# Need Help:(



## Emikp (Jan 3, 2022)

Hey my names Emily, I’ve been struggling with dpdr for four months now, it happened so sudden, I fell asleep on my couch and woke up with one of the worst panic attacks and from that moment I felt as if everything around me was a simulation, like if I was in a dream like stage, It was so bad I would not leave my house never the less my room, even showering was a challenge. My biggest fear is that I would lose my mind, that I would be sent to a psych hospital and I work in a psych hospital so I don’t think my job is helping my mental health either, but I need to work… ever since I’ve started medication, I’ve started taking buspirone and it was helping me some what but that side affects were horrible! It would make me feel like a walking zombie, I got off the medication for a month, because I didn’t want to rely on medication for too long but my anxiety is worse than ever now and so is my dpdr too especially in the mornings, I just wanted some advice on what I should do to get better and if anyone has any medication recommendations that can really help with my dpdr and not make me feel like the walking dead, 

I know it’s a struggle right now but we’ve got this! We gotta let our mind and anxiety know that we’re in charge!


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## bluewine (Jan 17, 2021)

Hi Emily, 

Every now and then I venture back onto this site so I can drop a few words of encouragement to those who are stuck in the worst parts of depersonalization/derealisation. 

I had constant symptoms for around six months before they started to disappear (I suffered more with derealisation). It happens slowly, and I mean SLOWLY - but it is 100% worth coming out the other side, I promise. It took me around a year to fully recover. It's worth noting that the onset of my symptoms was also a result of a sudden panic attack and _BAM_ dreamworld.

Things I did that helped me overcome my symptoms

*Medication *- I took 20mg of Citalopram (SSRI) whilst I was in the thick of DPDR. Definitely helped with my anxiety which in turn reduced my symptoms, I guess. Be careful about the side effects of medication though. I suffered a great deal of emotional blunting on Citalopram, which helped short-term but became its own issue after recovery.
*Bodywork *- I couldn't meditate or do Yoga for the life of me yet I found breathwork helped calm me more than anything. YouTube 'emotional release breathing techniques' if you're curious. 
*Getting off DPDR forums* - Obviously, I'm glad you're here now because you are reading my advice but get off these forums! I spent every hour of every day scrolling through here and Reddit forums as well as YouTube videos (mostly Hardgrave's stuff) for months before my therapist literally banned me from doing so. It was almost a compulsion. Feel bad > read up > recovery story > feel better > Feel bad ... so on, so on. It'll do you the world of good. You will never reduce the anxiety in your body if you keep researching the thing that's scaring the shit out of you.

The last thing I'd say is just to try and reintroduce little things that you enjoy back into your life. It'll get better. I couldn't leave my room for the first four months, then I could walk outside for 10 minutes, then I could go for a coffee. Now I do everything that I did before and more because I appreciate this new lease of life.

Good luck <3


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## mrboss2020 (Jan 6, 2022)

I think you shouldn't rely on medication and just really move on. Just forcing yourself to do things and eventually your mind will recover.


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## Qk8 (12 mo ago)

Take things slow, step by step you will recover and heal from this. I suggest you address the pain and the anxiety because then you will reach the truth, you will recognize that you are safe, and that this is all some sort of dream, and by then you will have a stable ground and a mentality that can hold you and keep you stable, I am not a therapist but this is from my pure experience, I recommend that you see a therapist cause you deserve a healthy stable life.


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