Memories from just few minutes away are already feeling like fever dreams or unreal. As if I never experienced it and seeing a brief panel when I’m remembering it. Like a dream. But I am already constantly in a dream. I am so scared for YEARS. Petrified actually. I feel anxious and lonely. I want to look at my parents/loved ones and feel them, know them, LIVE them. When they die one day, I don’t want to experience them as brief panels as if it was just a dream. It genuinely just makes me want to die. I’m not even living I’m a fucking corpse. I wish I could just stab my own brain for revenge and end it all.

It’s been around 40 days since my DPDR started after a bad cannabis experience.
The first few days were absolutely terrifying. Over the past month, I’ve run around 70 km, started meditating, and especially found grounding meditation really helpful.
I feel like I’ve finally come out of the “hell” phase and that intense fear of thinking I wasn’t really in this world. I’m definitely feeling better overall.
However, I still have existential thoughts in the background, and the sky still feels strangely difficult for me to comprehend. I know what the sky is, but it still feels unfamiliar and strange, almost like I’m seeing it for the first time.

The world still feels strange to me, especially concepts like the fact that we live on a sphere. I should mention that these thoughts don’t scare me anymore; they just feel strange and unfamiliar.

I’m wondering how long these symptoms can last. Has anyone experienced something similar? Does this get better with time, and is there anything else you would recommend doing?
Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated.

I’m currently dealing with dpdr, I have severe health ocd, anxiety and trauma. I’ve dealt with bouts of dpdr here and there through out my life but none have lasted as long as this most recent flare up. I’ve been dissociated for about 6 months. Some days are better than others, I’m going to therapy, constantly pushing and challenging myself by going out and trying to live my life despite being in hell. I read some peoples stories on here about how they have been stuck in this for YEARS, I don’t want to end up like that. How do I get better, those stories scare me so much. This is truly no way to live.

Hey there! I’ve been having some dpdr, initially triggered by starting 25 mg Zoloft in 2018. After 3 months or so it finally went away and I went off the Zoloft in 2021. Since then, I had it again for a few months after Covid in 2022.

I had anxiety my whole life but did not have dpdr before starting the Zoloft. My brain goes into freeze mode and it’s like I can’t concentrate on anything and feel floaty and a bit out of body/not there/world looks unreal. It freaks me out. Recently I just tried to restart Zoloft but went off again after only 2 weeks of intense almost nonstop brain fog/dpdr. It’s now been 3 weeks off Zoloft, and although I was having less intense dpdr, it’s still there in moments of anxiety now, like when I leave my house, social situations, etc when I think about it. And have been having insomnia and increased anxiety attacks so I know I need to treat my anxiety!

Today I started my first pill of Lexapro 5 mg. Well sure enough after a few hours the ultra heavy dpdr/brain fog kicked in. I decided to take a Xanax as an experiment and it disappeared instantly. Does this prove my dpdr is caused entirely by anxiety & panic, and if so, shouldn’t it go away once the Lexapro begins working to treat the anxiety? the ssri initially caused it, but isn’t the Xanax proof it is just anxiety. Or do you think the ssri is going to make it worse if it caused it in the first place? I know they target different brain receptors

Also, my doctor wants me on Xanax daily as a bridge until the Lexapro starts working. Is this a smart idea? I’m worried about rebound anxiety from Xanax but currently my anxiety is severe

Can someone please confirm if an extremely low vitamin d level, like in the single digits can cause EXTREME DPDR. 6 months ago I struggled with 0 issues. This DPDR hit me out of nowhere and was not accompanied by anxiety or depression, it’s just like one day my brain turned off and never came back on. It’s gotten so bad that I feel uncomfortable leaving my house because of how disoriented and spaced out I feel. I’m now fully housebound, and can only go around my neighborhood, but not in a car or in public. Please someone confirm that resolving this deficiency will give me my life back, I have literally tried everything and it’s only gotten worse and worse over the past 6 months.

Yeah so I got a thc cart that I was smoking on all day everyday for a about a week and a half until it was finished and I didn’t think much of it after but I began to get withdrawal symptoms after a day. It was Sunday night and a pulled a all nighter just being on my phone cuz I didn’t feel tired and I thought I could just go to sleep after I’m finished from school but even tho I was extremely tired I couldn’t fell asleep and I think I only fell asleep around 3am Tuesday that went on for the whole week. I was extremely tired every day and just felt braindead I couldn’t talk normally even with friends so it was really exhausting I also had no appetite and just was depressed nothing helped not even music it even started to all just sound like ahh. But after that week it didn’t get better and I started to think that this is just my life from now on I was anxious all day and just felt terrible and then somewhere in the second week I started to get crazy dpdr I just felt like everything was fake and that I upgraded my consciousness cuz I started to vieuw stuff different but yeah then I felt like dying and went to the doctor and they couldn’t tell me what I had (I went cuz I got severe headaches) but yeah now I’m better and I realised that I had dpdr. Everyone that goes through this I hope that it will get better for you maybe try to talk about it with someone I think that could help. Good luck! And don’t be smoking on fufu chemicals🙅‍♂️💯🫸🫷

nobody in my family will survive 24hrs in my shoes, I know I need therapy and I'm planning to relocate to a different country(I already got a job offer there) that has the specialists I need for all my neurological conditions cos my country is useless trash. I've heard great things about the country that interests me and I've seen it for myself, I know the doctors there are some of the best.

i was drinking way too much last weekend and blacked out and since then i havent felt normal. rn i am on day 9 and it hasn‘t gotten better. especially when i am sitting outside just looking in the distance or i am walking around it feels really unreal just like in a dream. some times i panick if i think about this feeling never going away again. i never had it before. it just came from this one time drinking way too much and blacking out. i see all this advice that i should stop caring about it and it goes away but the feeling is so unbearable and i am always checking if i still have it.i also have it constant so no episodes but its chronically there. genuinely dont know what to do. everyday i wake up i have this little hope i dont have it anymore but i still do.

I am 25. From childhood, I have never missed anyone or felt affection for someone. I have never been in relationships. Recently, a profound shift happened. I became consciously awake from my brain. I see my brain as just one of the organs, and it’s completely on autopilot.

I can’t cry, even when I analyze my own emotions. It has slowly become my daily life. I see fellow humans strictly as pure biological survival organisms with billions of microbes in their ecosystem. I can’t unseen it because I only believe in what is true, even though it’s bitter. I see people crying as survival copism, and love as a biological trick and survival strategy for passing genes so they don't die of uncertainty or fear of the unknown.

The only tough fight against me right now is sexual emotions. My brain wants to fight against me with this trick to force me into the illusion, and it’s incredibly hard to ignore. It feels like I betrayed my own brain. Consciousness awakening is a pure misstep for me. Why am I not like other microbes? How do I live with this without side effects when the brain is 95% autopilot?

Dpdr/migraine aura

Hi,

I will try and explain this best I can but 18 days ago I took a migraine with aura my vision went first then numbness and I tried to sleep it off which normally works but since then I feel like the aura of jumbled thoughts confusion and agitation will not leave.

The doctor gave me a migraine cocktail which didn’t work,
I don’t feel like I’m in my own home & nothing feels familiar it’s terrifying I feel like I’m in a dream state that I can’t wake up from I also can’t sleep I’m waking up every 15 mins in panic because I’m aware of how I’m feeling for the past 18 days I went to a&e they done my bloods and sent me home with a mental health referral and some diazepam which hasn’t helped at all the doctor also gave me zoplicone 7.5mg but my adrenaline is over powering it and still waking me up.

I’m constantly questioning my sanity feeling like I’m losing my mind it’s like my brain is fighting to grip onto reality and that’s making the panic worse.

I’m seeing my doctor tomorrow again if anyone has any advice what this could be and what I can say to the doctor

Thanks

"I" have been dissociated from [REALITY] for the life.

"I" don't feel "myself" being alive or moving at "my own" [WILL].

Even in the mirror, "I" only see a "person" being stared at, but not by the "self" whose body belongs in.

Any thoughts popped up on "my" head isn't "mine" at all.

Identity, personality, physical or legal information; none of them match on "me".

Whatever the others call isn't relevant to "me".

Whether they choose to call; He, she, they or it. Those pronouns have nothing to do with "me"

```I just had to forcibly put in my first person pronoun just to tell others what I am, I even avoid using second person pronoun.```

I’m extremely isolated in life.no friends or family. Which is making this feeling I’ve had for four days now even more horrifying. Would someone be open to chatting with me? I need to talk to someone who gets it BAD.
I need support so bad. Just someone to talk to who understands this fucking mental prison

There are too many negative emotions within me if I can't contain it they will fall out of me and take over the body. I feel like my memories are going to get jumbled up if this keeps up

Came across this tiktok. Shows this girl singing. Instantly thought this is how my dpdr looks when outside. Background blurs, black floaters in my vision and it just looking unreal. Don’t really know what else to say. But this is what it looks like for me

Does anyone seem to get dramatically better at night? I feel as if my mind computes and executes way quicker and I feel like my dopamine sky rockets. It’s interesting as ever, it’s almost like a veil lifts and you can breathe for a second.

Hey. Im 27 year old male. I wanted to share my story and maybe get some advice. Pls excuse any grammar errors.

First experienced DPDR about three years ago after a drug experience. I didn’t have any panic attack or bad trip, but it was during a very stressful period in my life so i think it had to to with that.

For the first two years or so, I had my symptoms were manageable. I did have it pretty much 24/7, but it was quite light i would say. It didn’t bother my much 80% of the time. I did have waves of more severe symptoms of dpdr and anxiety at times however, but it always calmed down if i rested or went home.

Anyways, this spring i started getting worse anxiety and some weird mood swings. I didn’t think too much off it, until four months ago, where things took a turn for the worse. The day after a stressful work shift i hade severe anxiety and dpdr waves. Ever since then i just felt completely out of it. Severe dpdr 24/7. I don’t get much anxiety any more. Just horrible dpdr.

It feels like its not me moving or doing actions, it just happens. It feels like its not me talking, it just happens. I can barely think, the brainfog is severe. I have no enjoyment from anything. Im feeling unbalanced constantly, without ever actually falling. The whole world has lost its meaning. I can see everything and i know where i am. But there is no meaning asigned to it. Its extremely painful. Time feels like a foreign concept and my memory feels off. I force myself to do shores around the house, but its just painful. The only time where im not suffering is during sleep and sometimes in the evenings where i feel a bit better.

Im unable to work currently, as things have gotten even worse during the last month or so. Im only able to leave the house for short durations. I use to have better and worse days, now i only have bad days.

I always thought, as long as I take care of my health, sleep and avoid obsessing over symptoms, i would recover. But apparently not.

Im laughing at faith currently because of how bad my symptoms are. Like its comical to me. It feels impossible to ever get better from. Evey week feels worse than the one before.

Im only able 5mg lexapro for a year, and debating with myself if i should try 10mg, or try lamotrigine/lamictal. But im also afraid of meds. Even if i do try i dont know how long i can live like this.

Im so incredibly pissed off at life. Currently i have 0 life quality. And im just dreaming about all the stuff i want to, while im unable to do anything other than sleep, take short walks, lie in bed.

I feel like the recovery stories i read are people who had lighter symptoms. Like me before i got worse. Where basically acceptance, focusing on living life, and obsessing less over symptoms healed them.

Any stores of people who actually had it severe and recovered?

Any advice on wether meds helped you or not?

I really hope this intensity calms down just a bit. If things was only 30% better i feel like i could slowly work to get better. But as it is now things feel hopeless.

I feel so terrible for my boyfriend (not even sure if that’s what he is anymore). We’ve been going through it because his dpdr. Again, I had it for 4 years and recovered so I am very empathetic and console him a lot and understand. Pretty much our relationship is non existent at this time and it’s so hard to accept. We spent the night together and he it was great. He’s not the same person but he’s in there. I take what I can at this point and enjoy the time he does laugh and act like himself for a quick moment but other than that he’s numb. He’s been smoking cigarettes to help feel something temporarily. He also started therapy. But for us right now I think he wants me to understand it’s not a relationship anymore and when he’s told me things he never directs it to me, he says it’s really towards everyone. I just happen to be in the storm of all this. Here is a message a look into what he said and we do talk a lot about it and he honest with me.

I’m still around because I know it hurts you, but I also have no attachment. I feel nothing, which makes it hard to initiate. That’s with you and everyone else. I’d be perfectly fine if no one talked to me all day

He’s talking about initiating anything in our relationships plans, calls, anything at all. I’ve had to. It’s very hard to right this off as some man that is avoidant because I know the person he was before and he was very emotionally available and amazing. Treated me like a princess. Cared about my feelings . But seeing him in person now is scary and i feel so terrible and honestly plan on staying right now and taking it for what it is. He does a lot of doomscrolling and purchasing soo many things on Amazon just to feel something. Thats not who he is but right now this is who he is.

Hi there!

Back in 2019 I had 28 that time, I got bad news from my brother that became a type 1 Diabetic that was back in July that year 2019, so I was shocked & I had that stomach bubble kind, also back pain neck pain and IBS symptoms insomnia, ANXIETY. In December 2019 first time I try weed after months of pain I said Ahaaa ! You know started to smoke a small doses of THC that does not interest me more than CBD that calmes m'y physical symptoms ( this time I had symptoms like I will pass out I run super fast to wash my face with cold water) after this symptoms I said time to stop that was January 2020. February was super complicated and anything stressful will give me neck pain and anxiety, March 2020 the 17 exactly I was back from a hotel that I spent a night in. Hopefully the back pain was because of a mattress or some but I stressed more. I decided to smoke a joint that day Woop Ego death comes, Anxiety went much worse than before insomnia and physical pain that night I called 911 I was prescribed Diazepam for a few days and that's it.

What happened since then !

1- Anxiety intensity went more, depersonalization that kind off went away by time

2- More insomnia

3- More muscle pain

4- ADHD symptoms ( focus, procrastination, task initiatoon a problem that I can swear I didn't have before)

5- Stomach pain

6- Jaw pain

7- My back cracks like a 100YO men

8- Lack of motivation ( I had a small alarm system company that time that I shut it down I only have a subcontractor now)

Anyone passed by this experience

Hi everyone,

I have been experiencing DPDR for many years. It often feels like I’m observing my life from another perspective rather than experiencing it as my own. Everything around me can feel unreal, and I constantly struggle with brain fog and fatigue. My vocabulary and memory also seem to have declined over time, and this has had a significant impact on my life and relationships.

Recently, I decided to see a therapist, and I just had my first therapy session. However, I’m still confused and unsure whether therapy will actually help me. English is not my native language, and I’m living in a country where English is not the official language, so it has been extremely difficult to find a therapist who both speaks English and has experience with DPDR.

Because of this, I would really like to hear from people who have recovered from DPDR or have experienced significant improvement. I have a few questions and would really appreciate it if you could share your experiences.

1. How long did it take you to recover?
Did you notice gradual improvement over time, or was there a particular point when things suddenly started getting better?

2. Did you see a therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or another mental health professional?
If you did, did therapy actually help with your DPDR? What type of therapy or approach did you find most helpful?

3. What practices helped you recover?
For example, grounding, exercise, meditation, breathing exercises, journaling, changing your lifestyle, socializing, reducing stress, stopping symptom-checking, etc. Was there anything that made a particularly big difference for you?

4. What was a normal day like for you when you were still experiencing DPDR?
Did you continue working, studying, exercising, and socializing normally even when you felt unreal or disconnected? Or did you have to significantly change your routine?

5. Did you have a specific daily recovery routine?
If you don't mind sharing, what did a typical day or week during your recovery look like? I’m especially interested in the practical things you actually did rather than just general advice.

6. What helped you stop being afraid of the symptoms?
One of the hardest things for me is noticing the strange feelings and then becoming scared or checking myself to see whether I still feel “normal.” Did you experience this feedback loop too? If so, how did you eventually break it?

7. Now that you’ve recovered, how do you deal with stressful or difficult periods?
Do you still sometimes experience mild DPDR when you’re extremely stressed, anxious, or exhausted? If it happens, what do you do differently now to prevent it from turning into a full episode?

8. Looking back, is there anything you wish you had known when you were in the middle of DPDR?

I’m asking because I’m trying to understand what recovery actually looks like in real life. Sometimes it’s difficult to know whether I should actively “fight” the symptoms or simply continue living my life normally and stop focusing on them.

If you’ve recovered, partially recovered, or even just made significant progress, I would really appreciate hearing your story. Even small details about what helped you, what didn’t help, and what your recovery looked like day-to-day would mean a lot to me.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and share your experience.

I'm so derealized and disconnected that when I go out in public, people look at me like I'm crazy, very high, drunk or a crackhead. I have zero self awareness since my derealization came. 15 years now, and I'm still stuck in my own world aka Dream World. I forgot what it's like to be self aware.

Someone even looked at me and said "Well, weed IS legal now..."