# Distraction is ALL we need



## chrissyd (Jul 7, 2011)

I've been thinking, i've had DP for 11 months...probably the shittest year of my life but i think it will make me a stroger person in the long run...and at least i'm no longer smoking weed everyday...one thing i am actually grateful for.

anyway i've had a lot of ups and downs along the way but last few days i've been feeling alot better, been exercising more and getting out alot. One thing i've noticed is i'm not DP'd when i'm not thinking about it and only when i start to think about it again the feelings come back...surely the way to recovery is just extending those moments of forgetting about DP and just not letting it bother us anymore...because the last few days the only time i've been actively thinking about it are the only time i feel DP. a few minutes ago i went out for a cigarette and got slightly panicked for no particular reason just felt a bit spaced out then i just said to myself "calm down and forget about it, this has happened a million times before and every time you have been fine" so instead of getting myself in a mess i just went and distracted myself with a videogame and now i feel fine again...i think this could be the key...don't let these sensations bother us because at the end of the day they can't actually harm us...how many times have we got ourselves in a panic and been fine at the end of it all...i mean i know DP is pretty fucked up but i've had it nearly a year and i'm still here...so FUCK DP haha i think this is why recovery takes so long...you just need to get used to these shitty feeling to the point you are no longer anxious about them because they are just there accept it and we will get over it...DP is what we make of it, that is very clear to me now, we can either wollow in it or not let it control us and live life regardless, i think it could be possible to recover way sooner than a year it just needs the correct attitude and bravery really cos it can be the scariest shit in the world sometimes but i'm getting to the point now it's the same scary shit, and just like a scary movie...the more you see it the less scary it becomes

well that's my little epiphany anyway... let me know what you think anyway guys, hope everyone a quick recovery

by the way i was pretty inspired by a post from Phoenixdown i read earlier...that guys got the right attitude lol


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## JenS (Jul 10, 2011)

I think it's great! Thanks for sharing


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2011)

bingo chrissy. hit the nail on the head. here lately it feels as if in some ways i am almost out of dp, but to finish off the little bit of it i have left, i need to stop coming to this site, stop waking up each morning and asking myself how "dp'd" i feel today, and just get back to my life and the things i used to do. it seems like this is how most if not all people recover. i think they first learn to accept it and be comfortable with it, then they just start to get back to life and not focus on it, and as the dp starts to fade and they no longer focus on it, i bet one day they say to themselves "hmm, i wonder how dp'd i am today" or they might say "hmm, remember that depersonalization i have?" only to realize in an instant that its gone.

i'd like that person to be us all one day...


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## chrissyd (Jul 7, 2011)

i totally agree with you, i can feel myself totally coming out of this now, it doesn't even bother me anymore...just to think 3 weeks or so i was feeling awful but that was due to stupidly taking E. Lesson learned tho i will never touch an illegal drug for as long as i live, just not worth it. Granted before that i was feeling almost myself again and now i can really feel like this is me slipping out of it i barely think about it, i just like to pop on here and try to breath a bit of possitivity into everyone because it can be overcame and i'm starting to think now that it might not even be that difficult it's just getting to that point of getting the right mindset and i think that's what takes time, once you have it and actually truly accept what you have, which is anxiety then its just one gradual step at a time until you get over it. Which i am learning now isn;t just waking up one morning and thinking i'm cured...it's a case of just forgetting you ever had dp as it slowly fades and then as you said you just realise one day "wait a minute...it's gone" haha


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2011)

im bumping this thread to the top of the forum section just to back up the things ive said in this thread. distraction is key, maybe the only key to fully beating dp. acceptance, distraction, relearning to live life, forgetting, then recovery. in that order...

i for one can provide personal proof that this is a winning strategy folks. i am feeling roughly 90-99% recovered depending on the time and frame of mind i am in. at times i feel as if i am already out of this nightmare and yet at times i feel that i still have a short distance to go. still even during those times i just remind myself to stay positive by looking back on what i've accomplished in this grueling fight and how much i have recovered and use that as fuel for my motivation and determination.

i too had felt like i was in the deepest pit of despair, fear, and hopelessness as so many others of you. i felt that i was stuck to walk among everybody else as a member of the walking dead, not allowed to die yet not allowed to fully live and experience my life the way i wanted to. but that passed as i kept faith and hope in the future and never gave up on myself. now i can almost fully do the things i used to and am starting to get back to my old self. i feel bad for those who have had it for years or even decades, but you must never give up. no matter the length of your nightmare the moment you give up on the light at the end of the tunnel is the moment your dreams die....


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## Chris P Bacon (May 31, 2011)

Muoyo I think you've been brilliant in this thread and I agree with every word. I think I am at roughly the same stage in recovery as you.

The big thing for me was accepting the DP/DR. I fought it and questioned why I had it for months, then I just all of a sudden got used to it, it didn't bother me anymore and once I stopped fearing it, the less anxious I got, and therefore the less DP/DR I felt.

Its a winning formula and positive thinking is definitely huge in getting over this, I'd get all the usual thoughts like "I'm going to be like this forever" or "this will lead to me truly losing my mind" but once you start to challenge those thoughts and they don't frighten you thats half the battle won.


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## Guest (Aug 3, 2011)

im glad to hear you are doin better chris, yes even during recovery dp can be a bitch. a cruel confusing demon of a bitch. gotta keep at it though, life's too important to ever even consider giving up...


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## 59Ballons (Mar 10, 2014)

Agreed. And distraction from the negative thoughts that come with it. "Life is all a dream" or "life is pointless" are classic thoughts that only cause more anxiety and should be ignored.

I must add that simply *IGNORING* the depersonalization isn't the correct way to do it. You need to

1.) ***Recognize that you are feeling DP

2.) Recognize that this has happened a million times before and it has only led you into panic

3.) THEN distract yourself.

For me, my DP takes the form of "OMG I CANT BELIEVE THAT I AM A HUMAN BEING, LIFE IS SO POINTLESS AM I EVEN ALIVE I CANT GO ON" and a persistent feeling of being *too aware* of my existence as a human. My relief comes in the form of suddenly realizing that I DIDN'T feel too aware, and freaking out because of that. I need to accept my body's way of healing... and just FORGET the disorder. Thats another problem with an anxious mind... the mind wont accept feeling better because it isn't "normal" to it.

Have a great day. -Dominick


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## Tyrone (Feb 28, 2016)

Thats what im feeling dude. Thanks


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