# For all DP/DR survivors and some advice



## happy2havesurvived (Feb 2, 2009)

Dear All DP/ DR survivors,

My heart goes out to you and I am sending you copious amounts of love and support.

You are so unbelievably strong and courageous to be dealing with this utterly frightening experience. It may be the most difficult of all human experiences because your mind and feelings are telling you to be afraid of EVERYTHING- even yourself and the people you love most. Worst of all- life makes absolutely no sense, none at all and you wonder why all this didn't bother you previously (eg. WHY does my face look like that??) and how you are ever going to survive this- it feels like life has gotten you at checkmate.

You are so strong- you can achieve anything now that you know you can endure this. I can identify with 99% of what is written by others on this forum- so I understand EXACTLY what you're talking about.

There you were happily living your life, trying to do the best you could with whatever hand you were dealt with and then BHAM! your life just flips and you wonder what bizarre planet you're living on!? Again my heart goes out to you.

Trust me- you will be so much better off when you come through this- and you will come through this. One day you'll just snap out of it and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about cos life's quite great.

I still have moments of impulsive fear but I am largely beating this thing. This is the second time i have gotten it (and believe me it will be the last) and mine is a result of PTSD and environmental changes that trigger me off.

Here are some things i did that i found were really helpful:

1. Make a commitment to life

Repeat to yourself that no matter what you will see this thing called life to its NATURAL end and try to live as normally as possible. End all thoughts of suicide and self harm. That will not help you and only frighten and weaken your spirit further. Say to yourself that no matter what I will live- even if it is just to honour your true self and the love you have for your family and friends who your normal self so dearly loves. All storms come to an end- they cannot last forever and you deserve so much more than that.

2. Love yourself and build greater self-esteem and body image

My DP/ DR was tied in to insecurity and deep feelings of self-hatred.The moment i started to address my body image and self-esteem issues, i started to feel a change.

Do things that make you feel better about yourself with other people: dating, taking classes in something that you would normally find difficult (eg. martial arts, singing classes)

3. Perform some daily affirmations and EFT (emotional freedom therapy)
Here are some i found most useful:

- Everything looks and is exactly how it should be.
- Every moment of my life is wonderful
- Nothing makes sense at the moment but I have faith that they will in time.
- I deeply love and accept myself
- My mind and body are healing themselves at the moment.
- The thoughts I have do not belong to me.
- Thoughts cannot hurt me
- I will no longer cause pain to myself
- This situation is preparing me for a wonderful life
- I don't need to understand the mystery of life to enjoy it.

Also be careful with the words and thoughts you think. Every positive thought is helping you and every negative thought is hurting you (hard i know to monitor when your mind is compulsively negative at the moment- wasn't that the cause of this problem to begin with).

4. Do things with your friends and family
Now is not the time to isolate yourself. Do as much as possible with them.

5. Medication can be helpful to take the edge of the anxiety
I used to be very anti-medication but there's no point trying to be superman or superwoman at this time. You are really lost at the moment- the real you is hidden under layers and layers of fear and anxiety chemicals. This is solely a chemical imbalance- all humans can be happy without chemical imbalances- remember you used to be happy?

On another note, counselling is absolutely imperative at this stage if your DP/ DR is scaring the crap out of you.

6. Ditch all the existential thinking!
This was a big problem for me and only made things worst. Get over yourself, the world and humanity existed long before you came and will exist long after you. You didn't make the pyramids, taj mahal and the whole earth. Your family and friends are all fine and happy and even though they would be really sad without you, they will still exist. If you're scared you don't exist, hold your breath for a few seconds and you'll know you're there.

Also the fact that there are so many people with the thought that they are the only person/ everything is an illusion should tell you that it is not an illusion. We can't all be the only person in the world!! Also read as much as possible about the world because you sort of need a refresher course after this experience- read the national geographic/ new york times, read great heavy literature (NOT EXISTENTIAL THOUGH).

7. Have an unbelievably good exercise and diet regime. 
You need everything working for you at the moment- cut out all the crap and take supplements, fish oil, flaxeed oil. Just be super healthy.
Also i found slow exercise as in long walks as opposed to running, calms the anxiety better.
Also weight training can be good because the physical soreness keeps you in the present moment.

8. Learn to relax, calm and focus the mind
Meditation, yoga and martial arts are all fantastic in this endeavour.
Also try to laugh everyday- watch some comedy on youtube. Laughter is really good for you.

9. Listen to positive uplifting music and emotionally intense and uplifting movies
Music i like is India Arie, Kirk Franklin, Delta Goodrem ('I believe again' is a great one), Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli, Stevie Wonder.

10. Have faith you will be happy and feel 'normal' again.
Faith is the most important aspect of getting through this condition. Because at the moment your mind, body and spirit are not aligned and thus are sending you confused signals.

Surrender to the situation. Religion really does help- if you're not religious praying to the strength inside you can help.

EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT FINE- IF ONLY YOU KNEW!!

LOADS OF LOVE


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2009)

That is excellent advice! I'm starting to do some of this already and it does help.


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## SonofEagles (Jan 12, 2008)

This is a great post. Inspiring and right on. Thank you!!!!


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## sarah78 (Jan 21, 2009)

Thank you so much for posting this, it has truly helped me to feel stronger!


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## Ghostmon (Mar 14, 2009)

Thank you so much for posting this. I am new to this forum and feeling really freaked out, although a bit more hopeful after reading your post.

I am 52 years old and this DP weirdness came on very suddenly following an illness in October and it hasn't left me since. I have seen about a million different doctors who mostly dismiss me as nuts and it's really frightening that I went so rapidly from relative normalcy to this bizarre, oppressive two dimensional hell!

Anyway, a new doctor I started seeing is having me tested for neurological Lyme Disease to see if there is something physiological that triggered this "episode". For a long time I thought I was the only person in the world experiencing such strange symptoms.

I feel at times like I can't take it any more, but will try the things you suggested. Thanks so much for making me at least see that little tiny glimmer...


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## mamamia (Mar 24, 2009)

Excellent post and excellent advice. Very well written and put as well. 
I can relate to this:

"Trust me- you will be so much better off when you come through this- and you will come through this. One day you'll just snap out of it and you'll wonder what all the fuss was about cos life's quite great."

this is how I felt after overcoming dp at age 23 or 24... When I was 26 or 27 people used to ask me what ever happened with my "dizziness" (as i used to describe it) and I used to say: it either went away or i got used to that because i dont feel "dizzy any more. Back then, after overcoming it, I used to think all the time: what ever happened to that dizziness? how come it went away? what was all the fuzz, seeing drs and stressing out about it was about? 
I wish I could think that now. I am so sick of this. At age 31 it came back as never before.....


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