# My theories on how to recover



## GrahamCracker (Jan 27, 2012)

Okay, while I have only posted a handful of times on this website, I think that I have used it as much as the next guy, so I deserve to let everyone know my story of recovery.
Well first off while its hard to say for sure if the disorder is gone completely/for good, I think that is just part of the nature of the disease. It is hard to completely point out and kind of exists like a silent spirit in your mind but once it is gone or at least has gotten better it is definitely easy to notice.
So I would say my DP had been almost the worst it had been only 3 days ago. I was feeling really weird all day, having symptoms all across the board. Spacing out, vision blurriness, sensitivity to bright light, feeling detached overall, brain fog, heavy fatigue...I could go on and on. However the difference this past couple weeks or so is that I have finished a really stressful year of college and I have been trying really hard to eliminate all negativity regarding the disease out of my mental state completely.
So the day after this badly DP'ed day I mentioned, I basically spent the whole day really piled out just lazing around at my house. I got out for a couple hours but for the most part I was doing nothing. However I have also started eating a lot healthier and I ate really healthy yesterday. Basically a bunch of baby carrots and bananas and homemade food, which takes me to my next point. Everything you hear on this website about people telling you about how important diet is to eliminating DP is totally true in my opinion. And even if it is just a placebo effect, eating really healthy can never hurt.
Another thing I did that I believe definitely helped take some of the DP away was I started taking fish oil pills. One 1200 mg pill a day is all I take but my dad have forever sworn by those things and I know I felt a difference in my brain fog at least a week after I started taking them. And like I said with the healthy diet, it doesn't hurt to take fish oil pills either. The price is totally worth it, and it isn't hard to find ones that prevent "fish burps" too.
Next thing I know a lot of people on here can relate to is being in college or really any stressful environment. I don't really think environment is the best word to describe that, but you know what I mean. I am a sophomore in college, gonna be a junior in august, and I declared my major to Astrophysics at the beginning of the sophomore year. While declaring this gave me a lot of excitement because it is something I know I am really interested in, it is also a really demanding major that I am already behind schedule in from declaring it a year late. So from the moment I declared it I knew I was gonna have to buckle down and do basically a fuckload of math and physics for the next couple years to catch up, so I'm sure that could have been a stress on my mind to say the least. So now being on summer I believe has definitely helped spark that bit of relief to help push the DP away.
This post is getting lengthier than I expected, but whatever. I'm naming every possible idea I have thought of as a theory of worsening DP so that I could reverse it.
Another thing going on when my DP got much worse about 9 months ago was I was in a long distance relationship because of college, which I had already been in for about a year. However things just were really going nowhere and I think both of us could see it so we finally ended things a few months ago and while it sucked since we were dating for two years, I believe that could have definitely had an impact on my dissociation with DP. It helped me branch back out into a better social life and stop dwelling on more stressful things all the time.
Next theory: I heard this from another post on this site a while ago. Try doing a bunch of things that make you feel nostalgic. Reminisce on the old times, try your hardest to muster up that bittersweet feeling of remembering good times. For me, doing things like playing my old gameboy pokemon video games and listening to songs that made me feel emotional back in junior high and high school I feel really helped. And do not think of the old days in a way that is discouraging! Remember the past not as a thing that shows you how much worse things have gotten, try to remember it in a way that makes you happy, and makes you remember who you are. You must convince yourself that those good old days are you and you are still the same fucking person and nothing will change that. The world is the same place, things can be the same. 
One of the biggest realizations you must come to is that DP is simply a mental state. You get stuck in this mental state from a vicious cycle. You feel shitty about one symptom or another, and this shitty feeling makes you dwell on more shitty things, making you feel shittier and therefore making the symptoms worsen. However once you finally do enough things to motivate yourself to change you life, you can spark a vicious cycle in the other direction. A vicious cycle of happiness, and good symptoms. Once you get a truly optimistic mind state going, hold the fuck onto it. Notice every little thing that you can that you wouldn't have if your DP was still running rampant in your brain. Today I nearly cried just driving from a trip to the east bay back to San Francisco where I live, because I for so long haven't had a sunset seem so beautiful. I was just looking at everything I could and noticing how beatiful and great everything felt and it really sparked my optimism in a great direction. All you need is to just KNOW that your DP is something that you can control, and then fucking control it. You need to be optimistic to the point that you can think even if your DP was to come back, you can accept that it is simply a mental state that you can control and it will not ruin your life. While it can seem like it fucks things up for a bit, just take every single positive thing you can out of the experience and make yourself a better person from it. DP seems like a vicious and evil disorder, but take my word for it, it makes you grow as a person once you get out of that vicious cycle, and you become so much more grateful for every single thing around you and every emotion you feel, good or bad.
Anybody who liked this post or disliked this post, or has anything to say about it whatsoever just feel free to spark up a discussion and I feel completely obligated to help you all out. We're all in this together. PM me if you want, I don't care at all. We can just talk. Anything to help.

PS! one last thing I remembered. STOP STOP STOP looking up your symptoms online. I am sure you have all heard this before. But forreal, stop that shit. It is one of the most pessimistic things you can do and will only make things worse. It is practically an obsessive compulsive impulse to do this, trust me, I know. When you are feeling literally like you have lost your mind and you are on the brink of going insane you feel you can't do anything else but reassure yourself. Just fucking stop yourself from doing it. It will NEVER help things. Go outside or something, play a video game, watch a nice show, listen to some music that gets you stoked. Distract yourself. Doing anything else will only make your mood/mind state worse.


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## GrahamCracker (Jan 27, 2012)

Oh and as far as my theories go on pills/medication: Fuck that. The way I see it, that is not at all a sustainable way to help yourself, and will only waste your money in the long run if you choose to take them forever or when you come off of them and just feel the same you always felt like since you haven't done any real fixing of your mental state.
Oh and exercise every day. Don't overdo it, but make sure to get outside and do something that works your body that you enjoy everyday. For me that thing has always been skateboarding. For the past 7 years it has been skateboarding. I feel that skateboarding has shaped my life and who I am today, and if you don't have a hobby like that, try to find one. It is a great thing you can go to whenever you are feeling detached.


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## Jayden (Feb 9, 2011)

Yeah skateboarding is one thing that makes me feel really good. And somehow I'm better then I was before I had DP. Whenever I land a hard trick like a 360 flip or a crooked grind it makes me feel so good.

The only downside to skateboarding for me, is that some of my friends are like, K your 21 when are you going to give that up? And sometimes I just wanna say, you have no idea what I deal with and this is one of the only things that helps me escape from all the bullshit.

Great post by the way


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## GrahamCracker (Jan 27, 2012)

Jayd said:


> Yeah skateboarding is one thing that makes me feel really good. And somehow I'm better then I was before I had DP. Whenever I land a hard trick like a 360 flip or a crooked grind it makes me feel so good.
> 
> The only downside to skateboarding for me, is that some of my friends are like, K your 21 when are you going to give that up? And sometimes I just wanna say, you have no idea what I deal with and this is one of the only things that helps me escape from all the bullshit.
> 
> Great post by the way


I actually have seen your profile before, and I commented on one of your youtube videos. I'm hyped to have someone on here that can share the love for skateboarding with me. What you mentioned about your friends saying you're too old for it and all that is just the bullshit you gotta get used to. I'll be 20 soon and I know for a fact I'm skating until I can't walk. It's my one true love. And the best part about it is that it is your own individual medium of expression, you can use it and skate however you want or please without having to do shit that anyone says. You're in your own little world when you step on that board. And no damn age is gonna take that from me


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## S.Snake (Jul 21, 2010)

good to hear man, i recovered completely and im sorta back in the hole. ive been taking cod liver oil capsules and b12 im hoping it helps


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## Ianrollerboy (Jun 7, 2012)

GrahamCracker said:


> I actually have seen your profile before, and I commented on one of your youtube videos. I'm hyped to have someone on here that can share the love for skateboarding with me. What you mentioned about your friends saying you're too old for it and all that is just the bullshit you gotta get used to. I'll be 20 soon and I know for a fact I'm skating until I can't walk. It's my one true love. And the best part about it is that it is your own individual medium of expression, you can use it and skate however you want or please without having to do shit that anyone says. You're in your own little world when you step on that board. And no damn age is gonna take that from me


I've had depersonalisation/derealisation since I first smoked weed at the age of 16 and I was skating at a sponsored level then placing well in comps etc. It all went a bit pear shaped as you can imagine as i kinda lost my identity and felt like an alien in my own life. Anyhow, i had to basically rely on my skating as I knew that was a strong part of my identity and it allowed me freedom of expression without the constant analysis. I am now 29 and still it remains a fantastic release from my over thinking. Well that is when I don't hurt myself lol that's the sad element were your mind says yes but your body takes ages to heal when you slam. I'll prob be one of those 60 year old dudes in a wheel chair watching xtreme sports clips, covered in tattoos and still repping the skate brands. Shred Till Your Dead! Keep it up! Less thinking and more doing chaps. Best of luck Ian


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