# I came out on the other side better then ever :) My story



## Shayne (Aug 19, 2014)

Hello everyone! this will be a long post, please give it a read I'd appreciate it if you did and I honestly think this will give people hope who are still suffering from DP and DR. My name is Shayne, i'm a 19 year old male living in the great country of Canada. I just joined this site 10 minutes ago and I joined to post this one topic, how I came out on the other and recovered from my depersonalization and derealization. Before I get into this I want to let everyone know that I am in no way or form trying to diagnose anyone with DP or DR or anything else, I am NOT a doctor, I am just a man with an opinion from personal experience and research done, ect.. Lets get into it. Depersonalizaton and Derealization can be caused by many things. DP and DR can be disorders, my heart truly goes out to the people who have it as an actual disorder that came randomly. Now for the reason why I got it, and why many people on this site probably have it.. severe anxiety. In November of 2013 I was with my friends and we smoked some Mari--juana ( not sure if this site censors anything ) after I smoked it my heart began to race at an extreme rate, I was so scared I truly beleived my heart was about to give out on me. I ended up checking myself into a hospital thinking I was about to die because of a heart attack. After tests were done, time went by, the hospital told me I had a major panic attack and all the tests came back fine. I felt some comfort and went back home that night. 24 hours later, literally the next night I was just laying in bed and AGAIN my heart started racing at an extremely fast rate, this time I didn't smoke anything and was just relaxing. This resulted in me going to the hospital AGAIN. I would soon find out I was in for many months of severe health anxiety ( hypochondria )

I was diagnosed with health anxiety by my family doctor who i have been seeing for literally all 19 years of my life. The following months were filled with severe anxiety. I couldn't control my thoughts about me dying of something related to my heart. I went to bed many nights thinking this was my last sleep because my heart was about to give out on me. I had many symptoms from my anxiety, heart palpitations ( palpitations are extremely scary when your anxiety disorder is based around your heart ) I had head aches, visual disturbances, difficulty sleeping. To think to myself that before I smoked with my friends I felt amazing and no anxiety at all, I came to accept that one stupid decision by me ruined my entire life. I was devistated. After about 3 months of severe anxiety and thinking I was about to die, is when the DP and DR came, time for me to discuss that in my next paragraph.

You'd be surprised by how many people with anxiety actually start to get DP and DR symptoms. When you are paniking, weather it be for health reasons or anything else, your brain is sending signals that something is very wrong. After a while of your brain sending these signals that something is wrong, some peoples brain go into a self defense mechanism, what is that self defense mechanism? DP and DR. Some people think that they are going mentally insanse when they are dealing with this ( I was one of those people until i educated myself on it more ) you are NOT going crazy. It's actually the exact opposite of going crazy. Your brain is trying to protect yourself and trying to decrease or anxiety and fear. Notice how when you have DP and DR your emotions are gone, you can't feel anything ? that is your brain doing that so you can deal with the situation you are dealing with ( the anxiety ) for example lets say someone just cut their finger off by accident at a job they work, that person can go into depersonalization and derealization in that moment cause the brain is trying to protect you from the intense situation. It's a defense mechism that is 100% natural and normal ( people who have depression can also get DP and DR )

I want to get into the symtpoms that I had when I was dealing with DP and DR ( I don't have these anymore ) when it came to my depersonalization, I felt like the thoughts I were thinking weren't mine, I felt disconected from my won thoughts, I felt disconected from my own body. One of the things that woudl scare me the most is when I would look into a mirror it would scare the hell out of me, It felt like I didn't know who I was looking at. It gave me a very weird sensation just looking at myself in the mirror. I could not feel any emotions when I had DP. When It came to my DR, it's more simple but just as scary, everything around me seemed fake or like an illusiion, I would look outside and ask myself, is any of this real? very scary stuff. my friends... THIS IS TEMPORARY! this is not a life sentence, you will break through it and be recovered just like I am. Now for my last paragraph I will give some tips 

- Try your hardest not to think about your DP or DR and look stuff up on the internet. I know for myself at the start I literally could not stop searching things on the internet, every single day multipe times a day I would be on the internet looking up DP and DR. After you read this topic by me, I gave you guys good information on why DP and DR happens, my story and the fact it can be beaten, try to forget about it ( easier said then done I know )

- Patience my friends.. I remember many times during my suffering I just wanted it to end this instant, I was so impatient, If you have patience and ACCEPTANCE, i know its hard to do but accept that you currently have it and that it is TEMPORARY. If you keep fighting your DP and DR it will get worse, trust me I experienced that myself, once I stopped fighting it and I accepted it, had patience, thats when I truly started to begin the recovery process.

- exercise exercise exercise. It's great to destract your mind, physical activity is great for your brain and body in general. It can be a big help in the recovery process of DP and DR

- DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!!

I remember that feeling... feeling so scared, I thought I was going crazy because I felt disconected from my own thoughts and body. I thought to myself it was never going to end. I thought it was a life sentence, it is NOT a life sentence. If you went through a time period of severe anxiety or stress, even depression, DP and DR is your brains natural defense mechism, trying to protect yourself and hide the stress. Time is your friend, symptoms fade away as time goes by. You will come out on the other side like I did, promsie


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## Shayne (Aug 19, 2014)

No problem


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## Shayne (Aug 19, 2014)

Great point Timmins, with the attitude you have you will definitely be recovering fully in the near future


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

Shayne said:


> DP and DR. Some people think that they are going mentally insanse when they are dealing with this ( I was one of those people until i educated myself on it more ) you are NOT going crazy. It's actually the exact opposite of going crazy. Your brain is trying to protect yourself and trying to decrease or anxiety and fear. Notice how when you have DP and DR your emotions are gone, you can't feel anything ? that is your brain doing that so you can deal with the situation you are dealing with ( the anxiety ) for example lets say someone just cut their finger off by accident at a job they work, that person can go into depersonalization and derealization in that moment cause the brain is trying to protect you from the intense situation. It's a defense mechism that is 100% natural and normal ( people who have depression can also get DP and DR )


Great post. Yeah, it took me a while to learn (Ive had DP for 10 years), but the same part of the nervous system that causes depersonalization causes relaxation as well.


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## Shayne (Aug 19, 2014)

seafoamneon said:


> Great post. Yeah, it took me a while to learn (Ive had DP for 10 years), but the same part of the nervous system that causes depersonalization causes relaxation as well.


Thank you so much! I hope you start to recover soon, no body deserves to have DP for 10 years,


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

Shayne said:


> Thank you so much! I hope you start to recover soon, no body deserves to have DP for 10 years,


It's not as bad as it sounds, I've found anxiety to be much worse, I didn't even care about DP until I started to lose my feelings around 2011


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