# The only cure is Additude - I'm 100% cured



## gs22

I am new here because I feel the obligation to help. i have suffered DP/DR 3 times in my life and each time is was less severe. 6 Months the first time because I had no Idea what it was, 2 months the second time because I lost someone close to me and I was smoking, and this most recent time was only about a month. It was because I am a commitement phobe and I started getting into a serious relationship. All three are directly linked to anxiety about a situation or smoking the reefer. I am convinced I will never get this again because it is much more understood now than it was even 3 years ago.

It ALWAYS goes away. Not sometimes. ALWAYS. Noone suffers from DP/DR forever. With these tools you'll be exponentially happier in 1 week and forget what DP/DR even feels like in 3 to 6 months (Yes that feels like a long time right now, but it's not because when you are coping with the symptoms correctly it's really not a bid deal at all)

How to cure DP:


Understand it. It's anxiety and obsessive thinking which causes real physical symptoms.
Accept it. You have it, it goes away, but it takes time. Months NOT years. People who have had it for years haven't accepted it.
Don't be depressed about it. You have this condition, you can wake up in the morning and cry about it or you can live your life, get in better shape, learn a new instrument, ect.
Drink if you are a drinker. In moderation of course but if you are young and a partier, keep partying. You will notice when you are partying it's not there. That is because it is simply a circle of thought and when you are drinking, well you don't tend to overthink things. (Just put your phone away so you don't send late drunk texts confessing your love or trying to get laid).
Find someone you really trust and love and explain it to them. When you are feeling like shit bitch to them. Tell them ahead of time that you are going to vent to them and that they need to tell you to quit being a self-loathing cry baby and live your life. If you ever want this to end, you need to move on from caring. If you've ever broken up with someone or been dumped you know the gradual decrease in intensity of the sad feelings. This is the same way.
Know you're not alone. A lot of people go through this they just aren't as OCD as us and don't research it to figure out it is called something.
Redefine the symptoms. Call it dizziness, a hangover, brain fog, or whatever floats your boat. If you tell yourself you are just dizzy enough and not depersonalized the symptoms will turn into dizziness which will get rid of the fear which will get rid of the anxiety which will get you back to normal.
Speaking of back to normal. Don't try to get there. Just live and let yourself get there. You'll know when you are, if you are questioning whether or not you are back to normal, you are not normal because you are questioning normalcy. Normal people don't do that. Stop questioning normal. 
B-12 and Omega 3's. They aren't Placebo, they really work. Give them 2-3 weeks to kick in.
GIVE IT TIME! I can't stress this enough. Don't get frusterated because it will give it power. It really does take time. People say it is different for everyone but there is no reason this should be more than 3 to 6 months if you stick to the plan. It won't be less than that either. Your brain literally needs time to heal. The chemicals are out of wack and let them go back to their homes. Just like an anti-depressent takes several weeks or even months to take effect, DP/DR will take you a few months of dicipline.
Do it without medication. It's empowering.
Talk about it when the symptoms are bad. Don't say, "I have DP/DR". Say "Man, i'm super spacey right now" or "i'm so out of it" and then laugh. Often times the people you are with will say, "ya I am too". Then it's out there and you don't feel like weirdo.
Know you will come out of this a much better person. You really will. You will love life, appreciate the little things, most likely be a master of the mind and psychology due to your obsessive hours of research, and probably have a sweet bod because working out is a huge part of recovery.
Don't do drugs. Your mind isn't wired for drug usage.
Exercise. If you are exercising hard you're symptoms are gone which is more proof that it doesn't exist in the complete absence of anxiety. (Sometimes the symptoms linger but just ride the wave)
Oh yeah, Just ride the wave. If you are feeling DP/DR just float on. Visualize the feelings as a train (of thought) flowing through your brain. A fast train, maybe the polar express if you like Santa, once the train is gone so are the feelings.
Intensify the symptoms. When you are starting to recover and you get it on and off and start feeling it coming on try to feel the dp/dr as intensly as possible. Literally try to entice the symptoms. Feel the symptoms and get the visual symptoms and don't let yourself be afraid of them. Laugh at them.
Don't oversleep. If anything undersleep by an hour or two. It's a natural anti-depressant.
Lastly, KEEP A GOOD ADDITUDE. You have two options in the morning when you have DP/DR. You can stress about the symptoms like a DP/DR newbie or you can feel them, accept them, and be happy. You won't wake up one day and the DP/DR is gone. You will stop caring about the symptoms, they will get less severe, you will forget about them for extended periods of time, when they come back you will be able to let them be and not worry (hardest part because a taste of recovery is oh so sweet), you will forget them for an even longer time, they will come back, then you'll forget them even longer, and the cycle will repeat until you forgot what the hell DP feels like. I have had days where I literally want to get the feelings again so I can just remember what I was so worried about and I can't. There is some phsychological term for this but I can't remember what it is. Oh and stop reading this blog(Sorry DPselfhelp.com.) Once you are recovered come back and read it if you want but you need to stop thinking about it until it's gone.

Disclaimer: This is all from experience. I'm not a doctor of any sort but I do know and understand this condition. I am a cured struggler. Take my advice because it will help but everyone is different. Talk to a doctor and phsychologist to find out if you have more going on.

See you on the other side.


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## Andre

This is the most convincing post about recovery I have read. Thanks!


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## izzy

I love reading these recovery blogs!!!


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## heartless

I find a 1to1 mach between our recovery stories. Im at the point where i can get distracted very easily 
and even when im not distracted i feel ok.
i am not on auto pilot at all for about a week or so. Also i started questioning what the hell is so bad with dp, even though from time to time i get a reminder  i guess im on my way. Maybe 2 to 3 months to freedom.

however: stay away from alcohol. It has a very similar effect on the nerves to benzos. It will induce calmness but in the long run it will cause more harm than good.


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## gs22

I am doing alcohol in moderation. Less than I did before atleast. I just found that changing anything at all gave it power. I agree though it can have an adverse effect if it is being done to ease the feelings. I just do it because I like to party.


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## heartless

just read your post again and logged to say it the best i ever saw, the description of the recovery process etc. 
i am recovering, i feel better and better and sometimes i ask myself what the hell was i worried about. lol.

i thank god for getting this disorder and riding for freedom. i have changed for good. i will be much more like myself after i recover than before i got

dp. it's like it's fixing me.


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## Sam93

heartless said:


> just read your post again and logged to say it the best i ever saw, the description of the recovery process etc.
> i am recovering, i feel better and better and sometimes i ask myself what the hell was i worried about. lol.
> 
> i thank god for getting this disorder and riding for freedom. i have changed for good. i will be much more like myself after i recover than before i got
> 
> dp. it's like it's fixing me.


Me too, I think I got DP for a reason and that was to evaluate my life and get out of some extremely bad habits I was in, along with some aspects of my personality that were quite damaging to me. Think someone up there is looking after me, but that's just me, I've always been the spiritual type haha.

You CAN view DP as a good thing. I think if you're mentally strong enough to deal with DP, lose your emotions and reality and basically everything that makes us human, then you really can do anything.


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## sb87

amazing. i totally agree. number 2 and 8, but ESPECIALLY NO. 10!!!!


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## ph10

This is a brilliant post dude. Inspirational and totally true. I think that the biggest element of recovery from DP is believing that you can recover - BAM. Self-fulfilling prophecy.


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## Maplecent

Hey this may sound weird but im still not totally convinced that i have DP or if its just something else. Im a now 24 and I had an issue 5 years ago that caused me a lot of stress, and not sure if it was linked but not long after i developed Crohns disease (which symptoms of it can be set off by stress.) Anyway, during this whole time i had a girlfriend, and i would always tell her that i didn't feel like myself or that i felt weird, or that i couldn't talk to people like i used to. (We both used to smoke quite a bit of weed with our friends too- i have now quit) She would say that she thinks its in my head, and i would ask friends and they would say the same thing. Its just for me i used to be so confident and would always be able to be funny and i would never not have something to say, or if i did it wouldn't bother me because i was confident in myself. Anyway i recently broke up with my long term girlfriend (we dated for 5 years), it was a mutual break up which i initiated but about 2 weeks later when i came home she was packing up her stuff and moving out. It hit me like a tonne of bricks and i realised i still really loved her etc, went/still going through a bit of post break up depression its been 8 weeks. The only thing is now i feel like i will eventually get over my ex girlfriend but i feel like my not feeling like myself has gotten worse and i dont feel like im going to be myself again, with being socially engaging etc. I guess it feels like my brain is just fuzzy too, like i will forget really simple things or things that i should of usually remembered. My friend, came over yesterday and said that he had noticed that im not myself lately... I just want to start being happy again and be able to talk to people with out boring them, and just be witty and i suppose just have my brain work normally... Sorry if this isnt quite on the right topic for the page, but i guess it was the least depressing and most hopeful topic and i just wanted to check that the symptoms im showing are what you guys experience too?

Thanks for reading my ramble and any advice would greatly appreciated


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## pinkpaw

This is awesome - thanks for posting!


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## Elina

Ah, this is just what i needed.

I have suffered dp over two years ago for like three and half year. I got over it and have lived pretty normaly. But know it has came back and i'm so stressed out....

I moved on my own four months ago to another city. I expected that this might happen, when I'm in this new enviromet, getting to know new people and learning to survive on my own. At first I was fine, but like month ago dp kikced in.I feel like its relly affecting on my live: at work I dont get as much done as I used to, I act strangely when I'm whit my friends, I'm so self-conscious all the time esspecially when I'm around people and I just cant relax.... But, yeah, I guess thats dp... I should just try to relax and stop overthinking every single thing....

Anyway, thank you for this topic, this reminds what are the keys to recovery!

(btw I'm aware that my english minght be bad but try to understand what I'm saing )


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## sterling

heartless said:


> however: stay away from alcohol. It has a very similar effect on the nerves to benzos. It will induce calmness but in the long run it will cause more harm than good.


I can just about agree with alcohol, at least in excess. It can cause a depressive spiral that makes everything worse. I can't agree with staying away from benzos. I've had this for 15 years, and while it may lessen from time to time if I'm in a really great mood, I think that benzos have just about saved my life.


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## dpdr

step 4 is the worst advise you can give to someone.

Alcohol also has infuence on the brain, and you will have a hangover which can empower your DP/DR-anxiety.

Most of us take meds, meds + alcohol is a bad idea, with benzo's its even more risky.


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## 42002

This is an absolutely amazing post. I appreciate people like you so much, it really does put a smile on my face.


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