# Found a Cure Please Read!!!!!!!



## mississippimcdowell (Jul 30, 2008)

Hello everyone,

I hope to convey in this post what allowed me to almost completely overcome derealization. I was living with derealization for nearly one year, but now it is almost entirely gone, and I can enjoy life again. Keep reading as I explain how I overcame it and how you can too.

Like many, derealization hit me like a train?it was devastating. One night I was watching television and boom, I felt like I was high, but without all the pleasantries, I was just disconnected and panicked. I began blaming the pot I had smoked a week before. I thought it would be gone in the morning after a good night sleep and all would be well. Nope. It persisted, and much of my time was spent online reading forums and all sorts of info regarding derealization. All of my new found knowledge on the subject just made me anxious. To read of people suffering with this for years and years. The thought of that is enough to bring anyone to tears. I would think, how can my life be over? I?m only 20, my life is ruined. And so on. I was unable to find a solution online and all the posts only made things worse. Like a black hole of depression and anxiety sucking you in every time you go online. If you are reading this now you probably know what I?m talking about. This is especially true if you have an obsessive compulsive personality. However, THERE IS HOPE.

I was lucky enough to have the support of my family to encourage me to overcome this. And hopefully all of you can take my encouragement and do the same?BEAT DEREALIZATION.

The first and most important piece of advice I can give anyone who wants to rid themselves of derealization is to stop thinking about it. It?s a simple concept, but extremely hard to do. Stop going over and over in your head about how different things seem, and how you just want to be normal again. All of the things that make you miserable will only make you more miserable when you keep your mind focused on them. I won?t lie, it was hard for me to stop thinking about it. For some people, like me, time may just need to go by, maybe months, before you start thinking of it less. Maybe in 2 or 3 months you?ll only think about it every two or three hours. Baby steps. Don?t become discouraged, derealization is a serious problem and won?t go away over night. But if you are willing to dedicate the time and effort you will gradually cure you?re mind.

There is a specific type of exercise that will help you take your mind off of derealization and help to strengthen your mental focus and ultimately get rid of it. The key lies in any type of activity that enables you to focus your mind on body sensitivity. Contrary to old ideas, researchers are discovering that the brain is able to regenerate and heal itself. The term is Neuroplasticity. For many scientists this is related to how the mind helps people who have physical injuries, like relearning how to walk and how to use your fingers ect? Here is a link that explains the idea (http://www.ucpresearch.org/fact-sheets/ ... ticity.php) You can do further research on this is you like but long story short, movement and coordination of the body are essential to healthy brain redevelopment. So again, activities that link your mind to your body are the key. I?m not referring to going to the gym and getting in shape, that?s the wrong idea. Running and pumping iron and aerobic workouts are mindless. Your mind takes a vacation, this will not help you. I?m talking of seriously focusing on the coordination of what you are doing. What specifically helped me and what I believe can help anyone are two Chinese martial arts. One is called Wing Chun (also spelled Wing Tzun, Ving Tsun, Wing Tsun). The other is Tai Chi Chuan (also spelled Tai chi, Taiji, Taijiuan). Let me explain the important parts of each.

(Even though they are martial arts you don?t need to want to fight, you don?t even need to care about the effectiveness of the style, just focus on what can help you, described below, they are really so much more than martial arts they are a lifestyle)

Wing Chun involves hand sensitivity drills that require you to feel the movement of another person. The main exercise is called Chi Sau, through this exercise you are placing your mind in your arms to allow you to understand the movement of your partner and to anticipate what his movement(s) will be. After enough training you don?t even need your eyes, it is all done will feeling. Here are three links to show you what chi sau looks like? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FK0VRk1 ... re=related) 
(



) I discovered wing chun about three months after derealization hit me. And the two hours during class I would forget all about derealization, I was forced to focus on my hands and body alignment (If I didn?t I would get a fist in the face, that is a helpful incentive) So I went to every class and allowed wing chun to occupy my mind full time. It became a passion and really, really worked for me. Did you know that it is Wing Chun that helped Robert Downey Jr. overcome his cocaine addiction and get his life and career back on track. He now does wing chun 6 days a week and just starred in Ironman. After discovering it I completely understand how this can help balance your mind. You need to go to a school or class for it though because you need a real life partner to work with. They are partner drills designed to increase sensitivity and as a result allow your brain to regulate itself.

Tai Chi Chuan is an ancient martial art of china. Its form incorporates slow graceful movements that all have a martial arts application. Here are a couple videos to show you some of the forms. ( 



 ) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjbPBSW ... re=related ) there are so many you can peruse youtube on your own. You will most likely not be paying much attention to the application until years of study. Instead early practice will involve learning the forms and focusing your mind on proper alignment and movement. Thus, this can be done without a partner however you must have a qualified, repeat qualified teacher to instruct and correct you. You will spend lots of time using your mind to maintain proper alignment and to focus on the many details of the forms. There are many details to even the simplest movement. Tai chi is even more a way of life. I found tai chi about 5 months after derealization started and it has done wonders for my mind and body. I now have a good posture and my mind is much clearer and more focused. There are many, many benefits to doing tai chi exercise, I?ll leave it up to you to research. Tai chi also has partner exercises designed to have the same body sensitivity as wing chun here are a couple videos to show you those exercises. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adJwzXfC ... re=related) (<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r59gWTzKSw&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r59gWTz ... re=related[/url])

So to summarize. Stop reading negative posts. Stop looking for more info on derealization. If you have it, you have it, the only thing you can do now is look to the future and eventually heal yourself. Be patient. Even if you take all my advice it won?t happen over night. Ridding yourself of this horrible problem is not easy but if you dedicate yourself to it you will be back to center. For me it took nearly 9 months before I started to feel normal again. Wing chun, and Tai chi helped me greatly and although I think they exemplify the perfect mind body connection activity I described, they may not be for you, or available to you. If this is the case find something else similar?do research to find something that will enable you to concentrate on your body and body movement. If possible allow it to become a passion in your life. Think about the rules of nature for every positive there is a negative (yin yang), so for every problem there is a solution?somewhere. You just need to dedicate yourself to finding it. Our minds are capable of some very powerful things, put it to a productive use.

I would like to also give you a list of things that did not work for me and should probably be avoided when going through heavy derealization. Zen like sitting meditation did not help me at the early stages of derealization. This type of meditation can even compound the problem. I think the reason may be because your mind is losing itself within the mind. And since your mind is sick, you?ll only get sicker. Avoid until you are balanced again. I did exercise in the classical sense, gym, bicycle, running. I did not see any results from this type of exercise. Avoid fast food. You are what you eat. If you can eat lots of fruits and veggies. Avoid recreational drugs of any sort including alcohol. Even if you get better don?t try pot again, it just doesn?t work for some people, accept that. Stay away from any drug that will impair the clarity of your mind. It was hard for me to stop drinking beer, but I stopped because I needed my mind clear. The derealization made it cloudy enough. If you are seeing progress in your fight against derealization don?t make all your positive efforts in vain by screwing with drugs and alcohol. You?ll hate yourself for it.

I am not a psychiatrist but please consider these options described above before looking for an antidepressant drug related cure. I only wish the best to each any every one of you. YOU CAN DO IT!


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## Guest (Jul 30, 2008)

Im dyslexic... could I have the shorter version of this spam plz? :mrgreen:


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## letsgetbetter (May 29, 2008)

You are right that learning new things and focussing on the physical is an excellent way to recover. I would like to point out however that people who experience depersonalisation do not need to physically repair their brains (unless there has been some kind of injury sustained), it is a matter of relearning how to use them properly.

I play the guitar and do hacky sack! And was actually already planning to begin Chi Kung Tai Chi next week!


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## Guest (Jul 31, 2008)

The thing is your recovery will never be everybodys recovery,im recovered but I dont really share my story on here because thats not going to really others with their story.But I do agree that activitys like tai chi etc can really help generally with developing mindfullness.Its medatation in movement.Im going to be taking up tai chi eventually...though i Would much rather do tai quon doe so I can kick some butt when I need to.  but I think 29 is to late to start that ,I could be wrong.


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## hurricane12 (May 22, 2008)

very inspiring post
i will definatly try to get into this
im broke right now though 
anyways how much are these classes per session?


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## meghan28 (Jan 3, 2008)

Thank you for this post and god bless.


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