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DP/DR Coping tips?


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Can we get a thread with some tips about how to handle this when you feel it coming/are experiencing this?

For me it's also companied my severe anxiety. I take a few deep diaphragm breaths, and focus on my sense of feeling, such as rub my hands on the fabric inside my pockets, or my feet on the ground and let myself know i'm there, and that's fine. If that makes any sense. I feel like i'm getting better at living with hppd, but this derealization can get to me.

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  • 1 month later...

For me what helped was learning to accept the feelings of dp/dr as valid emotions, instead of symptoms. And then the long and continuing journey to understand where these emotions were coming from, and how to reconnect with the parts of myself that I didn't see as 'real' or as a 'person'.

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  • 3 months later...

For me things that help. I have not had dp/dr for very long (2 months) but here are some things I have done to combat it.

1. Sunglasses!! dp/dr makes you feel disconnected plus the visuals of hppd are often light induced, putting on some shades can help me pretend some of the visuals are just cuz my glasses are smudged plus less light often makes for less visuals. Feeling too surreal? Putting the glasses on or if you have them on taking them off, is often a drastic change to my visual system that makes me feel more in control and more real.

2. Put a little bit of gravel in your shoe!! Uncomfortable yes but makes you feel soo much more grounded and real! The slight uncomfortableness will help distract you and will release endorphins that will make you feel a bit better. Feeling really anxious and dp'd? Press down a little bit on the gravel and it will anchor you!

A cool trick you can do also is wear a blindfold for an entire day. Try spending one day in a blind man's shoes. We can still SEE! hallucinating sure but we are lucky. I did a whole day blindfolded on a weekend and it really makes you appreciate what you got instead of anxious of why you can't see like everyone else.

3. Omega 3's, eating right, vitamins, getting enough sleep, exercising. Quit all hallicinogens including weed also limit the caffeine but its only going to increase anxiety while your on it so it's not going to make you worse in the long run so if you enjoy it go for it smile.gif. Drinking can increase anxiety but drink if you used to find it fun I find drinking fun and it stops my dp for awhile although hangovers suck alot more and increase anxiety. And don't push yourself and get worried about your health too much, if you would rather do something you enjoy than going to the gym than go have fun cuz having fun will make the dp go away faster!

4. Help others out! Dp makes you question your point in this world. I felt like I had no point to life, so I just started helping my mom with chores and volunteering everywhere. My rationality was I'm not going to enjoy anything else anyway so might as well spend the entire day raking the lawn for this old lady. I made helping others MY point to existence. I do not need to enjoy it, if I help others enjoy themselves that belief gave me JOY for the first time in so long. I started enjoying again because I accepted that I may no longer enjoy anything so any amount of joy i did feel was cherished and BAM I started living again.

5. Remember that we got DP for a REASON. It is trying to tell us something. It made me seek out god, I went to churches, temples synagoges of every religion seeking out answers, DP made me feel like there was NOTHING out there. There is definitly something out there, GOD is innate within all of us, whether islamic, catholic, aboriginal the fact is that every group of people on separate continents started believing in some form of God without conspiring together. We all have a metaphysical component attached to us we are not human beings with spiritual experiences we are spiritual beings living a human experience. Find what good DP/HPPD has done for you, it has changed your life outcome permanently so maybe you got it so you can become who you were meant to be. We do not know what the future holds but we all have a place in this universe. God makes no mistakes and no matter how crazy you think you are you are special and someone loves you. I love you. We are all in this together, all on this world with no clue why and we will only find out why when we are old and looking back on our beautiful lives and all the awesome stuff we did. No matter how small your accomplishments enjoy them, you have affected way more than you can imagine, you have changed the outcome of the world just by being here. The butterfly effect guys, everything effects everything.

6. Try to enjoy your dp. Sounds messed up right? I hate dp. And I still hate it. But guess what? We are going to have dp until we snap out of it. Dare yourself to get as dp'd as you can get. Induce it (without drugs obviously). Watch how it waivers in intensity. Notice how noone else around you seems to feel this alien sensation. Only you can. This sensation belongs to you, you do not belong to it. I found daring myself to get depersonalized made it go away. Embracing it actually brought ME back! Plan to watch a movie that you would normally enjoy and drink a tea or coffee and tell yourself "Im going to drink this caffeine and trip balls and explore myself and watch the hell out of this movie". Dp only likes to be with you when you do not want it I find.

7. Remember that DP is temporary only. It is hell and suffering beyond what I could have ever imagined before I got it. But you will snap out of it someday and be able to bask in how awesome life is once again. So remember you just have to play the waiting game and it will go away. Do not obsess over it, I did and even if you do, it will still pass the brain heals itself but if you obsess it will take longer. Once you realize that it is just a waiting game, you will feel less anxious and you will just have to ride it out it can take as little as an hour after you realize this to days to months to years (most likely a few months) but you WILL snap out of it you have your whole life to figure it out and you will!

8. Do not listen to your anxiety. Remember anxiety is telling you to do something. For me it was always telling me I have to find a cure for my DP. So since I was not finding a cure I was not getting better but more anxious. DP cures itself. Isolate the "problem thought" that triggered your anxiety. For me it was always "this shit is going to last forever and ruin my life." Than list counter evidence to your problem thought i.e. nothing lasts forever, tons of people have recovered from dp, etc.

Thanks for listening I know all you guys are skeptical of information but trust me you WILL get better smile.gif

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Ditto! It varies in intensity for me -- the only time I am as close to out of "it" as possible is when I am on vacation or in a different state.

I have no idea why, its weird...maybe its like a PTSD type thing for me.

BTW, Shaolin...long time no talk! How are you?

-Bruce

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's important to remind yourself that the dissociation is temporary, that it's not going to be a new permanent state, no matter how bad it gets, but it can take some time to pass. I've had dissociation so severe at times, I thought I had finally totally lost my mind, but here I still am, and things have gotten better, I don't have any special defense to dissociation, so I think if I can improve it's a good chance so will anyone else.

You know, our bodies can heal a lot on their own. And, one of the biggest problems I've had with hppd/dp/dr is trying too hard to force these things away, which can cause more problems. I wish I would have had more patience in the beginning. It's very important to have to help get through this.

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  • 1 month later...

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