# Please read this everyone



## ClaireB (Dec 11, 2006)

*Have you suffered from panic attacks during dp/dr disorder?*​
Yes, all the time1642.11%Once or twice2257.89%


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## ClaireB (Dec 11, 2006)

Hi everybody.

My name is Claire and I have been suffering from an anxiety disorder for nearly a year now. With that I have suffered dp/dr and it is the worst thing I have ever had to endure. Its absolutley terrifying.

Over the past year I have been to doctors, psychiatrists, psychotherapists. I have been giver beta-blockers, anti- psychotics and anti- depressants. I am currently on 60mg of prozac.

After suffering and being the lowest of the low, I read something which made me realise just why I was feeling this way.

You all know what dp/dr is, its a symptom of anxiety. The brain is protecting you from any form of trauma, as you have all in some way gone through some form of stress (however extreme). You all experience this in different ways so will have different symptoms, some more extreme than others. It does not necessarily depend on how bad your trauma/stress was but how you as an individual reacted to, dealt with and coped with it.

After obsessing over it for months and more recently browsing on this website I have realised why we all have this condition- We all have an anxiety disorder of some kind. OCD, GAD, PD, PTSD and phobias are all anxiety disorders. Someone said we are in our minds and not in our bodies and I think this is true, but instead of analysing it (which everybody on this site is doing) we need to understand that by doing this, we are only keeping it alive.

By acting like a non-anxious person (how I was before i became like this), I have improved dramatically. I'm not cured, I still feel anxious sometimes and I still have the dp (however my only symptom of this is that I feel dazed and not quite with it). A month ago I went into my first restaurant in 6 months. I slowly started doing things even though I didn't want to do them eg. shopping, going to supermarkets etc. A month on, and I have just been to London for the weekend and went xmas shopping! I didn't feel great however I once believed that I would never be able to do it. It took me a year to get as bad as I was and i'm sure it has taken some people years therefore it won't go suddenly. It will take time, but it is nonsense to believe that this is an illness and can't be cured etc. We simply need to stop being anxious.

Sure this is easier said than done, however it CAN be done. I have been following 'The Linden Method' and it has helped me so much. I look at this website and all I see are people obsessing over dp and dr. If you keep doing this then you won't get better. The people who have had this for years have not got better because they are still anxious.

I hope you all understand this. I'm not a know it all, I've just realised what this mess that we are all in is all about and I don't want anybody else to suffer from it.

Claire ([email protected]) xx


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## chris51 (Mar 21, 2005)

Claire I think you are 100% right. It's all our perception of it, our reaction to it. At least for ME it is. Though I beleive everyone's recovery is different. When I don't react to the DP or anxiety or weird thought I feel alot better. It is so hard not to self anaylze to search in your mind why I am not crazy or why do I feel like this. Insteac, I just say, OK, I feel like that it's not the end of te world. The world sill still be chaotic if I have DP or not.


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## lostsoul (Aug 25, 2006)

Yes 100% true.. If everyone on this forum would try a Body-Scan (meditation) I'm sure they would all know that we're too much in our mind. To be mentally healthy (and this goes for every mental decease) there has to be a good body-mind balance.

Here are instructions for a body scan, TRY IT!

* Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish.

*Focus on your breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body.

*After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.

*Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. 
Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knee, thigh, hip and so on all around the body.

*Pay particular attention to any areas that cause pain or are the focus of any medical condition (for asthma, the lungs; for diabetes, the pancreas).

*Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.

Try this for at least half an hour and I will promise you you will become motivated to do this every day until you're more in your body!


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## ClaireB (Dec 11, 2006)

I'm so pleased that you agree with me. This post had only had two responses but has been view 50 odd times, this makes me think that so many people are so obsessed with this disorder that they are in denial about it.

This website is helpful as far as realising that you are not alone but as there is such little understanding of dp and dr, people obsess over it. This website alows that obsession to go a bit overboard. You all need to distract yourself from it, even though this may sound impossible, it will get easier day by day and eventually it will fade away. Anxiety can take some extreme forms that it is so hard to believe that there isn't somrthing seriously wrong with your brain. But there isn't, you are making it still exist by talking about it and analysing it.

Obviously people have read this so I would love some more responses whether you agree with me or not. We are all in this together and are only trying to help others.

Claire xx


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## lostsoul (Aug 25, 2006)

Completely true, people are obsessing about having all kind of deceases. I spoke with multiple dp/dr'ers and the ones that didn't cure a bit in years and years where the ones that were still thinking they have brain tumors etc. etc. etc. and I just couldn't speak any sense into them.

The road to recovery:

1. Having hope. Knowing that you wont be like this for ever and the more discipline you put into recovering the faster you get out of this.
2. Stop searching for deceases. You most-likely don't have a brain tumor or whatever. Notice that all the people on the board have the same character. This character is the character of someone who got bullied and is full of fears. Fear of having deceases, fear of dying, fear of living, fear of new situations.
3. I think many people have problems with new situations. They deny the present.
4. Stop over analyzing everything. You can't think yourself out of this. Stop thinking, start living.
5. Do ANYTHING to remove anxiety out of your life. The steps for this are:
- Go on a hypoglycemia diet. So don't eat sugar, dont drink coffee, dont smoke etc.
- Take supplements which surpresses anxiety like Magnesium, Calcium, B-complex.
- Don't spend too much time in front of your computer. Especially don't visit this site and other sites about deceases. Play a game or something when you're behind your computer.
- Count from 100 to 1 when you're anxious.
- Listen music the whole day and sing.
6. After the step of having a healthy live get a bunch of friends. You need good friends which you thrust and feel safe with. You have to become less self-centered.
7. Get into your body, focus on your body every second of the day. Do a Body-Scan meditation.
8. Buy Peter Levine's books and most of all thrust what he is saying.

These are the steps out of anxiety. Do them. Become disciplined for god sake!! And stop being a whiner. I'm most-likely the one who got most traumatized in his life ever on this board, believe me, and to make things worse I tripped 5 times on weed and got more Dp/Dr because of it.

You need to make steps in your life.

For example for me this is:

1) Healthy living. No sugar, no caffeine, no smoking, no drugs, no alcohol. Running, meditation, kickboksing, yoga.
2) Get friends. Socialize. Find good friends. Become a volunteer or something to meet people. This way you also focus on others more. Preferably work as a volunteer in a hospital so you see other people suffering where you must focus on.
3) Become independent. If you still live with your parents move out not tomorrow but yesterday. Move now!
4) Become fearless.
5) Do things you're afraid of. Not only once but all the time.

And especially this: STOP BEING A VICTIM! Prefer to be a victor instead of a victim.

Have a nice christmas!! And for god sake DO what I said here if you want to cure!!


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## ClaireB (Dec 11, 2006)

Lost soul - that is exactly how I am living and it works. I am nearly better now. This site is full of people who simply won't listen. All you can do is tell people and its then up to them whether they take on board what you say. I only visit this site to see if anyone has replied to my posts. Why do people read this then not respond? Do people want to get better?


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## lostsoul (Aug 25, 2006)

Well the problem is that people lost hope in recovery. Also, they are extremely stubborn and are convinced they have a brain tumor or whatever. WHY DONT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THE FIGHT OR FLY REACTION???

This is all soooo simple to understand. But you know what, these things most people have to find out for themselves. A psychologist can tell you all kind of stuff but if you don't experience it yourself you won't believe it anyway.

So my tip for EVERYONE is to do ONE simple body scan meditation session. This way you see for yourself that this is the key...


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## chris51 (Mar 21, 2005)

You guys are so right. Funny, thing I orginally came on this website to day becasue I was feeling depressed and overwhelmed to see if anyone else was feeling like that or had a instant cure. Instead I came this to forum first. I was glad I did. I didn;t want to read someone else's post and think "maybe I have that too". I will try that meditation excercise. I tried the hypoglymia diet and became hypoglycemia ...almost to the point of fainting....so I have to take that slow.

I think the problem people don't post is because they are in that cycle still of DP. Some people are afraid to get better, or too depressed to get better. I know I've been there. It took me a while to realize that I was so used to the DP that being normal felt weird. (and god forbid I feel more weird) But I went with it. I will overcome this. I am living and not worrying. Just let things be. I am begining to heal and it feels good. It feels good to let go of that fear, that anxiety that mind chatter and the self analyzing every thought and feeling. 
I am learning to discipline myself when I slip into that anxiety..DP cycle. I will be ok. Thanks for posting this. I agree continous looking for the answers to what is wrong is the wrong approach to recovery. Just move on.


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## Thayli (Sep 25, 2006)

At the beginning i've had 50 symptoms of dp.could do nothing!
and the missing of one or another symptom made everyday different. at one point i had the power to get a new job i knew i was good in, went back to university, managed every conversation with my professors and they showed appreciation and let me back in their courses. sometimes i have to tell myself repeatedly, that i managed it on my own, that i have to be proud of me.
on the whole you're all right.but i think every path to recovery is unique.
for me one thing is sure: anxiety correlates with dp one-to-one.i can't imagine that dp is able to exist without it.


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## m&m (Mar 8, 2010)

I may be the odd one, but I've never had a panic attack.


*Diagnostic criteria*
DSM-IV Diagnostic Criteria for Panic Attack

A discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four (or more) of the following symptoms developed abruptly and reached a peak within 10 minutes:


Palpitations, or accelerated heart rate
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
Feeling of choking
Chest pain or discomfort
Nausea or abdominal distress
Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself)
Fear of losing control or going crazy
Fear of dying
Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)
Chills or hot flashes


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## The Goat (Feb 23, 2010)

I've never had a panic attack. I'm also kind of tired of people telling me to "stop thinking about it, start living." Well, I am living. I exercise every day and eat healthier than anyone I know. I've never smoked or have done any drug in my entire life. I haven't had any alcohol in about a year and I've only had alcohol a few times in my life anyway.

I have quite a busy life and most of the time, I'm not thinking about DP or DR, but I still have it.


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## lostsoul (Aug 25, 2006)

The Goat said:


> I've never had a panic attack. I'm also kind of tired of people telling me to "stop thinking about it, start living." Well, I am living. I exercise every day and eat healthier than anyone I know. I've never smoked or have done any drug in my entire life. I haven't had any alcohol in about a year and I've only had alcohol a few times in my life anyway.
> 
> I have quite a busy life and most of the time, I'm not thinking about DP or DR, but I still have it.


Sorry that I said that, I just know that focussing on it won't improve it. Fighting will also not help, actually stopping fighting is the best thing you can do. Not that I have any reason to talk, I still have dp/dr 24/7, though I hope my posts can help someone. Focussing on the symptoms wont help, focussing on the solution is a better approach I guess.


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