# The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR



## RenZimE

I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.

*The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*

I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:

*1) Acceptance
2) Letting go
3) Distraction
4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
5) Socializing
6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
7) Eating right







Sleeping/Exercising
9) Changing your thinking pattern
10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back
*
Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.

*Acceptance*

This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
It's also the first step of letting go.
Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:

"I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it

*Letting go*

This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.

*Distraction*

It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.

Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it

Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.

In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
:
Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.

I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
DO IT seriously.

*Socializing:*

After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.

*Facing your fears and burried surrows:*

The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
Survival of the fittest. =P
If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.

*Eating right*

While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.

I suggest this eating regime:

Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system

Fish oil: 1 before sleep
Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.

Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning

Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)

Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.

Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day

I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.

Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
After all, ITS YOUR BODY.

Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee

Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.

*Sleeping & Exercising:*

The reason I bring this up is because first:
sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.

*Changing your thinking pattern:*

This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.

*Re-entering reality and never looking back*

Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.

Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
You need to go slow, but not too slow.
If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.

*DP/DR do's and don'ts*

*DO's:*

Participate in life (self explainatory)
Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
Distract, (already explained)
Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
Stay occupied. (explained)
Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
The list is endless....

*DON'TS:*

Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)

----------------------------------------

Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:

Body scan meditation:

This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.

This is what you do:

Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.

Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.

Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.

Increasing/training your senses:

Again thanks to LostSoul

This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.

You do this by taking one sense a week

Let's start with the ears:

My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.

Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:

This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.

Then it's smelling:

Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.

Tasting:

Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
Taste ANYTHING

Touching/feeling:

Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P

"I am" mantra exercise:

This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.

Looking in the mirror:

This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.

Reminiscing:

Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
Try to spark the memory of it
This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.


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## Navstep

Just, thank you, thank you so much.


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## RenZimE

Navstep said:


> Just, thank you, thank you so much.


Haha, thats okay missy :] I just wish Copeful was still a member here so I could pass on the gratitude







But I truly am glad his words were able to reach you. Here's to many people finding that inner peace :]


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## Da Vinci

This works people... This is exactly what is aiding me in recovery. Doesn't get anymore thorough than this.


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## insaticiable

Wow, thank you for posting this. It was quite a read, but I think I'm going to print it out to use as a reference when I get stuck or need some inspiration. This is great.


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## RenZimE

I just wish there was someone around to pin the thread! The information truly is so valuable in getting through this shizzle, but without any admins around it'll once again just sink into the abyss.

Does anyone know any of the admins or how I could contact them? I don't think I've seen one online since February!

Thanks guys.


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## Guest

RenZimE said:


> I just wish there was someone around to pin the thread! The information truly is so valuable in getting through this shizzle, but without any admins around it'll once again just sink into the abyss.
> 
> Does anyone know any of the admins or how I could contact them? I don't think I've seen one online since February!
> 
> Thanks guys.


I assure you we're around! I'm here checking the forums daily If you have specific requests, feel free to send me a pm.


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## RenZimE

Revsarah said:


> I assure you we're around! I'm here checking the forums daily If you have specific requests, feel free to send me a pm.


Aha! You sneaky little lurkers







lol. In all seriousness though, you have my most sincere thanks for pinning this thread. At least now there's a game-plan on the front page that everyone can find and refer to with ease :] My best wishes go out to all of you, may you find your inner peace very soon!


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## Tommygunz

great post dude. it's awesome to see someone understand what it takes to beat DP/DR. it's even better to see someone spell it out plain and simple so everyone else can understand. great post.


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## EverDream

Wow! This is great! Thank you so much! It's well writen, orginized and very true








I wish I could follow everything mentioned here. Right now I'm quite far from the steps you mentioned even though I got a little bit better through the years(and that's also because I made some of the things you wrote). I think I'll print it. Thanks!


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## EverDream

I want to add some things I forgot to say:

RenZime, I think what you wrote it true also for other mental problems like depression and OCD so it's good to read it here. Another thing is that those steps are behavioral steps mainly, and they are great for behavioral changhing (that have an amount part in DP, OCD, depression, etc). I know from myself that even though I want to make this changes, it can sometimes be hard, like when I'm really down and depressed. I also believe in thearpy and meds helping with the moods involved, and as doing so, they help direct you to the steps and behavioral change needed for getting better.


----------



## RenZimE

Hi there EverDream,

You truly are too kind to me







And as much as I'd like to take the praise and pretend it was all my own doing, that would indeed be dishonest lol. The content was originally written by an old member of the boards called Copeland back in 2007. I found the thread the other day, tidied his info up a bit and then pasted it on the main DP/DR boards so everyone could appreciate this guys hard work. However, I truly am glad that you have found the information useful! Lord knows when I found it, I too was in disbelief as to how well written and how true it was to not only DP but to many other mental illnesses also.

So, as much as I am truly greatful for your kind words, I would like to (at least in spirit) pass on the gratitude to the departed Copeland. Heres hoping his work helps many more people in the years to come :]


----------



## Whydontiexist

Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.

--------

OMG LOLL!!!!

i found out that happiness helps it go away for short periods of time, if im stressed, or overall bin a bad mood, it gets worse... i end up freaking out because it gets so bad, and it gets even more worse. (isn't that a dandy?) so, if you can find a way to be happy. the HAPPIEST thing, whether it be video games, sports, dancing, kissing some girl or just being around certian people (without smoking weed/drinking, it'll just make it worse.)

man, you cracked me up. going to bed in the best mood i've had all day.


----------



## Hoopesy

Thanks for taking the time to make this list. It's great! I can't stress enough the need for
- exercise
- diet
- sleep
- socializing

These are personally the biggest factors that decide a good day from a bad one DP wise. Good luck to everyone on their journey through recovery.


----------



## Patrick

I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else. Tommygunz pointed this out to me, and the day I skimmed through it, I already started feeling hope. Very good information. You say that most of this info was from another user and dpmanual.com. How would you compare "Depersonalization: A Recovered Sufferer's Comprehensive Guide On How To Cope With And Alleviate It" (dpmanual.com book) to another depersonalization book such as "Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self". I ask this to everyone who has read either book, because I ordered the second book I listed, and now I'm thinking about getting the first one. But if books on DP pretty much offer the same information (excluding exceptions), then I won't feel bad about my decision. On the other hand if most of you have read the first one, and claim it is better than any other book then I will probably shell out the $40 to get it. Thanks.


----------



## Tommygunz

theres a pretty big difference between the two. feeling unreal is a more professional style focusing more on what DP is. while DPmanual is actually intended to help you overcome DP. of the two DPmanual is significantly more effective at helping one to recover.


----------



## RenZimE

Patrick said:


> I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else. Tommygunz pointed this out to me, and the day I skimmed through it, I already started feeling hope. Very good information. You say that most of this info was from another user and dpmanual.com. How would you compare "Depersonalization: A Recovered Sufferer's Comprehensive Guide On How To Cope With And Alleviate It" (dpmanual.com book) to another depersonalization book such as "Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self". I ask this to everyone who has read either book, because I ordered the second book I listed, and now I'm thinking about getting the first one. But if books on DP pretty much offer the same information (excluding exceptions), then I won't feel bad about my decision. On the other hand if most of you have read the first one, and claim it is better than any other book then I will probably shell out the $40 to get it. Thanks.


Hey there Patrick,

I honestly have never even heard of the book you have ordered yourself so I cannot vouch for its content, but as for the dpmanual.com book, it is simply a must buy! It is so well written that not only is it easy to read (DP can make reading a chore), but its personal tone makes you feel as though the guy is actually talking to you as you read it. Very comforting and very reassuring indeed. Even though the self-help side of the book is pretty much the same info as you can get elsewhere, I would still 100% recommend it just for how personal it is, and the experience it can pass onto you in coping with the daily grind.

Best of luck to you Mister Patrick :] May it bring you some peace of mind in the days ahead!


----------



## Patrick

So after reading what you guys said about the books, I will return the book I ordered, and I just ordered the dpmanual.com book. I didn't order a downloadable version of the book, and I didn't get confirmation of when and/or where they are sending the book, so I hope niether paypal or dpmanual.com didn't mess up and send it. Anywho I had read other comments on the book I originally ordered and most were very good, but from some of the bad comments; I could tell that this was a realistic doctor's view of the disorder. So thank you both for the recommendation, and I will tell you how the experience with the book goes


----------



## Tommygunz

if you look around the forum, someone posted a link to download it for free. i can't remember who or where it is though. either that or you could pay for it. it's worth it.


----------



## RenZimE

As much as I agree that getting anything for free is a bonus (Lord knows I'll never look a gift horse in the mouth), the guy who wrote the DPManual really does deserve the money for his time, effort and experience. But I won't judge either way.

I guess that makes this post kind've redundant but I just wanted to give my 2 cents


----------



## Patrick

I have already bought it, and I just don't feel like searching around for something on the internet when I have a somewhat broad area of looking







. Anyway, I apprecite it guys. And if we had 50 people's 2 cents, we would have a dollar


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## Mario

Tommygunz said:


> if you look around the forum, someone posted a link to download it for free. i can't remember who or where it is though. either that or you could pay for it. it's worth it.


The member who posted the link to the download of the DP Manual was JumpJump,but i just can't find the link to it now.


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## RenZimE

I have the DPManual in e-book format on my other computer.. I could upload it to somewhere or other if you guys require it? I don't know the legal implications behind doing so though and honestly I could do without getting in any trouble with my ISP during this (oh so fantastical) extended home period.









EDIT:: Thank you Mod.. Whoever you may have been


----------



## guest1234

I have covered a lot of the DP manual stuff on my post in the recovery section.

Great post , it pretty much reaffirms everything I learnt over the years I had DP









I would also recommend paul david's book 'at last a life' (anxietynomore.co.uk)

The only thing I am not sure about is the buddhist exercises - I think they might cause you to focus on yourself too much? I personally avoided anything of the spiritual ilk and I recovered fine. But then of course everyone is different and it seems to be helping some people - I guess they will make you relax more, I would just say be careful they don't increase introspection!


----------



## lostsoul

Hi guys,

I don't come too much on this forum anymore, once in a few months or so. First of all I have to make a big excuse, since last time I got here I was really bitter that nothing is changing in my life and I made a very bitter reply. Anyway..

I think this is an excellent thread, BUT I think it makes everything too focused on dp/dr. I still have the same amounts of dp/dr since I have a second, bigger problem, autism. I was diagnosed twice with Asperger Syndrome. Since I saw many people who also have dp/dr for years and years I suspect the same (also, I saw other posts of people suspected to have Aspergers). Since in autism sleeping is often already bad as a baby it's not very easy to get rid of this.

Ok, I would like to share the following, I hope it's usefull for you guys.

1. There is NO formula. I think everyone here is thinking of a formula constantly to get out of this state. A human being isn't like a computer, you can't say do this and this and you will be happy again. Or do this and this and you will certainly sleep well this night. No, God didn't create us like this.
2. Realize how serious the state is you are in. I'm quite sure 95% of the people who have this long-time don't want to feel because of a trauma. If you realize this is serious and you need serious help and that you are very important AND that your family is also suffering, this will get you in a state that you might want to feel again.
3. HOPE. All you need to get out of is this is hope. What do you want to be in 5 years?
4. Structure. Wake up at the same time (only sleep 8 hours, at least not longer than 10), go to bed at the same time. Eat at the same times. Make a yourself a day structure. DON'T feel pitty about the last time you HAD with dp/dr. Feel pitty for the time you are still losing. FIGHT! But in the same time be patient with yourself. If you have long-time dp/dr how long did you stay in bed or didn't excersise? You have to reverse this vegetating with excersise. You simply can't reverse years of not caring of your body in a week or a month. Accept this.
5. Hyperventilation. All you are doing (90% of the ppl don't know this) is hyperventilating. If possible find professional help for this.
6. Excersise, so you sleep better (because you are less hyperventilating over time).

I'm extremely strong, fighting this shit for years and years and not giving up. If I can do this while being autistic (making it more difficult to get grounded) you can do it for sure! Keep up the hope, try to continue life, become healthy (health IS the most important thing!). It's more easy to distract yourself when you are more relaxed.

Find professional help! Stop finding help on the internet, you need someone professional. What you don't need is an information overload seeking help everywhere on the web. In IT there is a structure called KISS. It means Keep It Simple Stupid. KISS DP/DR!

Keep it simple. DP/DR is hyperventilation. Cure it. DP/DR is low self-esteem. Cure it. DP/DR is sleep depreviation. Cure it. DP/DR is anxiety. Cure any of these and you will be free.

A man is fine when he believes in himself, in others, in God and in the world. A man doesn't believe in any of these if he hates it.


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## lostsoul

One more thing.

(Chronic) hyperventilation is triggered by A) Drug use







Vegetating C) Pregnancy D) Some other causes

I met many offline having dp/dr, my current breathing coach had it for 6 years triggered by pregnancy (although she didn't knew this was the cause till I told her, pregnancy changes your breathing patterns). Another one also had it after this issue.

Most often dp/dr is caused by a burn-out. Or often also by depression. I have a very steady believe that a burn-out or a heavy depression is the cause of vegetation/lying on bed, something has happened in your life, a trauma or something and you start lying more often on bed. This causes hyperventilation. Now because ppl get tired because of hyperventilation they will lie on bed more often. This is the circle you have to break through. If you staid on bed often or did not enough excersise, you can't expect your breathing will become good again after a month of heavy training. Please understand this and accept it will be a (long) process.

Simply do a lot of things (especially things you enjoy), that's the main ingredient of curing. But remember life does not offer formulas. You want a formula to control this situation. If there is a small formula it's living healthy, structure and sport. This will help for sure, but you need more.

Something that also became obvious to me is that dp/dr is simply extreme depression. Nothing more, nothing less. Although it feels like you are in a shock, its extreme depression.


----------



## S.Snake

Ive got a question about sleeping.

I find that when I sleep I get really vivid dreams and when I wake up I feel mentally drained and because of this I feel compelled to stay in bed and usually I do and get extra sleep.

Do you know what causes that?


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## SnakeyMLT

good thread. but it's not very helpful for me, since i'm not a sufferer of anxiety.


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## mixmastermc

This thread is cool. However, don't feel bad if this thread offers you nothing.

It's not your fault, don't feel bad, this thread IS NOT the holy grail for dp disorder sufferers. Maybe it's useful for those who suffer from dp/dr as a result of anxiety. However, this does not necessarily include you.

For a lot of us, this thread offers nothing but false hope and then frustration when it has no impact whatsoever.

If another user claims that this thread should definitley cure your dp, they are simply an acute sufferer who has dp/dr due to anxiety. When they overcome their anxiety - their dp/dr subsides. Not everyone is like this - hence DP Disorder.

However, you should still follow the advice of this thread, stay strong and don't let this shit beat you.


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## Rebekah

After many years of learning what works and doesn't through trial and error, here it is in one post. This really is the holy grail of MY recovering from DP. I appreciate the comment that not all DP's are the same, however.


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## SnakeyMLT

mixmastermc said:


> This thread is cool. However, don't feel bad if this thread offers you nothing.
> 
> It's not your fault, don't feel bad, this thread IS NOT the holy grail for dp disorder sufferers. Maybe it's useful for those who suffer from dp/dr as a result of anxiety. However, this does not necessarily include you.
> 
> For a lot of us, this thread offers nothing but false hope and then frustration when it has no impact whatsoever.
> 
> If another user claims that this thread should definitley cure your dp, they are simply an acute sufferer who has dp/dr due to anxiety. When they overcome their anxiety - their dp/dr subsides. Not everyone is like this - hence DP Disorder.
> 
> However, you should still follow the advice of this thread, stay strong and don't let this shit beat you.


Agreed. mine is not from anxiety i think, neither from drugs and all that nasty stuff. i think i was born with it and i need to live with it, *sadface*


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## Kitr

This guide is great this really helps!!!


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## Kitr

This guide is great this really helps!!!


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## Kitr

This guide is great this really helps!!!


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## *deleted*

Wow this sure sounds great. But actually trying this.....well it will be freaking hard.


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## Ivan Hawk

thank you sir, will try these out


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## Cacophony_of_whispers

a commendable post. It is good to know that there is someone out there who has the time and inclination to go to the trouble of typing out such an exhaustive list of tips.

Thanks.


----------



## Tanyawa

RenZimE said:


> I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.
> 
> *The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*
> 
> I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:
> 
> *1) Acceptance
> 2) Letting go
> 3) Distraction
> 4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
> 5) Socializing
> 6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
> 7) Eating right
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sleeping/Exercising
> 9) Changing your thinking pattern
> 10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back
> *
> Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
> However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.


I totally agree with your list and it IS easier said than done, however, once you get started doing them it gets alot easier..............Thank You for this post


----------



## Z-Ron

Very good advice for the most part. A lot of these suggestions will help and I can confirm that.

However, I think rather than fearing existential thoughts you should accept that they are there. Accept that they are part of being a human being.

Personally, when I first started thinking existentially about life & existence (15 years old at the time), it scared the hell out of me. I think it will do that to everyone at first. However, as time goes on, you start to not fear it. You maybe even start to embrace it.

My 3 year long bout with DR/DP is what made me start to question things, now I am DR/DP free and happier than ever. I still question things, but I question them without getting derealized or panicky.

I'll be going to college for astronomy soon, and in a way, I have to thank my experience with DR/DP for that. It made me think deeper, it beat me down. Tough love, because in the end, it made me a better person.

You say to face your fears, but you contradict yourself when you tell people to avoid deep thoughts. Deep thoughts are a fear for many people, and they are a fear that should be confronted & conquered.

Thank you for sharing your advice, hope you didn't mind me giving my two cents.


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## Sleepwalker

Revsarah said:


> I assure you we're around! I'm here checking the forums daily If you have specific requests, feel free to send me a pm.


While on the topic of Pinning; what about having one place to go to where we could get all the pinned (for a starter) topics?







wouldn't be a forum, of course...just an idea.


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## stefisings

You got it...please everyone suffering read "hope and help for your nerves" by Dr. Claire Weekes...its such an easy non stressful read. You will probably read the whole thing in a night.
The answers to all of this is within this book. I've traveled the planet with my copy for 20 plus years.lt is yellow and falling apart. It is almost 
exactly like what you have written here. This is norhing less than lifesaving info. Just check it OUT!


----------



## BrianK

This is easily the best guide to recovery ever made. Thank you.


----------



## marion

Great thread!

I totally agree about the vitamins and eating right.

My daughter has DR and I'm trying to help her with it (along with her therapist).

I have suffered from mild depression on and off for years and been on and off various SSRIs. Recently, having gotten off Zoloft (which was making me fat), I did research on more natural anti-depressants and found that high EPA fish oil is helping me immensely. I take about 3 g of high EPA fish oil daily; 1 g with every meal. I also take a good multi, a really good B-complex, vitamin D, vitamin C, and calcium.

It was amazing to me how dramatically my depression improved from the fish oil. I also follow the method from the book Potatoes Not Prozac and eat a high carb snack 3 hours after dinner. That helps the body release seratonin, apparently. The trick is to only have a whole grain or whole carb, such as a few whole grain crackers or a small baked potato with skin. No protein whatsoever, just carb. Between that and the fish oil I'm feeling so much better, it's unbelievable.

My endocrinologist told me about the fish oil. Psychiatrist colleagues of hers told her about it. The high EPA is the important thing. I take a combination of two brands: Omega Brite and Nature Made Super Strength EPA, but there are other brands. I found one in a health food store from Norwegian Gold that looks pretty good. The only downside is that really good molecularly distilled fish oil can be rather expensive.

My daughter, who has DR, only takes a multi vitamin. But I plan to have her vitamin levels checked and wonder if maybe she should be taking a supplemental B-complex or even some specific amino acids. She has some food allergies so I'm hesitant to just "give" her stuff without researching it carefully first. There is often soy in fish oil capsules, and she's allergic to soy. I haven't found a fish oil yet that doesn't have soy in it.

Anyway, good luck to everyone here and thanks for the good thread.


----------



## ProphetEdison

This have helped me alot, thank you


----------



## tmmontgomery

To people who wear contacts or glasses.

Another thing that may seem trivial but can help: wearing your glasses or contacts *all the time*.

Because things seem "foggy" already, I have noticed that having blurred vision can further increase this effect and can in turn increase your anxiety. So no matter if you're far or near sighted, wear your glasses and it might help you!

Seems weird but try it and you'll see what I mean!


----------



## humanfemale

RenZimE said:


> First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
> :


Which movie is that?


----------



## Ashleyliza

I know this thread is pretty old, but it's pretty awesome. It gives people hope and a reason to try. Just reading it made me look outside and see the sun shining


----------



## miguelmalato

This video CURED my depersonalizaed

I still don't know how the fuck this happened or why, all I know is that I never felt so in control of myself


----------



## LV92

Thank you so much for putting into words what I already knew but didn't want to admit to myself.


----------



## Montezuma2Tripoli

Having sex helped me a lot. It played a huge part in bringing me back the intimacy with another person and all.


----------



## mmadrid

This video will guidE your perspective! PASS IT ON!


----------



## miguelmalato

Do not start your own self-medicating regime...

I wouldn't advise it, based on personal experience


----------



## rightwrong99

This is perfect.


----------



## lindaindigo

this is SO SO valuable.... thanks for re-posting..

]
I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.

*The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*

I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:

*1) Acceptance
2) Letting go
3) Distraction
4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
5) Socializing
6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
7) Eating right







Sleeping/Exercising
9) Changing your thinking pattern
10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back
*
Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.

*Acceptance*

This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
It's also the first step of letting go.
Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:

"I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it

*Letting go*

This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.

*Distraction*

It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.

Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it

Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.

In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
:
Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.

I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
DO IT seriously.

*Socializing:*

After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.

*Facing your fears and burried surrows:*

The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
Survival of the fittest. =P
If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.

*Eating right*

While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.

I suggest this eating regime:

Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system

Fish oil: 1 before sleep
Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.

Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning

Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)

Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.

Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day

I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.

Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
After all, ITS YOUR BODY.

Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee

Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.

*Sleeping & Exercising:*

The reason I bring this up is because first:
sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.

*Changing your thinking pattern:*

This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.

*Re-entering reality and never looking back*

Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.

Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
You need to go slow, but not too slow.
If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.

*DP/DR do's and don'ts*

*DO's:*

Participate in life (self explainatory)
Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
Distract, (already explained)
Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
Stay occupied. (explained)
Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
The list is endless....

*DON'TS:*

Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)

----------------------------------------

Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:

Body scan meditation:

This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.

This is what you do:

Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.

Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.

Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.

Increasing/training your senses:

Again thanks to LostSoul

This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.

You do this by taking one sense a week

Let's start with the ears:

My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.

Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:

This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.

Then it's smelling:

Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.

Tasting:

Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
Taste ANYTHING

Touching/feeling:

Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P

"I am" mantra exercise:

This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.

Looking in the mirror:

This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.

Reminiscing:

Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
Try to spark the memory of it
This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.
[/quote]


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## xenabaiche

But, how do we change our way of thinking when we CAN'T think? I'm locked out of my mind. It's just blank.


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## omnisest

I don't have depersonalised thoughts anymore because of blank mind, like Xenabaiche. So I suppose I've let go? Accepted it obviously. Socialise a lot, it does nothing. Maybe because I'm autistic? Walks in nature, nothing at all except a sense of peace I guess? No way am I facing the anxiety that caused this, as I'd probably attempt suicide again. So DP it is for me. If only I could experience pleasure and have DP at the same time. Oh well.


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## Cheese

I think there are a lot of people who have tried these strategies only to be met with the same symptoms of DP/DR 20+ years down the road. I have read lots of stories like this.

I think some people need to start accepting that in a lot of cases (especially drug induced ones) DR/DP is a chemical imbalance in the brain and the only way out (in my theory) is to find a mind bending drug that will reset the chemicals in your brain to perceive sobriety as reality (Iboga is one of these drugs).

Another strategy is to take supplements and hope that supplements + staying sober will allow you to go back to normal (but again this is hit or miss as most people who contract DR/DP go this route and find no cure)

Personally, my plan is to wait a year and remain sober as I have been for the past month and hope that this thing passes on its own. If not, it might be very necessary to travel abroad and participate in Iboga treatment where I hope the drug will reset the receptors in my brain so that I can go back to the normal life I was living before I used the (devil's drug) Marijuana.


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## S.Snake

i recovered from it but i made bad decisions and back in it again, id say everything you posted is true but now im facing it again and man its so fucking hard its beating me down but god damnit i will do it again


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## mancalledpete

Wow... Just an amazing post. Thankyou so much. I'm going to be busy all year with this little lot!


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## hepheastus01

Truly amazing. Thanks op. I signed up just to thank you







. The site looks cool so I may stick around. I just realized all my symptoms of feeling like a robot, seeing the world in third person, or everything feeling like a dream all match up with DP.. Pretty shocking but I'm happy to see you can beat it without taking medication. Awesome.


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## AllDP

thank you for this.


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## Buckky

I agree with the methods that you have mentioned but there is a little problem!
You had mentioned socialization as one of the methods and in my personal experience
it brings you more trouble.


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## Buckky

Sorry double post...


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## DougRyan25

Recently, I have been experiencing a DR and as I go through reading all the post,I find useful tips that can help me recover from my DR. Thank you for a comprehensive detail about DR, It really helps a lot.


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## hennessy

RenZimE said:


> I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.
> 
> *The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*
> 
> I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:
> 
> *1) Acceptance
> 2) Letting go
> 3) Distraction
> 4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
> 5) Socializing
> 6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
> 7) Eating right
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sleeping/Exercising
> 9) Changing your thinking pattern
> 10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back
> *
> Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
> However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.
> 
> *Acceptance*
> 
> This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
> I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
> The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
> Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
> Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
> Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
> Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
> It's also the first step of letting go.
> Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:
> 
> "I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
> It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
> It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
> It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it
> 
> *Letting go*
> 
> This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
> Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
> Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
> Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
> The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
> I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
> Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
> Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
> You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
> In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
> it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
> Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.
> 
> *Distraction*
> 
> It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
> Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
> Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
> Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
> Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
> Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
> Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
> Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
> Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
> This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
> I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
> It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.
> 
> Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it
> 
> Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
> How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
> Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
> NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
> Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.
> 
> In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
> It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
> So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
> First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
> :
> Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
> You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
> Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.
> 
> I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
> I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
> It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
> Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
> Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
> So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
> Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
> Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
> Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
> Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
> I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
> Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
> It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
> DO IT seriously.
> 
> *Socializing:*
> 
> After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
> You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
> To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
> For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
> I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
> Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
> Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
> Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
> Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.
> 
> *Facing your fears and burried surrows:*
> 
> The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
> Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
> After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
> If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
> It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
> Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
> The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
> Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
> Survival of the fittest. =P
> If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
> The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
> Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
> A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
> Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
> Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
> It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.
> 
> *Eating right*
> 
> While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
> Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
> Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.
> 
> I suggest this eating regime:
> 
> Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
> Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system
> 
> Fish oil: 1 before sleep
> Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.
> 
> Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning
> 
> Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)
> 
> Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.
> 
> Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day
> 
> I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.
> 
> Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
> You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
> Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
> After all, ITS YOUR BODY.
> 
> Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee
> 
> Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
> Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
> I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
> So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
> Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
> Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.
> 
> *Sleeping & Exercising:*
> 
> The reason I bring this up is because first:
> sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
> After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
> I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
> 8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
> Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
> Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
> Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
> It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
> There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.
> 
> *Changing your thinking pattern:*
> 
> This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
> This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
> The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
> So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
> This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
> First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
> Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
> Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
> If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
> Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
> This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.
> 
> *Re-entering reality and never looking back*
> 
> Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
> It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
> You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
> Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
> This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
> Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
> Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
> Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
> You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
> The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
> Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
> It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
> Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.
> 
> Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
> Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
> i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
> When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
> It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
> You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
> The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
> You need to go slow, but not too slow.
> If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
> When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
> It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
> If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.
> 
> *DP/DR do's and don'ts*
> 
> *DO's:*
> 
> Participate in life (self explainatory)
> Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
> Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
> Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
> Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
> Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
> Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
> Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
> Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
> Distract, (already explained)
> Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
> Stay occupied. (explained)
> Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
> The list is endless....
> 
> *DON'TS:*
> 
> Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
> Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
> Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
> Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
> Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
> Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
> Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> 
> Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:
> 
> Body scan meditation:
> 
> This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
> It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
> The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.
> 
> This is what you do:
> 
> Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.
> 
> Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.
> 
> Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.
> 
> Increasing/training your senses:
> 
> Again thanks to LostSoul
> 
> This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
> In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.
> 
> You do this by taking one sense a week
> 
> Let's start with the ears:
> 
> My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
> The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
> Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
> This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.
> 
> Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:
> 
> This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
> Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
> Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
> Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
> You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.
> 
> Then it's smelling:
> 
> Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
> Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
> A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
> So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.
> 
> Tasting:
> 
> Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
> Taste ANYTHING
> 
> Touching/feeling:
> 
> Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
> If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
> Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P
> 
> "I am" mantra exercise:
> 
> This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
> You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
> Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
> The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.
> 
> Looking in the mirror:
> 
> This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
> Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
> So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
> Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
> Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
> Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.
> 
> Reminiscing:
> 
> Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
> Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
> Try to spark the memory of it
> This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
> Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.


so are you %100 cured, connected with reality and rebalanced now?


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## RenZimE

hennessy said:


> so are you %100 cured, connected with reality and rebalanced now?


Not 100% no, but certainly a million times more connected than I was back when I posted this. Just looking to get my emotional connections back in check and I'll be happy as Larry


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## Fernoso716

Glad you've found yourself ...hopefully I can do the same


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## RenZimE

Fernoso716 said:


> Glad you've found yourself ...hopefully I can do the same


If I'm honest bro, its not about finding yourself per sé... it's about acknowledging that you are you... accepting that this is your reality no matter how borked it may seem and just push on. After a while you begin to understand how futile it is to fight against a feeling inside.. no matter how fear-inducing it may be at certain times... it is just that - a sensation. If only it were as easily done as it is to suggest... However I know in time you'll get there as will all of yas







Keep the faith my friend. x


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## mirmidon

I've realize that we are just running in circles, our think pattern is short, we are all worried about our sensations, being anxious about the anxiety and dp/dr, brake that cycle, and yes say I don't fu***ng care, I'm out of this, don't let your mind stay there, every time you feel like in that, think in something positive or even better something exciting like a nice pair of legs (works for me







) and say think like that deserve to live and fully life, Im out of this now!!!

Its helping me, among all the great advises rad it here

Best regards, and lets stay out of the circle/cycle


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## Victor Ouriques

Renzime,I've read this so many times,and it is so reliefing.

Anyway,I'm assuming you're cured right?


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## Lynxabc

1 and 10 are crucial for recovery.


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## Petrucci6565

this is a really awesome post.

im wondering if anyone can offer some advice. i realize that isolating just perpetuates the DP and DR, but for the past 5 years iv had such trouble talking to people, even family and friends. iv gotten so uncomfortable with that since i developed this condition and have learned to basically hide it and sort of force myself to look at them in the eyes as much as i can, and in a sense pretend that im interested and comfortable with talking to them. it's so interfering. i get caught up in my head while im talking to people a lot of the time, and many times i cant even recall what they said when they're done.

it definitely has to do with the fact that iv been so detached from myself and reality. its like im talking to them, there talking to me, but im not feeling any of it. talking to someone face to face is one of the most "real" things you can do, i think, and yet i don't feel any of that connection or even my own presence. i actually exert a lot of energy doing this.

i try techniques like the ones the poster wrote about when im alone, and it usually helps my feel more connected to myself and my surroundings, but i find that there's a brick wall when there are other people around.

can anyone offer any tips?


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## brokenlift

Thanks for this. I think that cure is a wrong word. Making life easier under the circumstances seems to be the best that i can hope for. There will always be a time that I will have to cope with this.


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## maccyd

Expanding on the topic of mental health I found this interesting article about a concept I had never heard about. The theory of reality creation and this guys story really spoke to me and got me thinking in directions I had never considered.


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## Tatra tsul

Wow this is great! If only I had this to help me instead of figuring it all out on my own; but it sounds a lot like my post about what I did to recover


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## Manuelloaiza20

Omfgggggg u are the best. I believe I had the worse case or dp. I was acting crazy I could not control my thoughts I didn't feel my face at all or eyes. But since I read this I've gotten soo much better. I was taking stir bit they didn't work. I only have one question after u feel I've recovered how do I deal with the loss of feeling of your face and eyes


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## Manuelloaiza20

Great dude nice uve helped soo much.. I still have some relapse but I know. I try to feel happy that'swhat ggets me off it


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## hennessy

RenZimE said:


> Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
> I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.


Heroine is a stimulant? All INE's are stimulants?

Really?

Wow.


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## DuffPuffed

So I had a slight dp propably caused by a combo of trauma's weed and break-up, I just have to ask even if it was in the Don'ts can I NEVER EVER smoke herb or pop some X's again? Cause I used to like it, but excessive use of weed was the problem in my case. Haven't smoked or popped X's for a while though.


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## soul

THATS 6 WEEKS OF GOING TO A SHRINK'  thanks mate wounderfull well done)))


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## mrnewvegas

My dp/dr was triggered from smoking weed one time in my room. I had a huge panic attack and a horrible experience to follow. I really don't know what else I fear aside from alcohol when I had a small panic attack from drinking a bit too much. So if weed was the trigger of my dp how do I face my fears?


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## G.help

I am new to this forum and really enjoyed everyones comments. i am trying to over come anxiety myself. I've recently had a major set back at work and its having a manic effect on my anxiety. I opened my mouth and told a couple of people at work about my anxiety (i dont know why, but due to my anxiety slowly getting worse and worse, i knew it was effecting my job and i had to let off some steam before i was about to explode). I now think it was a major mistake I definaitely dont want to repeat. But the comments and helpful advice is inspiring on here and has made me feel abit better today.

Has anyone heard of someone called Carl Sheppard. someone pointed him in my direction and he seems to have alot to say about anxiety and how to over come it. i am just tapping into him at the moment, but what i have read so far seems very good. he struggled with anxiety for 15 years and seems to have a good idea about what most of us go through every day.

I will take on board all the advice from eveyone. thanks guys. UK / Liverpool


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## wonderlandme

Thank you so much for this post. I read it every day, to remind myself that recovery is possible. And everything you say is so true. Thank you.


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## sunshinita

Heh I like the 'fall in love' part and it;s true. If you fall in love while DP-you are cured in a month!  Cause you no longer wake up with the thought'How do I feel today,real or not?" but you are waking up thinking about your loved one and you forget all about dp  Trust me,I've been there,Love helps tremendously!


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## ev3rything

I'm glad this advice can be useful to some people, and I think there are multiple ways of curing DP/DR. But, I think I have found (at least for me) the bottom of what is causing my DP/DR. I'm posting it in this thread because I read this post a long time ago and my thoughts have changed on it.

I think what I've learned from others (and what I noticed) was that in the posts of people that recovered there seemed to be a common theme in some of the stories. I believe that the cause of DP is a denial and repression of your true feelings. Let's say that someone is treating you wrong and you feel angry. To distance yourself from that feeling you dissociate so that you don't have to accept the truth because it is so painful. I think this sort of creates an alternate reality where you don't have to feel threatened by confronting this pain. This may sound weird to a lot of people but I think the start of changing your state of mind is to start acknowledging your feelings instead of being scared of them. It may be that by rejecting your self/feelings you are denying your real self from being present and in touch with reality (not too sure about this sentence but I think the rest might be supportive). This might help some people with DP from trauma...IDK.

But I've started to realize that the way to pull out of it is to start accepting your feelings. For me I feel like it is stepping into a river or something that you are afraid of and gradually walk into it and start to find out it is not that scary. Eventually I hope, you will find yourself swimming and look back to smile on doing what you thought you couldn't accomplish. I think this might help some people, I don't know if others who are going through DP might not be able to relate to this but IDK, maybe it will help someone.

This is possibly the utmost cheesiest/lamest/embarrassing and hilarious thing to admit (because I wonder how many people actually remember/watch Disney movies when they are older) but this song from the Disney movie Pocahontas sort of helps me cope (because I remember it from childhood). Oh god lol,

See here! (just around the riverbend) can't embed ...


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## stephanieg

RenZime:

I cannot even begin to express how much I appreciated finding this post. As I just found it today I have not begun any of the steps, but am happy and hopeful and look forward to working towards getting my life back. As you stated the hardest part is getting yourself to not think those debilitating thoughts anymore. Thanks again to you and Copeland


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## edenatetheapple

I have been asking a few people on here, but in your article, it said most people are not aware of their thinking....what if your do, anxiety, OCD etc, is brought on by one hundered percent awareness to your thinking? Like you literally hear every thought in your head....all day everyday?...suggestions? I was reccomendations, CBT, etc? Help?


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## jdub336

i think i have been dp/dr for most of my life, but i never noticed. that was my "reality" so now that i am curing myself "reality" is scary to me because it is new. my reality was like a dream in a way and i thought that was normal. now that i realize that my 25 some odd years was under the DP/DR spell. its weird cause i thought it was normal to kind of "float" through life, i just did something i didnt have to really think about it, i just did it. so now that this is going away your reality and everyday normal peoples reality is new and scary to me if that makes since. so instead of unreality its reality that i am dealing with. strange how that works. anybody else hear of this? everything becomes almost too real you know? normal people see the world as it is and i feel like i am walking on it for the first time, almost like a house cat that has been kept inside since birth and never went out and then one day they get put outside for the first time and they dont know what to do or what to think because it is new and unfamiliar ans scary.....very strange lol


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## jdub336

?


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## mlogan

Man, I've been quite a huge time dealing with DP\DR and can't say how valuable it is to read your tips give a ligh in the end of the tunnel. Glad to know tips we get here and there really works ! Starting to put something in practice. I strongly agree distraction is essential trying to not analyze too much but it is what we see grounded people doing most of the time routine or distractive tasks not to much into "discussing the sex of angels" It´s exhausting to try to analyze meanings all the time. Comon sense makes a lot, and anything that connects to body and allows you to touch taste and sense reality is so very grounding.

Thanks again for this call back to reason !


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## Newky

I've started reading through the original post here, and have to question a couple of things... There seems to be a trend in the solutions in basically rolling off DP/DR as delusional and 'stupid' to think about or dwell on. This carries through in this post in particular when it says not to mention DP/DR to friends, really? We can't even express our experience to friends? It's not depression, it's not exhaustion, stress etc... Why should people who are actually depressed be allowed to express their experience and not us? Taboo perhaps? This disorder is as real as depression in my opinion. And, in my experience, no matter how much I change my thinking, behaviour, etc. etc. it does not go away, though I hate to be pessimistic I certainly haven't been pessimistic in the past, and still, it remained

Just a thought. I'd be interested to hear what others think


----------



## AMUNT

RenZimE said:


> I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.
> 
> *The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*
> 
> I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:
> 
> *1) Acceptance
> 2) Letting go
> 3) Distraction
> 4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
> 5) Socializing
> 6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
> 7) Eating right
> Sleeping/Exercising
> 9) Changing your thinking pattern
> 10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back*
> 
> Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
> However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.
> 
> *Acceptance*
> 
> This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
> I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
> The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
> Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
> Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
> Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
> Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
> It's also the first step of letting go.
> Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:
> 
> "I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
> It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
> It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
> It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it
> 
> *Letting go*
> 
> This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
> Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
> Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
> Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
> The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
> I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
> Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
> Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
> You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
> In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
> it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
> Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.
> 
> *Distraction*
> 
> It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
> Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
> Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
> Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
> Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
> Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
> Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
> Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
> Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
> This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
> I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
> It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.
> 
> Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it
> 
> Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
> How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
> Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
> NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
> Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.
> 
> In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
> It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
> So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
> First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
> :
> Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
> You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
> Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.
> 
> I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
> I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
> It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
> Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
> Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
> So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
> Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
> Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
> Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
> Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
> I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
> Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
> It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
> DO IT seriously.
> 
> *Socializing:*
> 
> After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
> You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
> To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
> For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
> I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
> Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
> Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
> Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
> Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.
> 
> *Facing your fears and burried surrows:*
> 
> The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
> Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
> After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
> If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
> It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
> Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
> The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
> Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
> Survival of the fittest. =P
> If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
> The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
> Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
> A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
> Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
> Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
> It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.
> 
> *Eating right*
> 
> While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
> Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
> Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.
> 
> I suggest this eating regime:
> 
> Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
> Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system
> 
> Fish oil: 1 before sleep
> Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.
> 
> Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning
> 
> Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)
> 
> Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.
> 
> Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day
> 
> I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.
> 
> Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
> You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
> Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
> After all, ITS YOUR BODY.
> 
> Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee
> 
> Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
> Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
> I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
> So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
> Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
> Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.
> 
> *Sleeping & Exercising:*
> 
> The reason I bring this up is because first:
> sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
> After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
> I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
> 8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
> Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
> Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
> Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
> It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
> There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.
> 
> *Changing your thinking pattern:*
> 
> This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
> This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
> The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
> So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
> This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
> First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
> Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
> Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
> If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
> Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
> This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.
> 
> *Re-entering reality and never looking back*
> 
> Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
> It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
> You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
> Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
> This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
> Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
> Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
> Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
> You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
> The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
> Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
> It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
> Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.
> 
> Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
> Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
> i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
> When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
> It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
> You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
> The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
> You need to go slow, but not too slow.
> If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
> When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
> It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
> If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.
> 
> *DP/DR do's and don'ts*
> 
> *DO's:*
> 
> Participate in life (self explainatory)
> Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
> Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
> Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
> Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
> Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
> Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
> Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
> Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
> Distract, (already explained)
> Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
> Stay occupied. (explained)
> Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
> The list is endless....
> 
> *DON'TS:*
> 
> Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
> Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
> Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
> Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
> Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
> Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
> Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> 
> Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:
> 
> Body scan meditation:
> 
> This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
> It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
> The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.
> 
> This is what you do:
> 
> Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.
> 
> Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.
> 
> Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.
> 
> Increasing/training your senses:
> 
> Again thanks to LostSoul
> 
> This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
> In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.
> 
> You do this by taking one sense a week
> 
> Let's start with the ears:
> 
> My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
> The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
> Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
> This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.
> 
> Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:
> 
> This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
> Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
> Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
> Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
> You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.
> 
> Then it's smelling:
> 
> Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
> Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
> A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
> So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.
> 
> Tasting:
> 
> Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
> Taste ANYTHING
> 
> Touching/feeling:
> 
> Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
> If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
> Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P
> 
> "I am" mantra exercise:
> 
> This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
> You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
> Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
> The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.
> 
> Looking in the mirror:
> 
> This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
> Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
> So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
> Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
> Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
> Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.
> 
> Reminiscing:
> 
> Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
> Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
> Try to spark the memory of it
> This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
> Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.


How many can actually say now after a while that this has actually helped them now when you look back..?

BTW: just a question, anyone had an experience with Coffee/energy drink and that that could decrease DP..?


----------



## Westcoast Ghost

So can even one person attest to being cured by this?


----------



## street_lights

before i get started id like to point out that this is a super awesome post, thanks for taking the time and getting all of this wonderful helpful information together RenZimE.

FEAR TO MENTAL SUFFERING, IS LIKE PREMIUM GAS TO A CAR (just perpetuates the experience)

what helped me was trying to return focus to awareness again and again and again and again and again and again and till i was tired of doing so and even at that point i realized that awareness is there even when your tired of giving focus to it, just like how you are aware of reading this, you can read something till you get tired and at the same time start to realize that non of the information your reading is sticking to your head, that is awareness. whenever pd/dr is acting up which is all the time a constant stream of just hell (without awareness you can't distinguish if its hell or heaven), try to acknowledge something far more powerful is being aware (don't try imagining awareness because you will be imagining awareness through awareness its very tricky business) the point is not to try and find awareness but acknowledge that awareness is there. a lot of people dealing with this hell don't have recognition of awareness, and thus all they are aware of is DP! not awareness being aware of dp, make sense? mediation is not all about lit candles and sitting cross legged, its sitting alone with no distractions and being completely with emotions, energies, dp, dr anxiety or whatever the case maybe. being with whatever it is that u are suffering with that is TOTAL ACCEPTANCE. if you are feeling disoriented, confused, lost, transparent, distant i can go on for days. all that you need to do is realize that awareness is unaffected throughout this process. that awareness(conciseness)was always with you. that it was aware of confusion, disorientation discomfort blah blah.... its so obvious. DP/DR/anxiety/Depression/ and all of the symptoms were always experience, always. even if your ability to be away of it, it was there! whatever it maybe, mental suffering DOSE NOT HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO TAKE YOUR AWARENESS AWAY. understand? because DP/DR can't be anything els but DP/DR, make sense? i hope i didn't loose you just yet just hang in there, The difference between attention and awareness is very simple, and that is one is aware of the other, because you are aware of where your attention is going, your attention could be drowned within dp/dr but you are always AWARE of it. don't try to fight with dp, the reason why i say this is because its useless. why is it useless to fight dp? because the fighting that you are doing with it is coming from a place of fear not a place of awareness, and we all know what happens when you add fear to the recipe. if you are afraid of DP/DR and are left paralyzed by its nastiness, than all you have to do is beware of whats happening. trust in awareness its indestructible its unbreakable you've had this power all of your life and over looked it. Don't be afraid of facing you emotions, no matter how they get or how bad dp gets it dosnt matter! awareness is and always be there it is your concousness people, open your eyes for one second and just realize that there is something that is being aware of all of your suffering all of your good and bad times. call me crazy call me dumb or confused, but for once in the last 7 years i felt the goodness of life. and i believe on the other side of all this we all should get like a medals for beatin DP/DR.

sorry for all the grammar and spelling ^__^


----------



## JJ123D

The guy above me is an eckart tolle or some eastern philosopher fan. If you want your normal self back, and not your "still deep awareness", don't read what he said.

And I too want to know if anyone benefited from the initial advice of the thread. I think I always have doubts when I read accepting and letting go, because too much accepting and too much letting go is actually what got me my DP.


----------



## Dillweed

Decent advice in general but pretty well known already for the most part and easily thought out.


----------



## sydneylondon

First of all: thank you for these great points of advice!
I have only criticism though: eating right doesn't mean slamming supplements, it means making the right food choices to get the necessary vitamins and minerals.


----------



## Ameloulou

This is quite funny because these are all steps and techniques included with the Linden Method. No authenticity at all here, guys


----------



## RhomboidsBrah

there is no holy grail

everyone is different


----------



## LucyG

my name is Lucy

i have suffered from this for 3 years straight now and have excepted that i am insain and will never be happy/ enjoy my life,

i am currently on medication which has not helped my DP but has stopped panic attacks.

from a young age i have had anxiety related isures

- obsesive

-perminatly scared of what people thought of me

-always though i was weird/different/outcast

-had insomnia from most of child hood (10-13)

- had manic depression

- was mentally abused by mother (since i could remember) and dads ex best friend (during the time my parents divorced so when i was 12 - 14)

- felt like i was an outcast most of my life then 19 i had the first real episode od sheer dispare. my whole body went freezing cold, i didnt .recognise my own sister/ reality/ the world or life in general.

i dropped to the ground screaminfg ripping chunks of head out of me due to lack of control and complete dispair and was later sectioned by health services to be cared for continously by family.

i over came this over a year or so and thats when i changed and didnt care what people thought of me

the strange thing is is that i used to be weak and scared of everything and egar to please others putting my self last. but now i feel like i donk care what people think of me or who i am and i will never back down from anyone which feels great.

however i am stuck with DP and the feeling i will never reattach to reality/emotions and life.

all i want now is to get rid of this feeling of not being real/ watching my self/ not being incontrol.

please help me


----------



## lollipop

I dont have dp..but my boyfriend does..i didnt know how to help or be there for him but this has given me an insight into how i can help...normally we stay in watch movies..now well go for walks or cycles...ill definetly be turning him onto this site


----------



## FightingforBetter

RenZimE said:


> I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.
> 
> *The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*
> 
> I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:
> 
> *1) Acceptance
> 2) Letting go
> 3) Distraction
> 4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
> 5) Socializing
> 6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
> 7) Eating right
> Sleeping/Exercising
> 9) Changing your thinking pattern
> 10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back*
> 
> Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
> However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.
> 
> *Acceptance*
> 
> This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
> I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
> The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
> Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
> Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
> Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
> Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
> It's also the first step of letting go.
> Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:
> 
> "I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
> It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
> It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
> It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it
> 
> *Letting go*
> 
> This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
> Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
> Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
> Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
> The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
> I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
> Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
> Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
> You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
> In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
> it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
> Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.
> 
> *Distraction*
> 
> It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
> Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
> Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
> Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
> Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
> Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
> Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
> Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
> Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
> This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
> I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
> It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.
> 
> Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it
> 
> Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
> How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
> Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
> NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
> Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.
> 
> In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
> It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
> So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
> First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
> :
> Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
> You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
> Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.
> 
> I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
> I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
> It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
> Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
> Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
> So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
> Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
> Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
> Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
> Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
> I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
> Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
> It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
> DO IT seriously.
> 
> *Socializing:*
> 
> After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
> You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
> To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
> For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
> I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
> Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
> Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
> Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
> Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.
> 
> *Facing your fears and burried surrows:*
> 
> The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
> Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
> After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
> If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
> It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
> Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
> The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
> Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
> Survival of the fittest. =P
> If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
> The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
> Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
> A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
> Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
> Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
> It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.
> 
> *Eating right*
> 
> While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
> Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
> Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.
> 
> I suggest this eating regime:
> 
> Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
> Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system
> 
> Fish oil: 1 before sleep
> Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.
> 
> Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning
> 
> Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)
> 
> Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.
> 
> Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day
> 
> I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.
> 
> Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
> You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
> Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
> After all, ITS YOUR BODY.
> 
> Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee
> 
> Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
> Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
> I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
> So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
> Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
> Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.
> 
> *Sleeping & Exercising:*
> 
> The reason I bring this up is because first:
> sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
> After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
> I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
> 8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
> Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
> Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
> Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
> It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
> There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.
> 
> *Changing your thinking pattern:*
> 
> This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
> This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
> The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
> So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
> This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
> First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
> Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
> Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
> If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
> Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
> This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.
> 
> *Re-entering reality and never looking back*
> 
> Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
> It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
> You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
> Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
> This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
> Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
> Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
> Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
> You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
> The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
> Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
> It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
> Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.
> 
> Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
> Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
> i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
> When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
> It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
> You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
> The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
> You need to go slow, but not too slow.
> If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
> When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
> It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
> If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.
> 
> *DP/DR do's and don'ts*
> 
> *DO's:*
> 
> Participate in life (self explainatory)
> Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
> Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
> Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
> Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
> Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
> Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
> Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
> Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
> Distract, (already explained)
> Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
> Stay occupied. (explained)
> Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
> The list is endless....
> 
> *DON'TS:*
> 
> Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
> Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
> Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
> Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
> Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
> Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
> Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)
> 
> ----------------------------------------
> 
> Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:
> 
> Body scan meditation:
> 
> This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
> It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
> The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.
> 
> This is what you do:
> 
> Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.
> 
> Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.
> 
> Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.
> 
> Increasing/training your senses:
> 
> Again thanks to LostSoul
> 
> This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
> In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.
> 
> You do this by taking one sense a week
> 
> Let's start with the ears:
> 
> My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
> The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
> Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
> This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.
> 
> Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:
> 
> This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
> Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
> Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
> Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
> You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.
> 
> Then it's smelling:
> 
> Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
> Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
> A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
> So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.
> 
> Tasting:
> 
> Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
> Taste ANYTHING
> 
> Touching/feeling:
> 
> Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
> If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
> Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P
> 
> "I am" mantra exercise:
> 
> This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
> You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
> Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
> The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.
> 
> Looking in the mirror:
> 
> This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
> Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
> So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
> Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
> Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
> Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.
> 
> Reminiscing:
> 
> Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
> Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
> Try to spark the memory of it
> This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
> Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.


You are such an amazing person to be able to talk about your condition without fear! I'm a teenager and I've started to get these feelings for two weeks now, I've always had them every now and again all through my life, but only for seconds. We all have our issues, and we can all be cured - people like you give hope when we're completely, totally scared and I want to thank you.


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## milla

I've been dealing with DP and anxiety since October 1999.

Medications never helped, I spent thousand and thousands on therapy, but it never got me anywhere near being cured. Eventually, the only person who can help you is you.

So, the list makes sense, I am gonna start with it. I already did. It is painful, but after almost 15 years of self-made prison, do I really have anything to loose?

I wanted to ask, could meditation hurt? You know, basic, close your eyes, think of something pretty and relax... Cos I tried it and it, now I have no idea should I continue...


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## Westcoast Ghost

This thread is funny. Why is it still pinned?


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## Haumea

I've been doing guided body-scan meditation for a year and a half almost daily and it certainly hasn't hurt and almost certainly has helped.

I think ultimately, DP/DR is about The Fear Barrier.

This is you now -------> Fear <-------- This is you without DP

This barrier keeps you from ways of being and action which will help you get better. It's particularly insidious because you may not even be fully consciously aware of all the fears you have and what you should do about them. It takes time to fully unravel that mystery. The more you unravel, the closer you get to full recovery.

We are so over-programmed with fears and (false) beliefs in the West that it's no wonder we're so messed up and stuck.


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## 59Ballons

Amazing!! The "fuck those thoughts" strategy has been working so far today, looking foreword to tomorrow for perhaps a better day 

I'll surely be following this. Thank you, with all my heart.


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## SantosB

I got DR during more than 20 years. Now, i guess i have the explanation for my disorder and the cure. Pay attention... 
WHY?:
In my case a mix of reasons:
1. Academic stress. Three years with no really vacations, studyng even in summer. The brain needs to rest from abstract concepts. Exams, nerves, always worry for not to have time enough.
2. One of my main hobbies is also abstract: chess. it demand concentration, abstraction for the real world..
3. Demanding girlfriend and very different worlds. Ididn't feel good with her friends, village, traditions,...

I can go deeper if you want. Now i know why my brain decided to disconnect from my senses, from my real world, from me: a long stress+abstraction+underestimate resting and maybe rejection to certain situations. Each of you had been your particular reasons to fall in.a DP/DR disorder. As you can see in my case, a normal.student of 21 years old. No drugs, just natural reasons.

Now i have 46 and i now see the life as good and beautiful like before the attack. I have been able to connect to that time and be really happy again. I have recovered my perception and myself. i know the things you must do to recover your normal life. do you want it?


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## SantosB

i agree with a lot of advices given by the author of the holy grial. I would like to suggest more things. First, stand up, move around your room, watch and touch objects and think about who, how, when and how gave it to YOU. All things had a meaning for YOU. You must recover that feeling. In my case i had lost the connection between objects, colours, places, ... with MY HISTORY.
Second, try desperately to FEEL and have the same thoughts when years ago when you were ok.
Third, watch your body and COMPARE IT with objects you can see. Your height, for instance, can you touch that leaves in that tree? Jump!! Touch them. Smell them. 
For me it is important to remember things your father, mother, brothers used to say to you years ago. All of that had a clear sense for you, you were ok then. CONNECT YOUR BODY NOW WITH THE PERSON YOU USED TO BE WHEN YOU WERE OK.
Try not concentrate too much in a 2D tv, tablet, pc, mobile, etc... rise your look frequently to watch objects in 3D.

We losted the thread and we must recover it! it's was the only way for me to cure.


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## francesk

Hello Milla,

I think that Meditation and Mindfullness are perfect to reduce A and reduce after DPDR.



milla said:


> I've been dealing with DP and anxiety since October 1999.
> 
> Medications never helped, I spent thousand and thousands on therapy, but it never got me anywhere near being cured. Eventually, the only person who can help you is you.
> 
> So, the list makes sense, I am gonna start with it. I already did. It is painful, but after almost 15 years of self-made prison, do I really have anything to loose?
> 
> I wanted to ask, could meditation hurt? You know, basic, close your eyes, think of something pretty and relax... Cos I tried it and it, now I have no idea should I continue...





milla said:


> I've been dealing with DP and anxiety since October 1999.
> 
> Medications never helped, I spent thousand and thousands on therapy, but it never got me anywhere near being cured. Eventually, the only person who can help you is you.
> 
> So, the list makes sense, I am gonna start with it. I already did. It is painful, but after almost 15 years of self-made prison, do I really have anything to loose?
> 
> I wanted to ask, could meditation hurt? You know, basic, close your eyes, think of something pretty and relax... Cos I tried it and it, now I have no idea should I continue.


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## francesk

Hello,

I am new in the forum, I was following it during time but I never posted.

I've been dealing with DP and anxiety since 15 years ago. Medications helped at the beginning paroxetina + Clonazepam, returning me back to the Reality for 2 years. After that period the nightmare came back... I spent lot of money on therapy, but it never got me anywhere near being cured. I tried everything, I also changed the meds to Fluoxetina and after to Escitalopram, but ZERO results.

Then my point now is to come back to ZERO again, to feel it again 100% and fight it alone, because at the end we all create our REALITY as this post is already explaining. I really like this list and I will try to follow it, I can't wait to be back again to feel the sky and the sea as they are... PURE. I do miss it, and I hate this horrible prision that we created for our souls. Colleagues is time to escape, is time to be FREE.

I have some questions about the poitns, if someone can help:

1) Changing your thinking patterns. How can one change a thinking patter if I wake up feeling already unreal, or if the feeling of DR come after a while allways before any thought.

2) How to follow this steps without looking back. I mean to follow it is necessary to be really constant and is necessary to read it several times. How can we manage it to at the same time disconect of the literature of the disorder. I already experienced to feel really worst just reading about it, when I discovered online several book talking about our problem with the anxiety and DPDR. Is like a vicious cercle, I need the knowledgment to be free, but reading about it increase the problem...

Thank for taking your time answering me and my apologizes for my level of english 

A big hug!

Everything happens for something, I want to believe that this experience also. I just believe.


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## asianguy

what if your work is using computers 9 hours per day?


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## carnevn

hey i've been suffering from severe MJ induced DP for about 3 years now and it has destroyed everything in my life. No matter what I do it doesn't seem to go away. However, I noticed that a lot of people who have fully recovered also seemed to have continued smoking weed even after the onset of DP symptoms. I'm wondering if that may be the only true solution to this disorder. Im starting to believe that the traumatic experience I had while smoking weed may have permanently disrupted the chemistry in my brain and the only way to bring it back to normal is to become comfortable with smoking MJ again. First, do you think its possible that the weed could actually cause a chemical disruption in your brain leading to DP? Second, do you think solely ignoring your symptoms and accepting who you are can eventually cure DP or that we must have that outlook in life along with marijuana in order to bring our brain chemistry back to equilibrium and completely be healed from it. I would honestly do ANYTHING to be healed from this terrible disorder and have considered smoking again but am worried it might make my symptoms even worse. I've gone months trying to ignore DP and carry on with everyday life but the feelings always come back. Depersonalization has brought me to my knees and I am willing to try anything. I just want my life back  Please help.


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## AusHusky

carnevn said:


> hey i've been suffering from severe MJ induced DP for about 3 years now and it has destroyed everything in my life. No matter what I do it doesn't seem to go away. However, I noticed that a lot of people who have fully recovered also seemed to have continued smoking weed even after the onset of DP symptoms. I'm wondering if that may be the only true solution to this disorder. Im starting to believe that the traumatic experience I had while smoking weed may have permanently disrupted the chemistry in my brain and the only way to bring it back to normal is to become comfortable with smoking MJ again. First, do you think its possible that the weed could actually cause a chemical disruption in your brain leading to DP? Second, do you think solely ignoring your symptoms and accepting who you are can eventually cure DP or that we must have that outlook in life along with marijuana in order to bring our brain chemistry back to equilibrium and completely be healed from it. I would honestly do ANYTHING to be healed from this terrible disorder and have considered smoking again but am worried it might make my symptoms even worse. I've gone months trying to ignore DP and carry on with everyday life but the feelings always come back. Depersonalization has brought me to my knees and I am willing to try anything. I just want my life back  Please help.


NO! dont trust me it will be the worst thing you do if you smoke again. You will have the biggest panic attack ever. I have thought the same thing also but i know if i do it again im gonna be way worse for a long time. Sitting next to my friends when they smoke, even the smell brings back memories and i start to panic.


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## Mist

Nice advice if you want to live like a "normal" person.

We are different. We see the world in a completely different way. Of course, everything that is not like "them" is labeled as "abnormal". And that's wrong.

I believe I am one of you (I feel as if many things wrote on this site were written by myself). Yet I do not consider this a problem.

Ask yourself: do you hate the way you "see" reality because it causes you great pain by itself, or because you are lonely, you feel like a bird in a cage and the things that were interesting before are boring now?

I believe you all have dreams. And you all have internet. And you KNOW that there is MUCH MORE to reality than what they tell you.

Until last summer, my biggest reason to live was my girlfriend. When we broke up - i felt completely lost. I had no idea what to do with my life, and the fact that I could view the world differently was a great obstacle, as normal people simply couldn't give me any working advice.

It all ended when I accepted it and found a new reason to live. No matter how unreal it seems - this is the key to success. We "know" that reality is bigger and wider than what is generally accepted. Why not pursue our dreams? And I'm sure they are no ordinary dreams, because "ordinary" does not apply to us anymore.

We are different and as such, we dare go to heights no one ever even dreamed of. Find a way. Create a plan. Even alone one can do great things, but you are not alone. There are many of us. It's hard to be "alone in the dark", but if you are reading this - know that you are not alone.

We are not "people with disorders". We are just...different. Better, worse, who can tell? But we definitely are not ordinary.

I see many people here deal or have dealt with drugs. Guys, don't deliberately harm yourself - it won't help. If you claim that "I don't give a s**t", why do you care about drugs? Screw drugs, alcohol, fast food and anything that harms you - you are too special to waste your life and time on such things. Read books. Write them. Create, be original. Show the world that it is not your vision that is the "wrong" one.

Introspection might also help. Analyze yourself, your life, reality, everything. See for yourself what is worth doing and what isn't. Just because someone said "oh, hey, dude, your vision is totally not normal, you must have serious problems" does not mean that he is right.

You have the potential to do much more than just...drugs. Don't let it go to waste.


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## Guest

Hello,

I understand from many of my patients that my name is often mentioned on this site, as I've been treating DPD for over 40 years. Many of these patients have asked, over many years, that I contribute to the site, which I have been reluctant to do since I would never want to interfere with anyone's current treatment.

I am not a DPD patient, so I hope it is appropriate for me to enter this site.

There is, in my view, too much discussion about the psychopharmacological treatment of DPD and almost never proper mention of the role of psychotherapy, particularly the sort mentioned in Daphne Simeon's book.

Psychotherapy for DPD should be an extensive exploration which has as its cornerstone low self esteem and resultant compensatory obsession with one's SELF as the focus of this obsession. Regardless of various other treatment modalities, only insight oriented therapy ALONG WITH psychopharmacology, behavioral modification etc. effects a permanent remedy, if that is posiible in a given individual.

BTW--I seem to have been referenced hundreds of times as per Nuvigil being some sort of "gold standard" for DPD. That is not what I originally published, so please disregard any quotes to the contrary.

Evan M. Torch, M.D.

Atlanta


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## sarahelizabeth48120

This is extremely helpful! Thank you for posting or reposting this. I have had DPD on and off for a long time and its been pretty constant for the past month. Acceptance is hard I have found that its the hardest step. But I'm on my way to recovery.


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## Ashley96

I have recently been experiencing this odd sensation. I had a major health scare and has made me on edge and panicking for almost the last two weeks. I have never experienced this till just now. It's been 3 days off and on just looking to see. If anyone has found any new cures that work fast thanks for the help!


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## Guest

Sorry but they aint any new cures that work fast, wish they was, just read the Holy Grail, it helped me.


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## Ashley96

Did you just sit and a room and watch this should I say anything to myself while watching this?


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## jxz

well written; thank you for the kind repost and sharing !!


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## waking_up_1111

RenZimE said:


> I won't lie, this is a repost of something "Copeful" posted way back in 2007. However I found the information inside completely invaluable and think it should be posted and/or maybe pinned so that people can find the information with ease. Here's hoping it helps many people :] Thank you Copeful.
> 
> *The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*


renzime, you helped save my life. Thank you and may your good karma find you! I will write up my journey recovering from DP/DR on this site. I'm about three months in to recovering, my days and weeks are getting better, but the moments are hell sometimes.

The advice on facing anxiety and not giving it any safe quarter has been really key to my recovery lately. I started back to therapy as soon as the DP/DR happened, and my therapist had a cool spin that might help someone. Definitely face your anxiety, do not allow yourself to hide from anyone or anything. It freaking sucks sometimes and you feel like you're going to die, but yeah, you won't  The cool spin she came up with was this, not only defy your anxiety, but also try talking to it. Thank your anxiety for protecting you and saving your life, and then tell it that it can relax now, you are safe. Mixing this with metta meditation or loving-kindness toward yourself is very helpful to me lately. I am able to feel the difference now between the DP/DR state and the more normal, feeling human state. When I slip into the DP/DR state, I tell myself that "I'm a good man", and that I have good things going for myself. I also tell myself that I'm doing the right things (not partying, no coffee, water, vitamins, healthy food, exercise, facing all situations at work and home with courage, taking relaxation vitamins before bed, making time for motorcycle rides, having fun conversations with strangers, etc). If you keep doing the right things, you will make it out of the tunnel of hell. At least that's the belief that I am clinging to  Whatever happens, if you keep taking care of your body and mind, they will take care of you as the original post said. I have a come a long way since January when I had my meltdown or whatever the fuck it is.

My therapist also confirmed that this is all temporary, it is not psychosis or permanent. Be patient with yourself, if you are open to ideas like this, I give my suffering to the buddha as a prayer. You can give your suffering to whatever god you prefer, or release it to the universe. It won't magically fix everything immediately, but keep letting go  Love and peace to you all. Keep trusting yourself and others.


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## Jbarreto291

I got better with two things. Forced confidence, and sleep. I was thrown into DPDR when I began to doubt myself. The only way I got better was by going to bed earlier and forcing myself to be confident. That was my long road to recovery. I had this for three and it feels amazing to finally be rid of it. Please remember that you can do whatever it is you want. Believe in yourself and the rest will follow! Much love to everyone reading this.


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## Jbarreto291

I got better with two things. Forced confidence, and sleep. I was thrown into DPDR when I began to doubt myself. The only way I got better was by going to bed earlier and forcing myself to be confident. That was my long road to recovery. I had this for three and it feels amazing to finally be rid of it. Please remember that you can do whatever it is you want. Believe in yourself and the rest will follow! Much love to everyone reading this.


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## fel49

So by doing it we have a large percent to FINALLY recover ?

I have DP/DR since 8 years


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## dotcom85

I recovered from DP after 8 years. Read my recovery story.


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## MarLen

Hi everyone! I was struggling with dpd 7 years after that I was recoverd?  I was totally diffrent person. So happy without any fear. Full of positive emotions  After one year it came back. I still try to be strong, I try to remember how it was when I was healthy, all the emotions. It's a little bit hard. Someone said that after dpd you're so greatefull and appreciate your life again and it's true. I can't wait when I'll be fully recovered and something will be changing for better. Nothing to lose


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## dcorredato

Awsome!


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## hennessy

Please can you give the supplement as MG and not capsules. Everybody has different mgs so this got me confused about how much to take


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## dkszab

Literally just reading through these comments has put me into a state of panic. I think sometimes to get better you need to stop 'trying' to get better, just carry on your life as normal as possible, force yourself to do things and get out. In 6 months time you will look back and see that you have came a long way 

I started to feel better and stupidly took MDMA again and now I feel like I am back to square one. However I started to feel better before so I feel like i am able to do it again


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## Jjj123

Everyone who quoted this in their reply needs to stop doing that indefinitely


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## nikosmar

thank you very much for the nice presentation repost I will also also paste here this information for my own use and to easy find it thanks alot

*The Holy Grail of Curing DP/DR:*

I've analyzed and experienced this fucking life consuming blackhole disorder for a longtime since I got it and have found the 10 most important steps in recovery:

*1) Acceptance
2) Letting go
3) Distraction
4) Tuning focus back on external world(reality) and interact with it
5) Socializing
6) Facing your fears&burried surrows
7) Eating right
 Sleeping/Exercising
9) Changing your thinking pattern
10) Re-enter reality & Never looking back*

Seems so easy and simple, in a sense it is and on the other hand it's not, it's hard work.
However it IS infact THE only cure that ANYONE with DPDR has used to recover. there will never be a magic pill, so take my word for it and cure yourself by the end of this year and live life happily ever after in REALITY.

*Acceptance*

This one is probably the hardest, one thing is acknowleding and being aware your suffering from DP/DR.
I think anyone who read this book with DP/DR acknowledges the fact they are fuckedup and got DP/DR.
The thing we however don't do is ACCEPT IT.
Infact we refuse it and fight it with all our energy and time.
Accepting seems like defeat like, damn, I'm fucked. But that's not the case.
Accepting means stop fighting it with all ur power, it's the first step in recovery (seems clich�) but it's actually true.
Before you can ACCEPT (again not acknowledge, but ACCEPT the fact that ur DP/DR'ed) you won't recover.
It's also the first step of letting go.
Accepting is not a easy process but it's a quick one. Just say it out loud a few times and really MEAN it:

"I accept I got DPDR, and I know I'm not insane, this is a temporary illness and I accept that I got it"
It wants you to give it attention but you got to accept it's pressence and don't give a fuck.
It's like the bully who picks on other kids in school, if they fight him/pay him attention, he'll keep coming back. If they ignore him, it won't have the same effect and the bully will leave.
It's kind of the same with Pure O thoughts and DPDR, so accept it and you'll soon be ready to let go of it

*Letting go*

This is the next step in the process of recovery, managing to actually let go.
Letting go of the questioning, philosophing, worrying, thinking and wondering "WHAT IF" "COULD IT BE?" "BUT?" etc.
Letting go is different from ignoring, ignoring is forcing yourself not to pay attention which actually means your paying it attention.
Letting go means really letting something go without picking it up 10 minutes later again. I'm guilty of this.
The 3 persons I've interacted most with from dpselfhelp is curedone, ihavemessedupdreams & Fightingdepression, they can testify I had a enourmous amount of trouble with this "letting go" thing.
I couldn't, and I think I've read all the information on every topic there is on the internet, seriously.
Google is no longer my friend, but my enemy.
Letting go is ofcourse a process, it's not something you manage to do while you read these lines just by saying "OK I LET GO OF THIS IRRATIONAL FEARS" and then your cured. It's a process.
You must adopt a I JUST DONT GIVE A FUCK attitude to these thoughts and lable them as "my mind sending me false information again" and let them go.
In the beginning this is hard but after awhile it becomes easier.
it's the same in treating OCD and it's actually altering the thinking pattern in your mind thus also changing the chemical balance in your brain. This might sound like mind over matter, but it's not mind is matter in you brain and this have been scientifically verifyed and is realy ancient knowledge of buddhists.
Letting go leads to the next topic, distraction, which is essential in letting go, if you just sit around doing nothing, letting go is next to impossible. It's like trying to quit crack addiction while selling it by the kilos.

*Distraction*

It's the most fundamental way of curing Panic disorder, depression, OCD etc.
Distracting is hard, ecspecially when your so not connected with your surrounding environment.
Distraction simply means shifting your focus from DPDR to ANYTHING, I don't care if it's singing
Britney Spears HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME or jumping in the shower with ice cold water on.
Distraction is the key to letting go which is the key to recovery so distraction is a key to the door of both your soul(self) & reality for DP/DR victims
Everytime you find yourself ruminating over some stupid ass philosophical questions GET UP, run around your house 5 times and do 20 pushups.
Throw a bucket of icecold water over your head and clean your room.
Put on a song and sing to it, watch a exciting movie(not a boring one which will lead your mind to think and not follow the movie)
Something / Anything which involves taking the focus from inward internal conflict of mind to the outward external REALity.
This would be the great time to start learning new things, get new hobbies etc.
I can not stress enough how important consistant 24/7 distraction from DPDR is to recover.
It's either that or your doomed, it's simple as that, honestly put.

Tuning focus back on the external world/reality and interact with it

Now that your letting go of irrational thoughts, distract yourself from DPDR it's time to enter reality and interact with it again. No more isolation, I bet most of you spend 6+ hours aday on the computer with focus on the screen then another 2 hours on the TV screen and the rest in bed.
How do I guess so right? because I've done it for the past year too.
Isolation is the worst thing, it's proven it leads to solipsism syndrome and derealization states.
NASA is experiencing this and studying ways to defeat it in space travel where astronauts surroundings are very little unchanging and they live in COMPLETELY controlled environment for safety.
Their currently finding ways to combat this by having plants which grow without human intervention, animals and random number generators etc.

In your home your in a controlled unchanging environment, which means no surprises, no changes, no challenges & therefore no feeling of reality.
It's when your fantasy/hopes/expectations are proven wrong by reality that you learn to deal and handle reality.
So how do we enter the scary "unknown" without breaking down and killing ourself or going insane?
First we watch this movie(ya'll spiritualist will love this one, but for atheists fuck the "God" part and just watch the relaxing and beautiful nature and the encouraging messages)
:
Now realize this is our fear, the beautiful nature and world there is out there for us to explore and experience.
You live rougly if your lucky 75 years. That means most of us 30-50%+ of that time is already up.
Another fact is that we sleep like 1/3 of our life so this means basically we cannot waste it on this stupid retarded disorder and sit alone in a room killing ourselves emotionally, mentally and personally.

I suggest starting slow, going outside, if your not in a big city, taking walks in nature will be great grounding experiences, hearing the birds sing, watching rivers floath, the trees swinging in the wind, feeling the fresh air and seeing the biiig biiig world out there which you got absolutely NO control over and is completely real and natural independant of your mind. (this is a fact I trust in after studying the philosopher Ayn Rand)
I know buddhists might disagree, but seriously, the objective world is primary, your consciousness is secondary and a direct result of evolution and natural selection.
It's mother earth, and we are it's children.
Feel the happiness of belonging, theres tons of smells/tastes outside too which will bring back memories and sense of self.
Anyway, staying in the safezone = controlled environment = increased belief in your stupid delusional thoughts(doesn't make them real,nothing ever will, but it'll appear more real, thus make you feel more unreal).
So get out, you need the earthquake of facing the scary uncontrolable REAL world to shake you back to reality.
Try not only observing it passively, instead feel the leafs, throw some rocks in the river, walk and feel the ground beneath you, see the changes in the sky, the surroundings etc.
Also I know humans seem strange to you at the moment, faces appear dead/cartoonish if your severily DR'ed and it seems like people got no mind, there's no persona in them it seems, but look at yourself in the mirror u cannot see ur own mind either.
Their minds DO exist and you'll be able to understand it again once ur back in reality and fully conscious and awake.
Start out small, it's great if you got animals, ecspecially cats as they are so self centered and dont give a fuck about you, you can see they got their own mind and do as they please and their cute as hell too.
I've found it easier to connect with animals in DP/DR moments, their so full of life and different and unpredictable from us.
Also try to move around to new places, something unpredictable and new is the greatest way of killing of DP/DR.
It's scary so you don't dare to do it, but it's the only goal your seeking, ironic isn't it?
DO IT seriously.

*Socializing:*

After you manage to get out of your house and trust reality again and start to see it's realness and randomness and you got no control over it, socializing is the next step and the most important of them all.
You will NEVER EVER realize that people exist by studying evolution, watching experiments and brainscans, you will know it intellectually but not EXPERIENCE AND KNOW IT in reality.
To do so you must socialize, with old friends and new people.
For some strange reason the more familiar the people are in reality more unfamiliar people look when your in the DPDR'ed state of mind.
I guess it got to do with the defense mechanism in your brain shutting off the self and "protecting you", but anyway, this is the most crucial and important step in the world for DPDR'ers, realize there really are others out there.
Your not alone, and this will bring back reality to you in so many ways, and is the greatest distractor of them all.
Socializing will also bring back common sense to you too, slowly but surely this will help you greatly.
Don't talk to them about your DPDR, if they ask whats up just tell them your a little depressed stressed and exhausted, don't go into details about it, when your with others try not to focus on it at all, try to focus on the present and REALITY not your deluded fearful fantasies.
Antisocial behavior and isolation while DPDR'ed is like playing russian roulette with all chambers of the gun loaded. It's straightup suicide.

*Facing your fears and burried surrows:*

The best analogy for this is : your stuck in a endless tunnel you've brought yourself into, every fear that has attacked ur mind that you have tried to fought and ignore has put you deeper into this tunnel. And you see no light at the end, and when you think you do it's a train.
Well ok, lets face that train(fear) then, let it kill you, you must die a few times in this process.
After awhile the train drags your corpse out of the tunnel and you'll rise from the ashes like a pheonix and the fears will no longer affect you and you'll be able to conquer and finally realize and see how irrational and nonexistant the things you feared actually is.
If you fear dying it doesn't mean go to the bathroom and slit your wrist so you can "FACE DEATH".
It simply means say "I dont care if I die", but you got to MEAN it, not just say it.
Death is real and its invetiable, but it's not in the present so don't worry about it.
The other existential philosophical nonesense don't even exist, so facing those is different, here you must either PRETEND their true for awhile until your mind realize it was wrong and you can finally let go or skip that and go straight to the "let go part"...
Let the thoughts occupy the mind, don't pay them attention, acknowledge them, don't agree or disagree, just let them be, starve them to death, everytime you attack them or try to resolve 'em you give 'em a big cheeseburger with fries on your expens(this being your life) so fuck that scavanger and let it die out from starvation.
Survival of the fittest. =P
If you've as me gone through traumatic events such as loss of loved ones or other similarly traumatic experiences facing it is a great therapeutic way of recovering.
The last time I felt reality and emotions was encountering my deep burried sorrow of my dad's tragic death which occured right before DPDR and was a big contributer to triggering it I suspect.
Facing it was like unleashing the emotions out of the cage and it was overwhelming but brought me back into my body and reality in a split second, even if it just lasted a few seconds this was the first "hope" for me in months.
A spark of light in the endless maze of dark empty tunnels of DP/DR.
Crying without emotion gives no effect, you need to bring up the emotional cause and unleash it.
Remember your brain has shut this down to protect you from the overwhelming emotions but it doesn't realize the danger is over and you can let it go so you have to remind it and poke on it until it do.
It'll be a hard but crucial process in your road to recovery.

*Eating right*

While studying anxiety disorders and ecspecially Pure O I found that what we eat contribute a whole lot to our situation.
Our brains is basically billions and billions of neurons which are connected through myelin sheets, same as our nervous system is and anxiety / ocd / slightly schizophrenic / tourette syndrome etc. people got damaged and torn up myelin sheets which is the prime cause of this.
Eating right so that these can heal can be a great great contributer to your healing and recovery.

I suggest this eating regime:

Primrose oil: 2capsules in the morning with breakfast, 2 in the afternoon with dinner, 2 at night with supper. (Must be taken with a protein so it's absorbed up in your system for effect)
Primrose oil is great at rebuilding the myelin sheets and nervous system

Fish oil: 1 before sleep
Fish oil is probably the most known natural mental health supplement it has helped heal brain damage, help brain fog, schizophrenia etc. etc.

Vitamine complex: 1 pill in the morning

Vitamine B complex: 1 pill in the morning (vitamine B has been reported on several OCD forums I've been at as a great supp to lessen the thoughts and mind noise in their heads)

Zinc supplement: zinc is great for mental health and health generally, 1 capsule in the morning and one at supper is all that's needed.

Flaxseed oil: 1 capsule a day

I suspect in very few cases will this eating regime alone eliminate DP/DR(although SOME reports of people changing their intake of food/supps has magically cured their brainfog and dpdr) it will atleast help a great deal.

Also eating healthy is good, fruits, vegtables white meat etc, yeah this almost sounds like some sort of training gainweight/lose weight diet but, logically eating the healthiest will make you healthier.
You are what you eat is a fact in physics not just a setence.
Your body reproduces cells every fucking second, give it the best and it'll reward you for it.
After all, ITS YOUR BODY.

Avoid these: sugar, cigarettes and coffee

Again I'm guilty as charged in all of these, I used to be smoking 20 cigarettes a day and consuming gallons of cocacola (lot of caffeine and sugar).
Everything that ends with INE is negative for you and will make your situation and condition ten times worse, all INE's are stimulants and increase anxiety, pulse and heart rate.
I'm no preacher, but sorry nicotine caffeine amphetamine cocaine heroine is not good for DP/DR.
So if you like me loves cigarettes, this will be the greatest time to quit and when your recovered from DP/DR you'll be so glad you did it and now you got a GOOD reason to.
Another thing is that quitting cigarettes is a goal, it's dicipline, taking control over one of your bad habbits, which in itself is great selfesteem boost it's also a good way to start breaking other habbits like DP/DR thinking, isolation etc.
Plus it will increase your health enormously just the first months, just the first few weeks it'll increase your smell/taste and breathing and lower your chances of heart attack etc.

*Sleeping & Exercising:*

The reason I bring this up is because first:
sleeping pattern is very important in recovering, you must have a routine and sleeping pattern that is stricktly followed in recovery times.
After all sleeping is when your mind body and yourself actually get the chance to rest
I've been close to recovery many times but fuckedup just because of either lack of or over sleeping ONE day and I've completely relapsed.
8 hours is needed, no more, no less. It will also give your life structure and routine and give back sense of contact with reality in some sense, such as concept of time, dates, day/night structure and routines.
Exercising will help you get better sleep and rest, cause if your doing nothing but sitting in a chair all day long reading forums and symptoms and studying for the magic pill or answers to your endless questions your body is basically in a half sleep mode all day long.
Another important thing with exercise is that it'll help you reconnect with your body, you'll use it and thus identify with it more again and fee it as you did PRE-DPDR'ed.
Also getting in better shape physically is proven to help you mentally.
It's also a great distractor and way of reconnecting life, ecspecially if your gaining/losing weight, it'll be a little goal besides recovering and you'll see changes and be happy etc.
There's tons of good reasons why exercise is great but it's almost essential in DPDR to quicker and better recovery I think.

*Changing your thinking pattern:*

This is the biggest and maybe most important part of your recovery (think I've said that about 5 times now, but it's true).
This one goes for PureO/OCD/Panic/Depression too.
The cause of your irrational thoughts and fears lies within your brain chemistry & mind.
So by changing your thinking you'll alter your brain chemistry, this is a well known factor in buddhism called mindfulness.
This will take about a month before you really start noticing that the fears/thoughts aren't as intrusive and VIVID anymore but it'll happen if your consistant.
First realize these thoughts are directly a result of your temporary condition, not braindamage/any truth in the thoughts.
Then you gotta learn to let the thoughts go and refocus on something else, everytime one of these thoughts come, realize its your mind on crack giving you false information and no matter how anxious you become let the thought be, don't fight to ignore it, just let it be, "Be the witness of your thoughts" but don't interact.
Humans got approximatly 64 000 thoughts a day, 90% of them is pure bullshit and most are not even consciously aware of most of them.
If these thoughts came to you in your sleep you wouldnt give a damn and just label them as subconscious nonesense dreaming, do the same here, cause it is EXACTLY what it is.
Immediately change your focus outwards and try thinking of something else, something RELEVANT to your life & the present moment and immediately DO something.
This is VERY important in changing your behavior, kind of what CBT is about I guess.

*Re-entering reality and never looking back*

Getting to the point where you start re-entering reality means getting outside the house daily again, socializing, letting go.
It involves more than just stepping outside your house, it means getting into reality again.
You need to get your hobbies interests back again, cause this is what forms your life.
Anyone can go around as a numb observer of the world, but participating in it is the only way to recover.
This is all subjective experience of the objective reality. The objective reality itself won't give you any meaning. It'll give you inspiration, but it's you subjectively who choose what destiny and path of your life will be.
Now taking something as simple as playing cards means this for you: "moving your hands and picking up some cards with symbols on it and try to get certain cards to win".
Thats your DPDR'ed non meaningful dereality, when your emotions come back it's a GAME again, a game that the purpose is to WIN, and the winning gives you a feeling of luck, happiness and achievement.
Even if it's just something as small as a fucking cardgame.
You've got to let go of the notion that reality will just SHOW IT'S GRAND MEANING AND EXISTANCE to you again, cause it's you who create your OWN experience of reality.
The best way to realize this is maybe by watching a child, he can pick up a branch of a tree and play with it all day long, it's giving him a meaning in his life because he LETS it and is dedicated with it.
Thinking and analyzing why people are as real as you won't make you suddenly EUREKA THEY ARE REAL. No, engaging in social life and activies will do this.
It'll become just as obvious to you that these people are conscious as it is that you are.
Analyzing people while thinking "are they real, do they got minds" etc while looking at someone will do you no good. You need to stop analyzing and rather go out and experience, then it will be revealed and obvious again.

Once your starting to recover and get out of the thick DPDR fog, you must NOT look back.
Just a little thinking about it in the first period after recovery is like smoking weed again(if this is what induced it for you). It'll bring it back in seconds.
i've had numerous experiences where I've become a little better for a little while then have a little relapse and it has sent me straight back into it fully if not even worse for months.
When your getting out, theres no turning back, for some REALITY just suddenly is there again, and this is a shock.
It's like you've been trapped in this dark tunnel for so long and when your out the bright sun light is a shock on your eyes. in the same sense is reality to you when your realizing it again.
You go from being deluded almost asleep passive observer of what you hope to be reality to suddenly BAM being in it again fulltime, everyone around you is real, NOTHING is under your control, the world is there, existance is there again. Too some this can be overwhelming and frightening at first.
The good news is that it'll take you maybe 1-2-3days to fully be ok with it again and feel normal. After all THAT IS reality you've lived in your whole life. It'll come back to you quick and you'll be so happy and excited, but don't let the excitment ruin the recovery for you.
You need to go slow, but not too slow.
If you have a relapse and feel DR/DP'ed, quickly distract yourself and not let the fear get hold of you, you've been down that road, it leads to more anxiety, more dp dr, more waste of your life.
When I say quickly, I mean like RIGHT AWAY, don't lock urself up for a day or two just to "feel cool" again, do it IMMEDIATELY before it takes over your mind.
It'll be hard, but it's the only way you'll keep recovering...
If you suffer added PANIC DISORDER, I suggest getting some anti-anxiety(not too strong) pills in emergencies, just incase when your out of your home and safezone get a panic attack you can take a pill or two just to calm down and keep distracting yourself.

*DP/DR do's and don'ts*

*DO's:*

Participate in life (self explainatory)
Get new hobbies and interests (change is very advantagous to cure this disorder and it'll refocus your mind)
Make new friends (again change factor, plus new friends mean non predictable/controlable events)
Have sex (sex is the most fundamental emotional and instinctive of all human behavior so enganging in it should bring fourt the human in you)
Fall inlove (this is hard while DPDR'ed, but if you manage you'll be cured faster than anyone)
Make music (if your an artist, self expression through music is the best way to spark emotions and unleash your own)
Listen to music (if your NOT an artists listening to others will do the same, music is played on instruments by the creator but plays on the emotions of the listener)
Make art (drawing/painting is another way of self expression so if your good at it, do it, if your not good at it but want to be, pick it up as a new hobbie and learn it)
Express yourself (every person feels the need to EXPRESS themselves, find someone who listens and take a long chat with them, very therapeutic and also connecting, to others and therefore yourself again.
Distract, (already explained)
Make socializing your second nature (explained before)
Stay occupied. (explained)
Party (but without drugs, if you manage alcohol without increasing DP/DR great, it's a good social event and also drinking increases social behavior and let your guard down a bit)
The list is endless....

*DON'TS:*

Isolate yourself (staying in the tunnel)
Dwell on DPDR (dwelling is burrying yourself alive)
Think deep thoughts (just increasing your DPDR and anxieties)
Study shit that scares you (it won't lead to anything good, trust me)
Spend more than 1hour on the computer a day(not even on dpselfhelp) (computer is a way of "escaping reality which is the opposite of what we're trying to do)
Letting this disorder take over your life (self explainatory)
Do drugs(yeah it sucks but ECSPECIALLY if your DPDR was drug induced stay the fuck away no matter if you recover, you'll kill yourself and never forgive urself if u recover, do drugs and relapse.)

----------------------------------------

Some exercises that'll help you on your quest to sense of self and regaining reality:

Body scan meditation:

This exercise was brought to my attention by a member of dpselfhelp: LostSoul.
It's basically a exercise to reconnect your body and also "the present" according to LostSoul who's managed to temporarily "recover" using this technique a few times.
The trick is however when you manage to enter your body again NOT to get too excited as it will "shoot you up in your mind" again.

This is what you do:

Lie on your back with your legs uncrossed, your arms at your sides, palms up, and your eyes open or closed, as you wish. Focus on your Breathing, how the air moves in and out of your body. After several deep breaths, as you begin to feel comfortable and relaxed, direct your attention to the toes of your left foot. Tune into any sensations in that part of your body while remaining aware of your Breathing. It often helps to imagine each breath flowing to the spot where you're directing your attention. Focus on your left toes for one to two minutes.

Then move your focus to the sole of your left foot and hold it there for a minute or two while continuing to pay attention to your breathing. Follow the same procedure as you move to your left ankle, calf, knees, thigh, hip and so on all around the body. Pay particular attention to the head: the jaw, chin, lips, tongue, roof of the mouth, nostrils, throat, cheeks, eyelids, eyes, eyebrows, forehead, temples and scalp.

Do this for 15-30minutes twice a day.

Increasing/training your senses:

Again thanks to LostSoul

This is a Buddhist technique, used by buddhist munks to train their senses and awareness of their environment.
In the sense of DPDR what this will help is take your inward focus and turn it OUTWARD to the reality again.

You do this by taking one sense a week

Let's start with the ears:

My suggestion is that you spend 30minutes a day this first week going outside somewhere your not disturbed and close your eyes and try to focus your hearing on different things outside.
The greatest spot will either be out in nature or some balcony in the city, try to distinguish and focus on different sounds.
Also listen to music, but not with headphones on as this will feel "isolated", so tune up the speakers and put on some of your favourite music you used to love and try to pay attention to the melody, try to follow it with your ears.
This has a double effect, first increasig your hearing and hopefully spark some memories you have of that specific song/music.

Next week take the eyes which might be the worst impairment of DPDR, your visual perception:

This one you can do all week actually, but atleast dedicate 30 minutes a day to REALLY do it.
Try watching moving objects, such as cars, flying birds etc, follow them with your eyes intensively.
Another is the in and out focus, place a finger infront of your eye and focus on it, then focus on the "background", by doing this you stimulate the eye muscles.
Also try looking around you all the time, don't just look dead out in the air as your sleep walking or something.
You must really try to focus your vision on the world again.

Then it's smelling:

Same here, you can do this all day, all week, but atleast spend 30 minutes a day.
Here only your imagination can stop you, try smelling everything, flowers, perfumes, food, aroma's, soap, chemicals, anything that'll stimulate your sense of smell.
A fellow contributer and DP sufferer at DPselfhelp told me she temporarily felt normal again by the smell of burning leafs and aroma therapy.
So maybe it'll also spark some memories and reality recognition in your head.

Tasting:

Another infinite possibilites, I suggest buying tons of fruits and different food this week.
Taste ANYTHING

Touching/feeling:

Touch everything, try to feel different objects, nature, animals, don't ponder it's diversity, just feel without question.
If you got a girl/boyfriend, feel/touch them a lot to.
Again, you'll have to use your fantasy, but go further than touching yourself ok?;P

"I am" mantra exercise:

This was handed to me by my psychiatrist actually it's a very simple exercise.
You basically just sit still and take deep breathes and while inhaling say "here I am" or "i am me" or "here I *your name* am".
Then exhale and feel the air leaving YOU.
The point of this is to locate yourself and body again.

Looking in the mirror:

This "technique" is really just something I've come up with the last few weeks, it's nothing special but i think it might be effective.
Basically it just means looking at your reflection through out the day(not bdd obsessively) but just so you see yourself objectively(cause in DPDR you've lost sense of objective reality and objective thinking)
So seeing yourself objectively over and over again might spark memories etc.
Another thing you can do is care for how you look, try playing "dress up" game or wtf you want.
Get some variation in your looks and take care of it, connect to your ego again.
Also try standing beside a friend/relative or something in a reflection and see that ur just the same, ur not alone, this is hard to "figure out and see" from a first person perspective.

Reminiscing:

Basically find some photoalbums from your childhood, social events etc.
Look through them and try to remember how it was, try to connect with the event as it was.
Try to spark the memory of it
This is a way you can try to wakeup your SOUL and YOUR relationships with people and the world as it once was.
Staying with friends and talking about the past is probably the best way to connect with memories of your real life, one thing is to sit alone and think about it, but when your with others they'll bring up memories you've forgot and can share them and it hopefully will spark some parts of your memory which is currently out of reach, but it is permanently intergrated into your mind so don't be afraid, it's not lost.


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## mayumi_

Thank you so much for this! There is so much great info that I'll keep in mind! <3


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## a3333

This is the most helpful cure post on dp/dr. This helped me get back to "normal". Trust me, I've gone through 6-7 episodes and this helped me. Now 4 years free.


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## emmiesuz

Wow! Thank you so much!!!! My problem is that I get all these great suggestions, and then at the time of panic or DP I forget all the techniques. Or I think "No way is this Anxiety/Depression/OCD/Depersonalization......this is serious.....Im really crazy".....and then I dont bother with the tools.

Thank you for this.

You refer to a book.....what book is that?


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## Spadde

Accepting it is so hard, especially when depressed and nothing gives enjoyment.


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## RenZimE

Bumpity bump for great justice. Hope you are all doing okay despite the current climate. Keep strong and never let this defeat you ❤


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