# New Depersonalization Drug



## hd83 (Jan 10, 2006)

Even though we have drugs out on the market that help some with their DP/DR, there isn't a drug on the market yet specifically targeted towards DP/DR. I talked to my psychiatrist today and she gave me a great idea.

Approximately 1 to 2% of the population has a form of depersonalization and/or derealization disorder. Yet, none of the major pharmaceutical companies makes a drug to treat this disorder. However, approximately 1% of the population has schizophrenia, and there are about four or five drugs on the market (atypical antipsychotics) targeted specifically for schizophrenia.

Pharmaceutical companies are profit driven. If they knew that DP/DR affects so many people, they would put the time and money into researching a drug to treat it, just like they do for schizophrenia. My psychiatrist suggested writing a letter to the different pharmaceutical companies letting them know that this is a wide-spread disorder and would be profitable for them to research and make a drug to treat DP/DR. If everyone on this site wrote a letter to the major pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Merck, Wyeth, etc.), we could really make a difference in the treatment options that are available to us.

I'm going to write my letter tonight and post it so others can use it as a template for their letters (that way, if you don't want to, you don't have to write your own, you could just use mine). But feel free to write your own! The important thing is the volume and quality of letters the drug companies receive. I would suggest addressing your letters with just the CEO's name and address of the company, and include a return address as well. I know this sounds obvious, but the more professional the letter, the more impact it will have. Here is the contact information for the drug companies:

Pfizer
Jeffrey B. Kindler
Chairman and CEO
235 E. 42nd St.
New York, NY 10017-5755

Wyeth
Bernard J. Poussot
CEO
500 Arcola Rd.
Collegeville, PA 19426

You can also send one to Wyeth's President: Joseph M. Mahady

Merck
Richard T. Clark
President, CEO, and Chairman
1 Merck Dr.
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889-0100

Eli Lilly and Company
John C. Lechleiter 
President, Chairman, and CEO
Lilly Corporate Center, 893 S. Delaware
Indianapolis, IN 46285


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## hd83 (Jan 10, 2006)

Here is the letter which I wrote that you can use as a template. Let's get as many letters sent out as possible!! 

Jeffrey Kindler
235 E. 42nd St.
New York, NY 10017-5755

Dear Mr. Kindler,

I am writing to you because I suffer from depersonalization disorder. I have had depersonalization disorder for approximately six years now. After going to a therapist for close to a year, my therapist decided that I had a chemical imbalance which was causing my symptoms. I have tried every classification of medicine (antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers, and antiseizure medicine) available. However, I have found none of them to relieve any of my symptoms.

Depersonalization disorder affects approximately 1 to 2% of the population and is classified as a dissociative disorder. Yet, there are no medications to treat dissociation or this wide-spread disorder, depersonalization. As CEO of Pfizer, you are in a powerful position. You could potentially help hundreds of thousands of people suffering from depersonalization disorder by creating a medicine that treats dissociation. Not only could you relieve people's suffering, but also earn a substantial profit. Because of the chronic nature of this illness, many people would pay a premium price for a medicine that would relieve some or all of their symptoms.

I have included two articles detailing the seriousness and wide-spread nature of this disorder. Developing a drug that treated depersonalization disorder would open up a new, untapped market with great profit potential. Please review the articles and consider developing a drug to treat depersonalization.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Heather Disney
(Include personal address here)


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## Guest (Jul 31, 2009)

only problem is, they've been trying to create a drug for it, but 1.) they don't know how to treat it because it doesn't effect anything physically, skitzos usually react physically. 2.) Even if they do create one, there's gonna be a lot of trial and error. I use klonopin, may be an anti seizure drug but its cured me!


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## York (Feb 26, 2008)

Yeah, they know this is is a big problem, there are several clinics in the world dedicated to the research of Dp.
Good thinking though. I think it might make an even bigger impact if it was exposed in media more. How great would it be if Paris Hilton got it? We'd be saved!


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

Jgard10 said:


> only problem is, they've been trying to create a drug for it, but 1.) they don't know how to treat it


This is exactly the case.

A drug company needs to know the neurobiology of a disease/disorder before it can even attempt to create a pill to treat it. That level of understanding simply doesn't exist. There needs to be a LOT of basic research before they can even begin to think of how to create a treatment. I don't want to be pessimistic about your letter writing campaign, but I do want to let you know why I won't be taking part in it, even though I want the same outcome as you do. Sorry.


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## anxietyboy (Aug 3, 2009)

1% of the population is still a lot of people to make money from. I always figured DP/DR/Anxiety/Depression we're covered under the same umbrella of meds?


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## Surfingisfun001 (Sep 25, 2007)

york said:


> How great would it be if Paris Hilton got it?


That would be doubly awesome. I love your thinking.


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## York (Feb 26, 2008)

surfingisfun001 said:


> york said:
> 
> 
> > How great would it be if Paris Hilton got it?
> ...


If she got it, she'd be my BFF


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## anxietyboy (Aug 3, 2009)

york said:


> surfingisfun001 said:
> 
> 
> > york said:
> ...


lol :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## fasi999 (Jun 24, 2009)

Jgard10 said:


> only problem is, they've been trying to create a drug for it, but 1.) they don't know how to treat it because it doesn't effect anything physically, skitzos usually react physically. 2.) Even if they do create one, there's gonna be a lot of trial and error. I use klonopin, may be an anti seizure drug but its cured me!


Hiya you have mentioned in the above post that klonopin cured your dp. Just wondering if your dp was drug induced or you had it by birth. Also what source you buy this medicine from & what is the magic dose for this. I suffer from dp for the last 4 years.

your reply would be appreciated


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## aloof (Nov 18, 2008)

Jgard10 said:


> only problem is, they've been trying to create a drug for it, but 1.) they don't know how to treat it because it doesn't effect anything physically, skitzos usually react physically. 2.) Even if they do create one, there's gonna be a lot of trial and error. I use klonopin, may be an anti seizure drug but its cured me!


yeah there certainly isn't a single magic cure for DPD, and even if there was r &d on a drug specifically targeting it, it would be a long process i would think. As far as klonopin, it worked wonders for me for a couple months but taking it constantly eventually made me feel zombied and depressed. i was only taking 1 mg per day. ive backed off on it gradually and pretty much i am back where i was....i am trying to figure a way to take it more judiciously where it can be of some help but not go to the other extreme. i also take trileptal which seems to stabilize my mood some. the klonopin seems the most effective option overall right now but of course there are lots of potential issues when taking it long term.


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## hd83 (Jan 10, 2006)

I've taken Klonopin for about 3 years now and haven't had any bad side effects from it. It hasn't made me zombied or depressed. I would consider taking a lower dose or maybe adding another medicine to treat the zombie-like effect it gives you and maybe an anti-depressant for the depression. I'm on Cymbalta right now, and it's working well. Hope this helps!


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

How are you going to create a drug specifically for dp/dr? In order to treat a mental illness you have to have a idea of what receptors it affects and going by the rather broad range of drugs that help people it doesent seem to affect one receptor or even a group of the same receptors.

The reason why there are so many drugs for schizophrenia is that we pretty much know what receptors it affects. We know it affects the dopamine receptors and there is also the serotonin theory when it comes to schizophrenia. The old typicals like haloperidol mainly targeted dopamine wheras the newer atypicals target serotonin as well as dopamine and tend not to have as many side effects as the older typicals. These drugs are also effective in treating the mania part of bipolar disorder and some of them (seroquel, zyprexa) seem to treat the depression side as well. This is because serotonin and dopamine have been implicated in bipolar disorder as well.

With dp/dr many people find benzodiazepines and specifically clonazepam effective. People also find SSRI's, SNRI's, NRI's, tricyclics, as well as atypical anti-depressants such as wellbutrin which is a DNRI and remeron (a serotonin norepinephrine enhancer) effective. Some people find that atypical anti-psychotics help but they seem to be not nearly as effective on the whole as benzodiazepines and anti-depressants. Also some people find stimulants such as dextroamphetamine and methylphenidate effective. Also anti-convulsants/mood stabilizers mainly lamotrigine have shown to be pretty effective for some people.

Now none of these classes of drugs effect the brain in the same way. some of them affect the same receptors but not in the same way. So how are you going to come up with a drug that treats dp/dr?


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

thats great, but since NONE of the meds in existance have been proven to help dissociation at all, the companies are liekly not to even look into researching it, the doctors really arent even sure how dissociation works in the first place, they can't make a medication until then, things liek schizophrenia and depression have reacted and been proven to be helped by all sorts of meds (not just psych meds) thats why they make so many of those


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

kate_edwin said:


> thats great, but since NONE of the meds in existance have been proven to help dissociation at all


If by "help" you mean "create a statistically significant reduction in symptom severity" then you're wrong. There are medications that help people who experience dissociation.

Or maybe you have some peer-reviewed literature that provides evidence for your rather forceful statement, in that case, feel free to post it.


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

paris hilton? please, god no.

seriously, that's the last celebrity i'd want to be a spokes person for a mental illness.


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

york said:


> How great would it be if Paris Hilton got it?


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: I love you Anny!!!! :lol:


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## kate_edwin (Aug 9, 2009)

there arent even reliable, reproducable, studies or studies that are double blind, or have a large enough subject pool on the drugs that *do* exist, there's no way someone's going to dump money into researching NEW drugs.


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## hd83 (Jan 10, 2006)

Sorry to offend those of you who have trashed my idea. Just thought it could be a good way to get more help for those who suffer from DP/DR.


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

hd83 said:


> Sorry to offend those of you who have trashed my idea. Just thought it could be a good way to get more help for those who suffer from DP/DR.


dont worry, :wink: you're doing the right thing. don't worry about what others say. :wink:


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2009)

I completely didn't mean to trash it, trust me, i wish it was possible, i'm just being realistic man, but trust me, i am in no way trashing it, i've had my ideas trashed and it's not fun so i would never do that to someone else.


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

I think most people who posted anything negative about your idea were really lamenting the sad state of research on DPD. It isn't widely recognized, and the amount of researchers dedicated to this disorder are few and far between. Even those individuals who specialize in treating or research dissociative disorders in general often know little about depersonalization and/or derealization in particular. It's really frustrating, and I applaud your effort to do something about it. Don't give up hope.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2009)

thanks bro, wasnt me who started the thread, they were bashing me for disagreeing haha, but i mean i've talked to daphne simeon personally and to be honest, all she cares about is RESEARCH, she doesnt care about curing us. I hung up on her once, it's just how it was, i was ready to go NY for the treatment and i asked her, what is my benifit? she never answered, so i said screw it. I dont think there will ever be a dp drug, kp works for me right now, but thats for now.


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## Absentis (Jul 10, 2007)

Jgard10 said:


> thanks bro, wasnt me who started the thread, they were bashing me for disagreeing haha, but i mean i've talked to daphne simeon personally and to be honest, all she cares about is RESEARCH, she doesnt care about curing us. I hung up on her once, it's just how it was, i was ready to go NY for the treatment and i asked her, what is my benifit? she never answered, so i said screw it. I dont think there will ever be a dp drug, kp works for me right now, but thats for now.


As bad as it sounds, I can understand where she's coming from when she is focused on research. I've worked for several professors as a research assistant, and when we've worked on studies with a clinical population (i.e. medical or psychological pathology) we care about getting good data, then analyzing and publishing it. Researchers care about how many papers they publish, not how many people they help in clinical trials.

Dr. Simeon's research, however, will ultimately help everyone with DPD since treatment is informed by research. Perhaps she didn't appear to care about curing us, but she wouldn't be doing her research if she didn't care at all? At least, I hope not. If it turns out there is a need for a DPD researcher who cares, then I suppose you'll all have to wait until I complete grad school, haha.


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