# Recovery is possible.



## GwithDP (Mar 14, 2018)

Hello everyone,

Its been 18 months since I first starting experiencing chronic DP and after a long journey, I'm completely recovered.

I feel normal, my anxiety is back to a 'normal' level, and life makes sense again (mostly).

There is still a bit of residue type symptoms every now and then, and sometimes I experience paranoia (which was massive during my intense DP). But i feel like my intense experience of DP has made me very resilient against these episodes. Odd things will trigger me now and then - but I am able to keep from spinning off into space, and I get through the trigger pretty quickly.

I became furiously protective of my mental health and wellbeing while I was unwell. I wanted nothing more than to be 'normal' again. This made me really conscious of my environment, and my routine.

I am now functioning day to day without really thinking about DP at all. Which is bizarre considierng it once took up 100% of my brain space.

A positive that has come out of the hellish experience, is that I am now very grateful for all emotions. 
When i feel depressed, I think to myself - at least I feel real. 
When I'm filled with anxiety, I think to myself the same thing. At least I know I'm inside my body.

The brain is a wondrous and weird thing, and it does some weird things to help us to get through. The DP i experienced did help me to get through. It got me through a period of severe trauma and stress. During my DP days, I was highly productive and i continued on as best I could. This was because being still was terrifying - being busy was a relief.

I stayed social, I continued working hard, and I eventually made some big choices about how to make my life less stressful.

I adopted a kitten. I quit full-time work and found a part time role that was less stressful. I avoided going to new places too often. 
I avoided most movies and TV - these made my symptoms worse. But I was careful to still engage with some media so that I didn't become fearful of it.

I kept a gratitude journal.

All of this helped. And I kept hope. 
After about 7 months, I was able to talk to my psychologist about what was going on - it was far too triggering to talk about it before then. She also helped me to see how resilient I am, and how much sense it made that my brain did this weird thing.

Recovery is possible! The brain can heal.

Something worth reading if you're feeling anxious about never recovering, or about going crazy, - is anything on neuroplasticity. The brain is able to completely rewire itself.

It just needs time.

Stay hopeful!


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