing was so silly he just ended up like this :lol:


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## Scott.S (Jul 10, 2008)

I would tell them you suspect DP, and tell them your story... Like what?s been going on the past 6 months or so. Open up and don?t hold back on anything, this can make it much easier for them to get a clear picture of what is going on with you. Tell things exactly how they are! You need to get an idea of what might have gotten you to where you are now and most importantly to what your feeling... As far as the DP goes it all depends on their knowledge of this condition, most know of it but really don?t know enough about it. I?m finding that out right now... Give it some time too don?t expect results overnight.

P.S I love Family Guy too! Quagmire is a trip! but Stewies the best!


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2008)

Scott.S said:


> I would tell them you suspect DP, and tell them your story... Like what?s been going on the past 6 months or so. Open up and don?t hold back on anything, this can make it much easier for them to get a clear picture of what is going on with you. Tell things exactly how they are! You need to get an idea of what might have gotten you to where you are now and most importantly to what your feeling... As far as the DP goes it all depends on their knowledge of this condition, most know of it but really don?t know enough about it. I?m finding that out right now... Give it some time too don?t expect results overnight.


That would cover it! And do NOT hold back on anything. The worst that can happen is you decide you don't clique with a doctor and leave.

Just on the not understanding and the money business. I go to my University Anxiety Clinic. This is at U.ofMichigan. HUGE facility. I see the new 3rd year residents. I rotate through them and have been seeing one each year (as they move onto fellowships). I just saw my new guy -- second time today.

He is brilliant, but he doesn't know/understand what DP/DR are. I am too old to go through this anymore, but if you are young, keep LOOKING.

However re: cost. I will see a resident (M.D. but not an official psychiatrist, who has been through Med School and THREE YEARS TRAINING in psychiatry) ... they get a salary (very small), but the insurance company is billed as though one of the big wigs submitted the bill. The big wigs these days charge $250.00/session for 45 minutes.

My mother was a psychiatrist in the 60's - '80s (was in internal medicine first). She graduated med school in 1944 and went into psychiatry in 1965 or something. She knew what DP/DR was! My mother in those years made about $80,000/year. These days because of so many factors, even psychiatrists, (one of the lowest paid medical professions) can earn a great living.

Sorry, I'm ranting. I'm just going to this guy now for my meds and to be "in the system" if something miserable happens. Someone to talk to in a crisis. I gave him a ton of info on DP today, my website address, and had to leave, LOL. :x

FRUSTRATION.
/end of rant!

Good Luck, D


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## Scott.S (Jul 10, 2008)

Good to let it out Dreamer...

It is very Frustrating, no doubt about it ! I don't think there are to many out there that do know enough about this DP and the ones that do, still don?t know the full in?s and out?s of it?

With Depression there are ways out or at least relief and the same with Anxiety. There are meds that are known to help suffers in both cases, maybe not completely but certainly can help aid in ones recovery. But with this DP it can feel even more overwhelming due to there is really nothing on the market that one can take to get sufficient relief from the actual DP itself!! Sure one can take something to fight off the depression or anxiety that has been manifested by the DP to get relief, but once again not the DP itself. Its hard to accept just that alone.... In our coarse of life we learned that if we had a headache we took Tylenol, Indigestion we took Rolaids, if we had a bad cold we then went to the doctor to get Penicillin and so on , there was always relief to be found. But when it comes to the mind it all stops right there! There are Meds out there for most mental conditions but even then its hit and miss. The mind is so complex and we are still learning about the way it works? To a degree I still feel we hold the key for the most part, be it Depression, Anxiety and even this DP. But its kind of like a bad dream, we are holding the key and there are endless hallways with door after door after door after door and trying to find what door that key opens can seem insurmountable. But we must still not give up, we must keep trying to open up those doors , because it could always be that very next one.

We got to keep pushing on!!!


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