# we have to do more than just talk about mental illness



## flowingly (Aug 28, 2005)

myriad amounts of money is spend every day on trivial things. mental illness doesn't get the recognition and importance that it needs. even this site- it says it's monitored by the National Organization of Drug-Induced Disorders.

not all of us are here cause we did drugs.

what about the rest of us who've been "good"?

who is actually doing research on pure DR, and where can i send my donation check?

SERIOUSLY

this is 2007. why have mental illnesses not been cured?

governments and people in general spend so much money all the time on trivial matters.

find a cure.
end of discussion.
get off your asses.

i'll donate my time and money and whatever is needed.

why isn't more publicity shed on mental illness? cause it's so misunderstood? boohoo. you're not the ones who suffer. you're the ones who go through your daily lives taking things for granted.

we have to get things done.

we have to find "cures"

we have to look out for each other.

and we have to CARE..
MORE.

what if we ALL send letters continously to our majors and senators or MPs, or whoever is in charge where you are from. we have to start ACTING.


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## CECIL (Oct 3, 2004)

You sound very keen for someone to find a "cure" for DP/DR.

/bubble burst

You can't sit around and wait for someone else to cure you - this is all in your own hands and only you have the power to heal this (not cure).

Why haven't mental disorders been cured? Because there's still pain in this world and people still need to go through these experiences to learn and grow. You are no different and you can heal yourself if you want to.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

I agree as well but i doubt theyl find a cure for dp/dr in the near future. Plus there is not a whole lot of cases of pure dp/dr alot of dp/dr is caused by anxiety which can be cured. You just have to find the right med's.

As for the cases of pure dp/dr instead of cases of dp/dr as a symptom of another illness they can't manage to pin down what causes depression let alone as something as complex as dp/dr. So i wouldnt hope for a magical cure anytime soon.

Mental illness of all kind's is still swept under the rug today. Not as bad as it was year's ago but it still is. There is still that stigma of having mental illness in society and so many people just say why can't you just make yourself feel better? They are too ignorant to know that it's just not that simple. I swear every person that has ever said that to me has come very close to losing their teeth.

It's still that whole stigma that keep's mental illness from getting the funding it need's.


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

I hate to repeat the obvious, but there are two main DP/DR research programs, one in New York -- Mt. Sinai Hospital, and one in London, The Institute of Psychiatry. There is also the ISSD -- The International Society for the Study of Dissociative Disorders.

There are numerous other researchers around the world trying to figure out DP/DR. If you go to the Links section here you will see. Check out Google scholar, PubMed, etc. to find tons of articles on the study of DP.

A book just came out that is discussed at the top of the forum: "Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self"

There are other famous books.

There are a number of people working on films/books about DP.



> mental illness doesn't get the recognition and importance that it needs. even this site- it says it's monitored by the National Organization of Drug-Induced Disorders.


This Board is not "monitored" by NODID. NODID is involved in research with Mt. Sinai and members of this Board were polled by NODID to gather info. NODID has NO connection to this board. You need to go to

http://www.nodid.org

Also, check out my website and links. http://www.dreamchild.net

Also see The National Alliance on Mental Illness http://www.nami.org

Read "Stranger in the Mirror" by Marlene Steinberg

Also, most exciting, see my post at the top of the forum. DPers from this board, Dr. Simeon from Mt. Sinai, and a good number of other sufferers were interviewed by "Elle" magazine coming out in April, 2007. I will continue to post updates.

I will encourage people to email Elle when that article comes out simply to praise them for bringing about awareness.

There are many do the best they can. And James who took over this forum from Andy C. (that he, a DPer started in 1997) has resulted in connections with researchers, doctors, etc.

James built and maintains this site for free. (well his own time and his own dime, just as Andy did). James' fiance has DP.

Many others are trying to get the word out.

Be encouraged by the fact that DP/DR occurs in many if not most mental illnesses, in neurological disorders (stroke/head trauma/epilepsy). It is being researched in all these capacities as we speak.

There is still stigma, yes. And the brain is the most impossibly complex organ to understand.

You think you're sick of waiting for answers, I've been waiting a very long time. I think more and more are coming. But this isn't an easy thing to deal with. Most people here have different onset, other illnesses, some have PURE PRIMARY DP which is something in and of itself which I believe is very rare.

More could be done. I will ask this of people when the Elle article comes out. I'll edit in my post for that in a mo:

Cheers,
D


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

http://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10384

Re: Elle article coming up.

The brain is IMPOSSIBLE to understand and we are only beginning to understand it. There is one wonderful woman from this board, who has DP ... I think she's much better ... who is a neuroscientist at Cambridge for goodness sake.

I wish the average mental health professional knew more, the average doctor, the average therapist, but they don't, and I don't understand that. I went to a neurologist for something completely unrelated and asked him about DP/DR. He knew exactly what it was. He had 5 patients with it. From siezures and from head trauma.

I said, "How do you help these people?" He said, "We don't know how to yet."


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

comfortably numb said:


> I agree as well but i doubt theyl find a cure for dp/dr in the near future. Plus there is not a whole lot of cases of pure dp/dr alot of dp/dr is caused by anxiety which can be cured. You just have to find the right med's.
> 
> As for the cases of pure dp/dr instead of cases of dp/dr as a symptom of another illness they can't manage to pin down what causes depression let alone as something as complex as dp/dr. So i wouldnt hope for a magical cure anytime soon.
> 
> ...


*WHAT HE SAID* 8)

And at minimum visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness, fighting stigma, pushing for research, legislation for insurance parity, etc. Become a member ... http://www.nami.org or get involved with community Mental Health in your area.

We have a LONG way to go.


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## Dreamer (Aug 9, 2004)

flowingly said:


> not all of us are here cause we did drugs.


Flowingly, again, I understand your frustration. I'm 48, I've had this most of my life, and I never did drugs -- only alochol and it causes DP in me.

The point with NODID is, there are individuals here who got DP/DR from various rec drugs that a good amount of the population try at one time or another. If we understand why, this adds to the understanding of why those of us who DON'T take drugs get it as well.

Any research like this, and IMHO, into neurology, is very important.

I may have mentioned in another post, they have found that one form of autism (there are many forms) can be duplicated in mice by changing a gene. It can induced and it can be cured. That is the level of complication and sophistication and difficulty we're looking at.

I can't recall if they've done gene therapy in humans re: this, but in the future this may be the answer, and note, the Genome Project was completed until ... I forgot, several years ago. People working IN GENETICS may find answers.

You have to have some faith in research as a whole.

But yes, mental illness does get the short end of the stick save the "big mental illnesses" such as schizophrenia, bipolar, and depression as these illnesses fill hospital beds and cost a fortune in lost productivity.

It pissess me off that film stars make millions that one could say should go to any number of charities. Mental Illness is my charity of choice, but others believe in supporting other medical disorders.

Oprah Winfrey believes in educating young African girls. I think it's wonderful. Bill and Melinda Gates do all sorts of philanthropy ... forget all they work for. But there is AIDS, there is cancer (name a cancer), etc.

I see you're in Canada. NAMI is going International, but there must be an equivalent organization in Canada like MIND in England.

And many people here can't afford to give big donations to any charity. I give to NAMI. I'd also like to give to an environmental charity but I can't afford to now, it isn't in my budget.

We all do what we can.

And we have to fight stigma. Very few people who don't have a mental illness or don't have a family member with mental illness DO NOT GET IT.

But think of famous people who have come forward such as Patty Duke, Margot Kidder, Marie Osmond -- who had post-partum depression with severe DEPERSONALIZATION. She wrote about it. Etc, etc.

Cancer used to be a taboo subject. When Betty Ford (President Ford's wife) spoke of her breast cancer back in 1975 or whenever, she "brought it out of the closet." Can you imagine it was shameful to talk of breast cancer. That's the problem with mental illness.

Cheers,
D


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## closetome (Nov 16, 2006)

The best adivce I could give someone that's been through something similar to me is not to worry all the time and do 20 mins o exercise i.e skipping a day....keeping ur heart beating for that length of time will do the world of good


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