# Recovery is Simple but requires commitment



## Optimistic (7 mo ago)

Hello guys,

I will try to make this as short as possible. I struggled with postpartum anxiety -derealization for 3 months. I am 90% better and the 10% left is me aspiring to be better than before.

I have always been very anxious and this has been part of my personality. When I got derealization, I thought it’s the end of the world. I stopped eating , hated light “ I still don’t feel 100% comfortable around light but I learnt to ignore it”, and more importantly , I felt numb. All I felt was fear and panic.

The cure is simple yet hard. You need to calm your nervous system. I chose to do it through medication. Then I changed my mindset. No matter how scary it was and how distant I felt, I went out and tried to do everything like I do normally. It felt terrible but with time , I realized I am not thinking about it much and I am thinking about my baby, work, family, and other stuff. Trust me, it is all in your head.
Medication helps but it’s your attitude towards derealization that will make all the difference. I was put on a small dose of an antipsychotic medication+ an antidepressant. I am still taking them but i believe I will be done with them soon.

It can’t hurt you! Every time it tries to freak you out, remember that you are sane and in control and it can’t harm you and it’s only a matter of time. Brain fog will disappear and soon you will be back to reality. This is coming from someone who had it really bad !!!

4 months ago I couldn’t look outside my window. Today, I went to meet a client and I would be lying if I said DR did not cross my mind while speaking to him, but i ignored it and I had a very productive meeting! 

Ignore your symptoms until they vanish. Do it for yourself, for your loved ones, for your kids! Do it because you deserve to be happy. Be committed to healing. Don’t let it consume you and remember that some things aren’t meant to be understood. Ignore any intrusive thoughts. Your chest will feel tight, you will sweat, you will be nauseous , accept the feeling and continue doing what you are doing. Soon your mind will stop playing these games with you. 

One last thing, have faith and God will cure you.

Good luck !


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## coolwhip27 (Mar 14, 2015)

i wrote something and said blah blah blah. Heres my edit. I want to say i appreciate your positivity. You do have to fight for all this in such a harsh world. Mental illnesses can be quite the beasts though.


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## Tim Couch 1999 (Jan 15, 2018)

Optimistic said:


> Hello guys,
> 
> I will try to make this as short as possible. I struggled with postpartum anxiety -derealization for 3 months. I am 90% better and the 10% left is me aspiring to be better than before.
> 
> ...


I think acceptance can be the answer for some, but I don't think it's always the be all end all to recovery. In my case, I think it can be a piece of the puzzle, but there's too much wrong with me physiologically, for acceptance to work on it's own. I've tried it a little bit, but the anxiety/DP gets so intense that I can't just not think about it - I automatically go into defense mode. Now perhaps if I worked with a DP/DR specialist, the specialist would be able to retrain my mind, but I have doubts. At times, I don't have access to rational thoughts, just like depressed people don't have access to happy thoughts. I'm almost certain this is due to a physiological problem, like a lack of serotonin, dopamine, or whatever else is responsible for calming you down. I used to be able to think my way out of DP episodes, but now I can't because I don't have access to rational thoughts. I really believe the answer to my problems will be found in my gut or in my hormones, as both are out of whack at the moment.


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