# Hey, I'm new.



## OctoberK (Sep 2, 2010)

Hey, my name is Erick. I've been suffering with DP for a little over 2 months now. It started out with a night of casual drinking with some friends. I don't drink too often, but I had a few beers and was pretty drunk. I didn't nor do I do any drugs, and I only had some alcohol that night. The next morning I woke up with a little bit of a hangover and maybe a little buzz from the night before. It was probably a good 12 hours later since I drank , when I had to drive somewhere and was when it all started to happen. I was probably also still tired and dehydrated, which only made the situation worse. Usually driving after a night of drinking, I've always been a little paranoid, and I was nervous about driving and had stupid thoughts about getting pulled over for drunk driving, getting into an accident as a result of it, or that my parents would find out I've been drinking, just stupid stuff like that. About 2 minutes into my drive, I started to feel as I call "out of it" or probably known now as DP, and had a small anxiety attack that scared me (this experiencing my first anxiety attack). My heart started pounding, I started feeling hot and sweaty, and pretty much just freaked out. I didn't have that bad of DP, but it was when I first started feeling it. Eventually, that feeling went away, but it happened again later that night, which pretty much came out of no where and from then on, I couldn't shake the sensation. Every now and then I would get some sort of relief and not feel it as bad or at all. But really from there, I would just panic and worry about it to the point where I had multiple anxiety and panic attacks over it, and kept fearing as if something had happened to me or as if I was going crazy, etc., and really had no idea what was going on. About a half month ago I finally found the term of what I was experiencing, known as Depersonalization (DP), and I think in my case, resulted from prolonged anxiety and stress. The thing is, now it has gotten so bad that lately I've been depressed about it, feel very anxious about it, and even had to enroll in psychotherapy and take medication as a result. Before this all happened, I had everything going for me and was probably as healthy as could be, but now, I feel as if things have spiraled out of my control. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, take this new medication I was put on, and continue to see a therapist to work on this, but I just want to ask the forum about this and if anyone has any suggestions or tips. The therapists I've been seeing have been very supportive and helpful, but I can't help but feel they don't understand this problem and I'm glad I found people who could really relate so I appreciate any feedback =]


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

OctoberK said:


> Hey, my name is Erick. I've been suffering with DP for a little over 2 months now. It started out with a night of casual drinking with some friends. I don't drink too often, but I had a few beers and was pretty drunk. I didn't nor do I do any drugs, and I only had some alcohol that night. The next morning I woke up with a little bit of a hangover and maybe a little buzz from the night before. It was probably a good 12 hours later since I drank , when I had to drive somewhere and was when it all started to happen. I was probably also still tired and dehydrated, which only made the situation worse. Usually driving after a night of drinking, I've always been a little paranoid, and I was nervous about driving and had stupid thoughts about getting pulled over for drunk driving, getting into an accident as a result of it, or that my parents would find out I've been drinking, just stupid stuff like that. About 2 minutes into my drive, I started to feel as I call "out of it" or probably known now as DP, and had a small anxiety attack that scared me (this experiencing my first anxiety attack). My heart started pounding, I started feeling hot and sweaty, and pretty much just freaked out. I didn't have that bad of DP, but it was when I first started feeling it. Eventually, that feeling went away, but it happened again later that night, which pretty much came out of no where and from then on, I couldn't shake the sensation. Every now and then I would get some sort of relief and not feel it as bad or at all. But really from there, I would just panic and worry about it to the point where I had multiple anxiety and panic attacks over it, and kept fearing as if something had happened to me or as if I was going crazy, etc., and really had no idea what was going on. About a half month ago I finally found the term of what I was experiencing, known as Depersonalization (DP), and I think in my case, resulted from prolonged anxiety and stress. The thing is, now it has gotten so bad that lately I've been depressed about it, feel very anxious about it, and even had to enroll in psychotherapy and take medication as a result. Before this all happened, I had everything going for me and was probably as healthy as could be, but now, I feel as if things have spiraled out of my control. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude, take this new medication I was put on, and continue to see a therapist to work on this, but I just want to ask the forum about this and if anyone has any suggestions or tips. The therapists I've been seeing have been very supportive and helpful, but I can't help but feel they don't understand this problem and I'm glad I found people who could really relate so I appreciate any feedback =]


Hello OctoberK,

First off, welcome to the forums! We are glad to have you and you are definitely in the right place. Secondly, I think you are making all the right choices by participating in psychotherapy and taking medication, which may end up helping you heal. The one thing I wanted to suggest as far as psychotherapy goes, is that most people with DP benefit most from doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which specializes in managing your anxiety through a change in thinking patterns and positive reinforcement. For that matter, you may want to seek a therapist who specializes in CBT, especially in your case where you say that your DP may have resulted from prolonged anxiety and stress. Also, I would advice you to read some of the posts in the ''Road to Recovery'' and ''Regaining Reality'' sections where you will find invaluable advice from those who have recovered or are close to recovering. I wish you the best of luck in your journey to healing, and ultimately beating this condition.


----------



## Surfingisfun001 (Sep 25, 2007)

Welcome.


----------



## frankie (Aug 30, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> Hello OctoberK,
> 
> First off, welcome to the forums! We are glad to have you and you are definitely in the right place. Secondly, I think you are making all the right choices by participating in psychotherapy and taking medication, which may end up helping you heal. The one thing I wanted to suggest as far as psychotherapy goes, is that most people with DP benefit most from doing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which specializes in managing your anxiety through a change in thinking patterns and positive reinforcement. For that matter, you may want to seek a therapist who specializes in CBT, especially in your case where you say that your DP may have resulted from prolonged anxiety and stress. Also, I would advice you to read some of the posts in the ''Road to Recovery'' and ''Regaining Reality'' sections where you will find invaluable advice from those who have recovered or are close to recovering. I wish you the best of luck in your journey to healing, and ultimately beating this condition.


----------



## frankie (Aug 30, 2010)

hello my name is frankie
I have been suffering from DP for 4 years.I have felt like i have a goldfish bowl around me and the outside world,i have a blank and deadened feeling thinking i have no thoughts and i am suffering from dementia or alktzeimers.I suffer from pains all over my body thinking my body is packing up and i am going to die.Sometimes i feel like i would be better off dead. I have a lovely boyfriend and a close family and friends but this does'ntb take away the feelings.when i hear a siren going i think they would not ressuss me because im dead.I feel so alone with this illness as im the only one like it.Reading this site has made me feel like there are others like me.I have been pumped full of drugs and have just started therapy and have just started a volunteering position with my local trustAny suggestions
frankie


----------



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

frankie said:


> hello my name is frankie
> I have been suffering from DP for 4 years.I have felt like i have a goldfish bowl around me and the outside world,i have a blank and deadened feeling thinking i have no thoughts and i am suffering from dementia or alktzeimers.I suffer from pains all over my body thinking my body is packing up and i am going to die.Sometimes i feel like i would be better off dead. I have a lovely boyfriend and a close family and friends but this does'ntb take away the feelings.when i hear a siren going i think they would not ressuss me because im dead.I feel so alone with this illness as im the only one like it.Reading this site has made me feel like there are others like me.I have been pumped full of drugs and have just started therapy and have just started a volunteering position with my local trustAny suggestions
> frankie


Hey Frankie,

I too feel like I have a goldfish bowl around me and the outside world, and that I have a deadened feeling. It's truly a horrible feeling to have to endure, but I'm going to give you some tips. First off, what an excellent choice you have made to start volunteering. That alone will distract you enough to not think about DP/DR at least for awhile. Props to you, my friend. Also therapy is a great choice, and just as I mentioned to OctoberK, I think you would benefit from CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy). Does your therapist specialize in that?

From my 6 months here on the forum, there are three things that I have learned to help manage and deal with DP effectively. The first step is to accept that you have this condition and that it'll be there for awhile. The next step is to distract yourself and refocus your mind on something other than DP. Basically, take the focus off yourself and onto another activity. And the last, and probably most essential step, is to go out and live your life the way you would without DP! This is a hard thing to do as it is most easiest to sit in your room and dwell and brood over your condition, but it is vital that you keep living despite it! Please read some of the threads posted in the ''Road to Recovery'' and ''Regaining Reality'' sections where you will find more in-depth information and invaluable advice/tips by those who have recovered or are close to recovering. Best of luck to you Frankie. If you have any further questions, please feel free to message me.


----------



## KaiserKlayton (Jun 17, 2010)

Welcome my friend.


----------



## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

Welcome to the forum.


----------



## kaitlyn_b (Jun 9, 2010)

Hi Erick, and welcome. First of all, know that you are not alone, and that all of us here have or are currently suffering from some form of DP or DR or both. With time, patience and work you can overcome your DP and feel better. There’s no telling when that will happen. Since DP is a form of self defense, your DP will fade when your brain is ready to come out of it. The best advice I can give you (not being a dr or health professional) is to try to ignore the symptoms, live your life to the fullest every day (even if you’re numb, fake it till you make it) and continue to work everything out so that you can feel better. It sounds like you may suffer from a generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder? Have you had a diagnosis? If this is the case, once you fix the root cause of the DP , your DP will then begin to weaken. Hope you feel better soon!


----------



## OctoberK (Sep 2, 2010)

I appreciate all the feedback everyone =] Right now, nothing has been set in stone with what I'm dealing with. I've been told I'm suffering from depression with anxiety, but I beg to differ. I was just put on Abilify, but the medication started to disagree with me so I had to get off of it, so I'm pretty much handling it on my own right now. I felt that the medication made my DP even worse, and now I have these horrible thoughts and feelings that I'm stuck in a dream and that I'm literally not living right now. it's all a dream. I know that that sounds completely insane, I feel like I'm losing it, but it's freakin crazy what anxiety will do to you. So right now I'm just trying to cope with it and use the techniques I learned in psychotherapy to dismiss and ignore those thoughts/feelings, and hoping soon that I can overcome this and figure out what the bigger issue is. Thanks again everyone!


----------

