# Has Anyone Ever Got Their Emotions Back?



## RainyDaze (May 5, 2014)

Hi all,

I've been suffering from just DP for four months now. Docs say it is depression/anxiety induced. I'm on 50mg of Zoloft since 8 weeks - it has helped with appetite and sleep, and I have far less crying and panic now. I've been living life as normally as possible - seeing friends, working, completing household tasks, etc.

However, what really bothers me is I still don't feel like I have a self at all. I have no emotions for anything - no fear no jealousy no happiness no nostalgia, nothing. Coupled with no time perception, feeling like everything happened weeks and weeks ago even if it was just an hour ago, I just feel completely inhuman, like a piece of furniture.

I've read that there are real biological changes in emotional processing in DP wherein some parts of the brain are over active in emotional suppression and others are under active, and this worries me that I am stuck with a faulty brain forever.

Has anyone ever recovered emotions/self in DP?


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2014)

Your emotions will return as you heal.

DP is not induced by anxiety/depression. Your doctor is wrong. Find a doctor who knows their stuff, it's important, otherwise you'll be misdiagnosed like all the others, and offered treatment which doesn't work.

Zoloft will not help regain connection to your emotions. Anybody taking that stuff will feel like an emotionless zombie.


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## RafinhaBrasil (Jun 22, 2014)

am also on zoloft about 3 months, I can not have positive emotions, I know it's time to lack of air so numb I feel, I have many vivid dreams too, and worst of all, I fear that this lack 'emotion' is a negative symptom of schizophrenia :/ but I guess not, because I just cry, cry all day ..


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## Guest (Jul 20, 2014)

The lack of emotion that almost everyone with DPD experiences is b/c the emotions are dissociated from your consciousness. It's a way of the mind protecting itself. It's a natural response to overwhelming feelings and experiences. There's nothing wrong, you're just 'wired' differently that's all. Part of healing is about 'rewiring' and learning new ways to cope with strong emotions or feelings.


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

...


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## RafinhaBrasil (Jun 22, 2014)

I am thinking of not using the computer until the end of the year, what do you think?


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## spaced-out (Mar 28, 2008)

not to use the computer for some time is always a good idea these days I think

If you are hooked on the internet, FB etc.. it could help, cause for the most people being on the computer makes their DP worse

I month ago I was in the hospital for two weeks without my computer and I can confirm it helped me to limit the time I am spending on it now


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## missjess (Jun 1, 2012)

Yes thank god


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## amylouise12 (Oct 9, 2014)

missjess said:


> Yes thank god


Literally


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## seafoamneon (Jul 16, 2014)

I actually had DP for years before I felt like I didnt have emotions.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2014)

When your emotions all but disappear.. That's not a good sign. That says you're getting worse. That's the way this 'mechanism' works.

PS.. Forgot to say. Yes, I have my emotions back.


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## Guest (Oct 24, 2014)

^^^ Great video thanks disquiet.

This place is scaring me lately. So many people having awful side effects from meds, and what do the doctors do?? More meds..!

Scary shit.


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## King POTUS (Oct 6, 2014)

I've never lost my emotions. I feel normal emotion, I just feel like the world itself is not real (even though I know it is). My perception of time is skewed as hell. Things that happened 5 minutes ago feel like hours, and hours feel like minutes. It's difficult to focus on things. I can't "feel" where I am.

But I've never lost my emotions.


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## sebastian (Aug 11, 2004)

I think how everyone experiences DP is different, but for me, I've had virtually the same reaction to meds as you're having - pretty much regardless of the med. And I've had a lot over the years. They strangle emotion and stunt higher levels of emotional cognition - again, brandishing the disclaimer, "in my experience". I've had this for like thirty years now, and for me, my approach to meds has been that it's nice to know that if the "crazies" ever got to be too much, I could always marinade my brain in some mind-numbing elixir to make it all go away. But on the levels I feel DP now, it just isn't worth it for me to sacrifice that part of my brain in the name of a more stable and predictible mental state.

My advice would be to take the meds until you can start picking up the pieces from the trauma of having that big whack of DP. When you're feeling more stable, ween off of it. The good news is that you're unlikely to have any permanent side effects from short-to-mid-term use of those SSRIs. Once you go off them, your emotions will come back to some degree. And look, it all gets better anyway. There are absolutely ways to manage the anxiety, and deal with the cards you've been dealt. I'm sure you read the "I've had this for thirty years now" line I wrote above and are gasping in horror. But I'm having a pretty good life, and this whole DP thing, while absolutely integrated in the way I think, act, and live, has been relegated to something that I just have real problems with only rarely. Just keep coming to places like this for support and force yourself to keep social and active - fake it till you make it, and all that.

Anyway, hope this helps!


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## <AGENT>teh345 (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm not sure whether I've lost my emotions or whether I'm so far disconnected from them that its hard to apply them to daily life. It seems the postiive emotions are the first to go. I can connect with anger and frustration quite effectively, but affection, love, compassion, happiness etc. are things I struggle with often times.

Often times this enables me to be a complete ass to my girlfriend/family/friends. I also lack insight into my behavior a lot of the time. I have fleeting glimpses of insight when I feel really horrible about how I've treated people in the past, but these glimpses don't last.

Perhaps I'm painting too extreme a picture, I do have good times still and I haven't turned into some sociopathic robot that lacks the ability to function in society, but the negatives outweigh the positives heavily in my case and that shows in what I express here.

Hopefully me and you both will eventually improve this shit OP.


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## Guest (Nov 8, 2014)

> teh345" data-cid="345578" data-time="1415467406">
> 
> I'm not sure whether I've lost my emotions or whether I'm so far disconnected from them that its hard to apply them to daily life. It seems the postiive emotions are the first to go. I can connect with anger and frustration quite effectively, but affection, love, compassion, happiness etc. are things I struggle with often times.
> 
> ...


Your emotions aren't lost, they're just disconnected. Like they're stuck behind a dissociative wall. It's strange how the positive emotions become detached too. You'd think they'd stay b/c they don't offer any threat to your wellbeing.. but typically they take a little vacation too.


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## <AGENT>teh345 (Apr 10, 2012)

Zed said:


> Your emotions aren't lost, they're just disconnected. Like they're stuck behind a dissociative wall. It's strange how the positive emotions become detached too. You'd think they'd stay b/c they don't offer any threat to your wellbeing.. but typically they take a little vacation too.


Unfortunately positives seem to be the only ones in my case.


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