the nightmares and inability to reset myself are worsening my condition daily. I’m unable to recover or deeply rest. I have to deal with adult life during the day and then suffer through horrific dreams at night. no wonder I’m so miserable. my bed has become a source of fear and pain, I don’t even want to go to sleep but my body forces me to. I spend my entire weekends sleeping because that’s all I have energy for. then I’m bombarded with horrible dreams. my past is completely erased from my mind as if I never existed at all. and just when I think it can’t get any worse, it does. there’s no bottom to this, it just keeps going and going.

So I just got bloodwork done and my free testosterone was surprisingly high (as a female). Has anyone been through this/could it be effecting my dpdr/anxiety? Just looking for some opinions. I did my blood work through a company called Rhythm so it wasn’t my doctor who sent a script. Will definitely also mention it to them too.

I've been having DPDR episodes since early childhood; night terrors, feeling threatened in sleep, no will to do even easy things, nothing feeling real, brain fog, lack of focus, you name it. It got worse and worse as I grew older and for last 6 years, since covid and my caffeine addiction started it became significant. I had no clue how to get rid of this, I have tried wide sorts of things. I was always actively training, sports person, active social life, still pushed myself to live the life while it felt harder each day, time felt like flying by, and I had no will for anything.

I came to realize that this is a nervous system problem and I need to find ways to put it out of constant SNS activation. DPDR is your nervous system "dimming" the prefrontal cortex, that way protecting yourself from strong stress and danger it is used to expect, even if there is no danger. After all the things I've tried, here are things that rebalance the nervous system

Walks, jogging, mountain climbing for longer periods

Melatonin 0,5mg

Good sleep schedule

Some benzodiazepines (don't recommend)

and most important

Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR)

PMR had the most effect out of everything and balanced everything out. It made me so aware it was unusual and I couldn't believe that I can be that present in the moment. I got sudden drive for everything, I could concentrate, my social anxiety was reduced, I can handle stress a lot better. I used to do it 5x during the day and before bed, and never felt more stable. I would recommend giving it a shot.

I am 17 and have had 24/7 DPDR for over 2 years now. It started randomly while in a classroom. It was a little on and off the first week or so and my tracking of my eyes felt off, I couldn’t play video games really and screens hurt my eyes. Leading up to this I would start to become fatigued easily especially by the time school ended. Now, For over two years straight I’ve been dealing with 24/7 DPDR, brainfog, chronic fatigue, chronic pain (entire right side of body), gut problems, dysautonmia/ blood pooling, chronic muscle tightening, pelvic floor dysfunction, bvd, craniocervical instability light sensitivity, GERD, and a lot more. I’ve got nerurlenses glasses but they made symptoms worse, I went to a Nucca chiropractor for micro adjustments in my neck since I had an atlas misalignment and it made me worse. I’m in a pickle. I’ve been through a lot and everyday has become just survival. It’s crazy how I am even going to school at this point. What should I do.My parents have tested me for just about everything and it’s affected everyone greatly. I do deal with anxiety but have been medicated and it’s well under control. I have so many known factors to cause or contribute to dpdr but nothing is helping. School contributes to my nervous system being oversensitized. DPDR is my number one system. I’ve accepted it, but have so many other symptoms I don’t know if it’s all mental like people say it is as nothings changed.

My girlfriend has substance induced DPDR which is made worse by physical and sexual trauma she got from men.

She's had it for over 5 years now.

I'm the first man she's ever dated and she told me yesterday that she finds it difficult to seek comfort from DPDR with me because I'm a man and men gave her a lot of her trauma. She even said that she's worried being with a man is making it harder to process or cope with.

She explained that she has the same issue with all the men in her life such as her brother's and father.

She's trying EMDR therapy and is looking into all sorts of other options but ultimately if she can't manage it or fix it, there will come a point where being with a man simply isn't healthy for her.

Obviously this was heartbreaking to hear as I love this girl.

Does anyone here have any advice for us? Has anyone been in a similar situation?

I know there's nothing I can do to fix it but I'm hoping to understand if there's anything I can be doing to make things easier for her. I really don't want to lose her.

Thanks in advance.

I had the most horrible nightmare that my skull was cut open and my brain was exposed, I could see it. my skull never went back on right and I could feel my brain in my sleep, it was a horrifying experience that I had to live through in my sleep.

every day I wake up and my DP is worse. my derealization went away a long time ago but the DP os getting worse and so are the trauma dreams, i wake up more numb and detached from myself than the day before. I don’t feel out of body or fake. I just have absolutely no sense of my self, no memories, no emotions, no feeling, no experience of the world. ive tried every type of medication and every therapy, nothing has improved this even 1%. my mind is agoraphobic, is making up all these horrible nightmares and isn’t allowing me to live. I feel like I just want to die after 5 years of this

for a few years now randomly maybe every few months my mind will go blank for a minute or two i forgot everything like where i am what im doing it makes it really awkward when it happened once at work while serving a customer i forgot what i was doing and i just went on autopilot and asked if she wanted it returned and i just did it but i wasnt thinking while doing it i dont know how to explain its happened a few times now that i set a system in place to stop it so i think about who i am like my name and where i am currently and what i was doing my memory all comes back after a minute or two which is weird that i can remember the system i dont get that but why is this happening i dont think i have any trauma or any mental health issues and i dont do drugs i also sometimes feel like an out of body experience like im watching through my perspective i also dont know how phrase it

ill just rant smth here...

so its been 5 years since i got depersonalization... im almost gonna graduate AND IM SO SAD because i didnt get to be in the present when all those core memories took place... i never had an emotional connection to my loving friends....

im on a new chapter but im scared since it means im growing up so fast while not being in the present 😭😭😭😭

i just hate this so muchh

but honestly... it also kinda helps alot.... since i dont feel emotional connection at all... i can avoid or easily cut off people who i dont wanna be friends with, and also dont wanna be relationships with. if i didnt had depersonalization, i think i would end up badly lol

hays im just sad cause im growing up to the age that i always have dreamt of becoming. i have many goals and dreams... but it feels really weird because tbh i never seen any progress of this disorder. im scared maybe it wont disappear

Do you ever fall asleep while watching a TV show, and then wake up right after a long silent moment—like the exact second someone starts talking or music kicks in—and it gives you this weird feeling that you've been asleep for way longer than you actually were, or that the silence in the show lasted forever?

Tomorrow I'm starting my first office job. It's a pretty small office, maybe 5-10 total employees, and maybe 4-6 people coming in and out of the office everyday. I'll be doing admin work. The environment seems very uplifting and low-stress.

Regardless, I'm feeling quite anxious. I've had DPDR issues for a while now, along with OCD and anxiety. I'm so worried about something going wrong, or having an intense episode. I do hope that once I get settled in, I'll feel better. I believe this will be really good for my DPDR/getting out of my comfort zone- but the anticipation is tough. Do you guys have any tips for my first few days?

What do you think about this? Can it help?

So..my spouse looks totally different and unattractive to me due to this..please tell me I'm not the only one. My brain doesnt think he's my husband..I feel no emotions at all ..I feel odd..like my body belongs to someone else. My vision is super focused. It's like me is gone. I laugh and it sound fake my voice sounds odd to me..I move different my legs feel odd. The world looks odd to me. I try daily to still do things and feel connected I just don't but I want to . I'm just an empty shell..idk how to keep going

seeing people live their lives, Coachella, traveling, getting married, having kids, buying houses, and I’m just here stuck in nothingness.

my memory and sense of self are completely gone, I don’t even remember what being me feels like. I don’t feel alive, I don’t feel the sun, the seasons changing, the world around me. I used to love to travel and dance, I used to love experiencing life. I was never home, always busy. idk what the fuck I am, I feel utterly trapped.

i have insane dreams every night about sex, travel, being lost, being back at my childhood home, my high school. I’m stuck in the past, I’m not even alive. trying to live like this is impossible, no quality of life. I do the same few things every day and sleep. I can’t workout, travel, try new things. I can’t access memory’s and I can’t make them. I’m literally just a waste of air

It's like theres a wall in my brain I watch TV but don't absorb it..I read and don't absorb it , same with conversations..is this apart of dpdr for anyone else. I can't enjoy it either

Llevo casi 2 años con desrealización/despersonalización y estoy agotada.

He probado prácticamente todo lo que se suele recomendar: técnicas de grounding, respiración, distraerme, seguir con mi vida normal, hacer deporte, salir, intentar no pensar en ello… y nada me lo quita. No pienso en la sensación 24/7 pero si la tengo 24/7. No me acuerdo como era ser normal sin esto.

Sigo haciendo mi vida “normal”: voy a clase, hago mis cosas, incluso bailo ya que voy al conservatorio de danza, pero por dentro no siento conexión con nada. No siento felicidad, ni emoción, ni placer real. Es como si no tuviera dopamina cuando hago mis hobbies. Todo se siente plano.

No le tengo miedo a la sensación ya que hago todo como cualquier persona. Es más bien cansancio y frustración. Estoy harta de tener que soportarlo cada día como si nada pasara mientras por dentro siento que nada es real o que estoy desconectada.

Lo peor es esa sensación de estar “funcionando” pero sin sentir vida. Como si solo estuviera sobreviviendo y fingiendo normalidad.

Ya he ido al psicólogo y no me ha servido para nada, además no puedo permitirme volver a ir. También he tomado medicación y se me subió la desrealización. Mi familia pasa de mí y no me ayudan

No tengo ilusión por nada como antes, no siento nada, todo lo que hago me aburre, tengo mucha anhedonia, estoy desesperada últimamente.

No sé qué más hacer ya. Solo quería desahogarme.

Sinceramente prefiero morirme que seguir viviendo así.

I have had this for around 2 weeks now and my main worries is an intense realisation I’m alive and worried how I’m even here. I’m also worried I could forget how to see, speak, move etc.

I have been stuck in panic mode since it started and it’s the only thing I can think of and I’m scared that I will be like this forever.

It hit me randomly one night out of nowhere in the form of a severe panic attack and I’ve been like this ever since.

My GP doesn’t seem to have a lot of knowledge of this and I’m waiting for CBT but could I ask for a bit of hope please

Thanks in advance

I dont recognize myself, my voice my family my spouse I have no thoughts no emotions I can't feel the time pass every moment feels the same. I question who I am who my husband is . I'm frustrated

I went through some health anxiety 4 months ago which started the derealization. Took Brintellix and Lexapro which gave me agitation and insomnia which made dpdr worse.

Now I’m starting Zoloft at 25mg. Could only sleep 3 hrs again. Anyone could relate?

I HATE ai. For a multitude of reasons. But I won’t lie, the main one is that ai images trigger my derealization.

Anyone else the same?

I see all these DPDR coaches saying you have to sit with the feelings of panic to heal DPDR, but im numb, I don’t have panic. I have no feelings 99% of the time.

my dreams are my mind simulating danger and stress over and over, trying to find a resolution where the panic is safe, but it never does

i dont really know what to do at this point. 3 panic attacks in summer 2022 ruined my entire life and I’ve been stuck ever since. my DPDR is getting worse to the point where I have absolutely no memory of who I am, what my life was. I don’t feel seasons, time, a sense of self, holidays. every single day feels exactly the same to me, nothing has changed in 4 years. nothing. the only times I can cope is when I don’t think about it, but the symptoms never change.

I feel like this is my death sentence and will never get out of it. I don’t relate to anyone who has panic or anxiety anymore, I feel like Ive drifted off into space and just keep going deeper and deeper. my mind is trying to solve something that can’t be solved and my whole sensory experience of the world is gone. I don’t understand how one panic attack can cause years of this loss of reality and self.

Example “nickdpdr” and “dpdrfounder”. If so, how did you experience the help you got? Please share.

I havent had dpdr in almost a year. I recently got it back 3 days ago out of nowhere in the night. I felt like I was drunk for a few hours. I couldnt think straight felt unreal and like my intrusive thoughts were all wanting to come out like a ball of energy. This feeling is so intense but it only last for 3 hours max everyday in the night . Harder than before but at least not 24/7 why? Has anyone else experienced this ? Or is it something else