# Here's my story, how I got into and over DP



## wilderplain (Jan 13, 2008)

Hey everybody, I was just surfing the internet and decided to look up this place, I remember checking it out when I was in the midst of DP. So I decided I'd say what happened to me.

To start with, I was at a 3 day festival (one and a half years ago) and on the night before the festival started, we got really drunk at our campsite, then met these guys who shared a joint with us.

Now, at this time in my life, I hadn't smoked weed for months, because they had given me bad trips for ages. Terrifying trips where I'd get stuck in my head and withdraw from reality - essentially similar to DP, but sometimes with apocalyptic themes and scary stoner add ons.

On this night though, things went downhill very quickly. I got the familiar sensation of "oh no... why did I smoke that..." and spiraled into a terrifying trip. I kept thinking my brain was just a computer, and there was no way out, because everything I thought was just another program on the computer - another reaction. There was no escape.

That was the beginning. I woke feeling pretty hazy and some anxiety lingered. For SOME reason (I think a little bit of peer pressure actually) I ended up taking half a pill on each night of the festival, which further contributed to my mindfuck. There's a lot of detail, but I won't go into it here.

Over the next few days, I couldn't quite get back to normal. I was in a very strange state... then one night it hit me. I was going nuts. I have a cousin who is schizophrenic, and it has often plagued me that i'd end up like him. And that night, it all came down on me like a ton of bricks. BAM. I'd lost my mind.

I'm sure you are all familiar with the condition, so I won't go into how I felt, but it lasted weeks. I told no one about what I was going through, I just had to live day to day with it. I was in a band at the time, and I was able to fake normalcy even to my bandmate. After all, all I could think about was the workings of my thoughts, so it was easy to bring up a reaction for everybody. Also, the universe was suddenly a very unfamiliar place.

I eventually found that the only way I could latch myself back onto reality was by forgetting about my mind disorder. This started happening only for a few seconds at a time, but I noticed these brief intervals of time, and learned that if I distracted myself, I would be free of anxiety.

So, the main thing I learned was that its important to have a PURPOSE. Something to work towards, to take your mind off your mind. You need things in your life which you can devote your time and energy (esp. mental energy) into. Its no good to while away the days hoping that it will eventually go away. I had to restructure my life and find things which I could put myself into, to draw away for DP. Thats what worked for me.

It took a while, but slowly and surely I climbed out of the pit I had fallen into. After a few months, I only had brief 'flashbacks' into the mindstate I was in, and nowadays I can barely remember what it felt like (only that i REALLY didn't like it). I can even smoke pot again and not have bad trips.

So even if it seems terrible, just remember, it CAN pass. Thats all I kept telling myself "I can get out of this. Things will return to normal." And they did.

Hope this helps, guys! Good luck!


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## SDMX (Dec 27, 2007)

I'm echoing this, as I'm at the episodic disturbances part of the experience.


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## Trudget (Oct 5, 2007)

What do you mean by you can smoke pot again? Don't you stay with the same reaction? - (?'ve regained myself, so i'm not DP/DR anymore) - But still curious because that's how I got DP/DR in the first place.


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## fakeaccount332 (Jan 16, 2008)

Hey mate, I got into DP the same as you about 5 months ago. I'm nearly over it (I'll say 90-95%) but my head/brain feels weird. Like its damaged or something -- like it has a hallow spot in it. Did you have that feeling to? Or is this something I should see a neurologist about?


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## Guest (May 14, 2008)

You should see a doctor about it, but I doubt you've damaged your brain unless you've done a lot of drugs. I mean more than just occasional use.


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