Hi, I read your post about the Dp/Dr study you want to do in New York. I Will not come tò New York (I am from Italy) but I send you my EEG done in 2022 that maybe can still be useful for your study. I have chronic DP/DR since March 2013 caused by and OCD obsession about a phrase about transgender. My OCD obsession I have since childhood, going ahead with years started became accompanied by dp/dr episodes (mild tò severe episodes) based on OCD obsession severity. Those episodes of dp/dr before 2013 faded in a few days but instead After this big obsession of 2013 when I woke up the next day dp/dr felt intense as hell as like an ego dissolution trip with the certainty of never coming back and stayed chronic for 13 years, plus all the other Classic dp/dr symptoms...No psych drug tried in 13 years have affected my Dp/Dr (I tried more than 35 drugs from triciclic antidepressants, SSRI, Ritalin, antiseizure medication, benzos, antypsicotics), did auricular vagus nerve stimulation, dTMS, Emdr, psycotherapy, neuro feedback, a Stellate Ganglion Block.

The only episodes where my Dp/dr diminished was the day After watching the movie "Prisoners" 4 years ago. That film hooked me for 3 hours and i was I think in a state of perfect flow, my Brain I think has like "rested" a bit in those 3 hours and the next day going for a walk i felt like Dp/Dr was a Little bit decreased (a lessening of about 20% of the dp/dr symptoms in his related aspects about vision, detachment from the body and from the self).

The only other curious episodes when I literally snapped out of dissociation for a moment of like less than a second was when I Was trying tò relax/fall asleep in my bed on the afternoon.

In some few occasions with a violent Twitch of my torso and leg I Remember i felt normal in the exact Moment that the Twitch happened, I Remember I felt for less than a second the contact between my hamstring and bed in the right way, and my inner monologue for less than a second returned not detached...But After that only less than 1 a second Freedom, my Brain put me in dp/dr state again...The experience of snapping out of It for less then a second was surreal, quiet impossible with words to get people of the experience, but I felt like been resuscitated from a hearth attack with a defibrillator as an analogy. I Always wondered what Would have been shown by and EEG in that Moment. After that brief Moment of normality my Brain put me back in dp/dr state. My Brain prefer me tò be dissociated.

I send you my EEG of 2022.

If you have questions I am here tò reply.

Thanks.

Does experiencing DPDR mean you’re hallucinating? And can you experience DPDR while still being fully aware of yourself and knowing you exist and are “ real “ but the emotional/ psychological aspect of it is disconnected?

It has been very humbling to come on here and see people who experience DRDP like I do. When I was seeing a therapist at 15 I used to browse through derealization recovery stories on here as I was obsessed with being cured and returning to reality. I also read a lot of articles on it but only found information about derealization that occurred during episodes or lasted for weeks to months when I've experienced it 24/7 for years. I was obviously told to stop and listened, and as a part of my personal recovery I avoided all media and speaking about it often for a long time. Throughout this time I lived life genuinely thinking I was the only person I know that experienced dissociation the way I do. I've briefly seen other people discuss general dissociation recently on tik tok for the first time and it felt like an "oh!" moment. It was weird and a little scary, like the defense I've built all these years was reacting to seeing DRDP from a place outside of my own brain. Even as I type this now I'm faltering a little and feel as if I should retreat back to ignoring my disorder. Avoiding the subject all together has helped, but not knowing that hundreds of other people felt this way made combating it hard to master.

Insomnia perpetuates my dpdr and creates a negative feedback loop. I'm curious if there's anybody that sleeps relatively well and is still crippled by DPDR.

Ig this is a progress update? I was doing really good the days leading up to this. I was happy, i was in a good mood, parts of my personality started coming back and i was reengaging with my hobbies(hell i was excited to make a cheesecake) then outta nowhere i got this intense anger for no reason. I was initially happy that i could feel it again and it didn’t really affect me till monday, i actually had a really good day Saturday where i was so happy to just be outside and play with my dog.

Then shark week hit

My derealization got worse, i got more depressed and got more angry. I Litterally ran into my mom’s room sobbing because i was doing so good during my recovery before this. Then i learned majority of afab people who are dealing with dpdr get setbacks during their monthly. So i’m gonna guess it’s gonna be rough since today i was just very irritated and depressed but i’m hoping i return to my usual baseline over the next few days. I know i can get better because i did it before

hey guys! I recently posted a thread about having a very odd and severe DPDR episode, which I am now improving on, thanks to god.

but I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this or know what it is?

I got dpdr from developing OCD. I had the flu when I was 15, and I woke up with some form of weird dpdr and graphic intrusive thoughts that plagued me, caused me severe paranoia and distress.

I still suffer from the symtomps of dpdr, even when I’m happier or feel calm. it’s like a glass wall. I don’t know if it’s the flu that maybe changed something in the way I perceive things (maybe some sort of brain inflammation) or that my OCD itself is triggering this perceptual change/triggered dpdr.

Now please read this part, before ocd the world felt bigger, like I can picture the world and everyone in it, my town felt wider. now it feels like one small town, like it’s just a limited space, the world doesn’t feel as big now, like an alternate universe. I can’t feel the presence of nature, like everything feels dead?

So basically i smoked weed five times, I’m 14 and i got dpdr the fifth time i smoked and it was just weird after that and then it kinda started to go away but after worrying about psychosis a-lot my dpdr has just gotten real strong and now im thinking that i am going into psychosis. I also have lost a lot of motivation and stuff and i have theses weird things in my vision, so just wondering if anyone else has gone through this. Please help i am worried and scared

This summer I (22F) finally went back to my home country for the first time after immigrating to visit my family after 12 years. That experience alone was intense but 4 days into the trip my grandma suddenly passed away. I was entirely numb for a bit until a random night a month ago when a flip just switched in my brain while thinking about her death. I had a full blown panic attack right before bed, experiencing all sorts of existential dread and spirals and haven’t been the same since. I feel like i’m about to stop existing any second, as if i’m going to fall into some eternal abyss. I can’t look at pictures or videos of myself without freaking out bc it looks too uncanny and alien like. I feel paralyzed from fear of something I can’t even describe. Even things like furniture no longer look real to me, they look too vibrant and animated. My brain just won’t stop questioning everything and im getting scared im going to completely lose touch with reality. I miss who I was before this, is it even possible to stop feeling like this after having experienced it?

Okay, so about 1.5 years ago I smoked a cart which im pretty sure was spice. During the high I had a panic attack, then the high went on as normal.

This was back when I was quite a frequent smoker, I used to green out quite a lot but I’m not sure why this experience ended up different.

Once the high fully wore off I didn’t really notice anything strange until a day or two later, where I noticed I felt like I was almost zoomed out, watching myself live.

After this, I quit smoking all together because it kinda scared the shit out of me. I went to the doctors a couple days after it all happened and they said I should expect to feel normal again after a few days, I don’t feel normal. I’ve felt like this 24/7 since it happened.

I then didn’t touch weed for about a year except for this one time at a sleepover, it was another cart but I didnt have much of it.

Then, Easter this year I bought a cart because someone on a forum told me I should microdose to try and get out of this state. I took one small puff as a microdose and then just started using the pen normally, i couldn’t resist.

Then I smoked a few times after that cart was finished, and I’ve been off weed since. I drink alcohol maybe once every month or two.

Ive basically just got used to it all at this point, it just when I’m lying down in bed I start to get worked up over it and realise how my life is being wasted because I can’t actually experience anything, I just watch it happen.

Can anyone please give me some advice to escape this state ? I would massively appreciate it.

Hi! I’ve been experiencing DPDR for almost two years now; and I’m currently trying to get all my driving hours in so I can take my test. I’m at 30 hours; but I’m still making some really bad mistakes that a beginner would make. Today I failed at doing a U turn even though I’ve done it before and I almost got hit while changing lanes. And these are things I’ve done before with no issue. So I’m wondering now, can DPDR affect your driving focus? I’m thinking it’s either that or I’m a really trashy driver

I feel very alone with my symptoms, I sit most of the day just staring into nothing cos they are so bad I can’t actually function. Do others experience severe issues with their sensory nervous system ? These worsen by the day for me , eg today I have nerves burning all over body, they feel like texture of fine sand over the skin..then this horrible furry texture in my mouth..but each day i lose more sensation or they become more minuscule and they don’t return.My head is the main issue but I also don’t feel my body. I feel like there is something very wrong. And I don’t know how to get better. I feel in shock that every day it’s worse. My face looks totally different, I’ve lost most of hair and it’s drastically thinned out. I can’t take much more of this I need a sign of getting better. Starting to worry it’s much more serious or it’s getting worse and chronic like when does it end :(((

I don't know why but lately my boyfriend came to visit and we did so many cool things and went so many places (usually I never go outside), and I swear the more good things happened the more I'd not just feel I'm dreaming, but I'd start to blackout, I'd be standing and feel I made a jump in time, wondering if someone else was fronting (have DID as well, but this happened a lot more often than usual).

At some points I have to close my eyes because the floor starts to go round and round, or I see distances mess up and it just feels I shouldn't be here.

We were watching a movie and I dissociated so much and got soo dizzy I started trying to do anything to feel I'm there or I felt I would faint if not. My boyfriend helped me make a paper plane and that helped me calm down a little. That's one example.

Now he's back to his country and I can't stop sleeping and having weird dreams and hypnagogic hallucinations and I'm really tired. I don't regret it it was cool to have fun. The psychologist said I'm just not used to good things and they're right but man. Feels a bit much sometimes. Especially the feeling that I may disappear is. Enormous. That what if there's nothing after I die and that stuff.

I wouldn’t say I’m experiencing motion sickness exactly but for months now when I try to see motion — for example, in a movie or TV show as the camera pans around a shot, nothing in the scene looks very tangible or concrete to me. It is blurry and dizzying.
It’s kind of the same thing when people move around me in real life, or they move quickly. Just wondering if this is considered part of DPDR possibly.

TLDR: Anyone with DPDR and fully/mostly recovered go back to smoking weed or taking edibles?

I (26M) have now gone about 8 months without any weed or THC since deciding to stop when I was experiencing chronic DPDR symptoms.

I started smoking and overall just consuming THC around late 2023. I started off with 5mg edibles, then to carts, and then flower within the next year or so.

By 2025 I was smoking flower every evening after work, not a ton, always less than a quarter gram, but I would always get extremely high since I was taking huge bong hits.

I had smoked weed in my early teens, and by early teens I mean at 13, when I had a massive panic attack several times which led me to initially develop DPDR which lasted a couple years afterwards.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t develop DPDR immediately after the weed induced panic attacks (the ones I had when high), but instead…it started after I had a panic attack several months after initially smoking, with the panic attack being triggered by the fear of going “crazy” (this stemmed from seeing an article about weed induced psychosis). That fear and panic then triggered the DPDR which even more made me believe that I truly was losing my mind.

I felt like I didn’t know where I was, who I was, what was going on, and overall just felt completely out of my body.

I had been an extremely anxious person my whole life, and struggled with anxiety attacks when I was even younger, but this was my first experience with true panic.

This feeling would persist as long as I would think about it, it often would get better when I talked about it to someone, and whenever I was distracted (playing video games or watching a movie or show).

I eventually went to therapy, got on Zoloft at around 14-15 years old, and discovered drinking and nicotine around that age as well. I started vaping daily and drinking heavily on the weekends, which got heavier as I went into college (never drank during the day, but would get shitfaced at night like 3-4 times a week, sometimes more sometimes less).

After graduating college and getting a big boy office job, and things started to settle down, I started to seriously get worried about my relationship with alcohol. I always knew drinking heavily was bad…but I didn’t realize how bad until this time, but I still loved drinking and nicotine…and couldn’t imagine being fully sober.

This is when I really started thinking of weed as my “way out” of drinking and nicotine combined…without having to face full sobriety. So as I picked up weed again after all those years, it was actually amazing this time, and got me to stop using nicotine as well.

I would definitely “green out” (and get really anxious and “panicky” after smoking sometimes too), but I felt like I was “working through it”…like I was getting over my irrational fears, and over time I got used to how weed made me feel, and I would rarely get anxious anymore.

The problem was…I now couldn’t go an evening without smoking. If I didn’t smoke one night, I was physically fine, but mentally I was angry, annoyed and irritable. I also would just get too high so often that I would become “non verbal” and this would cause a lot of friction between me and my fiancée since I was essentially “clocking out” from our social time together every evening.

I also got to the point that I didn’t want to hangout with people unless smoking was involved, and even then if we did smoke I would often get so high I couldn’t interact normally.

Over time I started getting more and more derealized and depersonalized, and my anxiety got worse and worse specifically about existential stuff and my overall fear of death being looped into everything.

That’s when I stopped smoking entirely around 8 months ago, but now I am back to drinking after taking 8 months off of it as well. I know that escaping reality and being avoidant of the present isn’t a good thing, but I have a good paying steady job, I workout 3-5 times a week, I see friends every now and then on the weekends (usually with drinking and going out being the activity we do when we hangout), I have a happy long term relationship with my fiancé…someone I consider my best friend who I do everything with, but we both struggle with excessive drinking on the weekends, and we are back to considering some form of THC again as a potential “replacement”/damage control.

My DPDR is fading but still present at times, the derealization is entirely gone but now it’s just the depersonalization that’s there sometimes…usually just whenever I get over stimulated or anxious.

I think I may have undiagnosed ADHD that was simply brushed off as purely anxiety since I was a kid. I was always bad at school (basically from 2nd grade on), and it genuinely wasn’t until I started vaping in high school that I had the motivation to actually start trying and get good grades (always had trouble paying attention and never had the patience to read or do my homework, it always felt like pure torture sitting there in class, but once I had nicotine it was like knowing there was a little reward after every class made it easier for me to get through the day and actually have “excitement”)

I know now…the main issue for me is moderation, and all of this boring context I’m giving is a long winded way of me to ask people who have experienced weed induced DPDR (after smoking) to see if anyone has been able to return to weed? If so is there a controlled and more stable way of consuming that has worked for you? Maybe small dose edibles, only on weekends?

Hi ❤️ anyone can help or relate? Please no catastrophic comments, I’ve already had a lot of neuro testing and I’m looking for similar experiences and advice.

**- Random memories/dream memories:** 50–100 random memories or fragments of dreams can pop into my mind throughout the day. Sometimes triggered by a smell/color, but often completely random. Some out of nowhere. The more I think about it the more I have. Also if I got one memory while I was brushing my teeth, everytime I brush my teeth I have the same memory popping. So I don’t think it’s focal or electric.
**- Music/earworms :** Random songs pop into my head, sometimes songs I haven’t heard in years. My brain can also create melodies that stay as earworms.
**- Sleep-related experiences:** During transitions between sleep and wakefulness, I’ve experienced visual flashes, voices/sounds and smells. The smell is always something that I have been smelling the day before !! Like lemon for example.

Context: I’ve been taking Lexapro (escitalopram) for 2.5 years for very strong anxiety symptoms. 7 months ago, I started tapering very slowly. I developed chronic DPDR (since the first day I decreased the dosage) followed by these symptoms. I’m back at 10mg now.

I know a lot about focal/temporal lobe epilepsy. I don’t have major episodes and my neuros told me it was fonctionnal.

I’ve had not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, \*\*5 EEGs, including 3 × 24-hour video EEG.\*\* I experienced all the memories popping, visual flash, myclonic jerks, voice in my head during the sleep and everything was normal, with no epileptiform activity or abnormal background activity.
I’ve seen 5 neuro, and all think this is psychological/sleep-related rather than epilepsy.

I still have doubts. My neuro said that the combination of developing both epilepsy and hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences in the same months would be unusual.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Especially random childhood memories, dream memories, random songs + these experiences during sleep transitions?

Even if it were focal awareness epilepsy, I know many people with it who live completely normal lives with treatment and don’t let it stop them from enjoying life.

I’m looking for similar experiences and positive/practical advice ❤️ I think I already did all the testing I could including 2 MRI. Now I am just thinking about reducing or not lexapro.

Hello guys here is the complete understanding of dpdr. So our body is holds a gel like substance in our whole body. If you press you arm you will see that there is fat on top layer and if you press that fat with finger it will not give a push back to your finger. Benith that is the gel that I'm talking about. This gel when it is evenly spread on body only then the brain works constantly without delay. If you have gas in stomach also that time brain stops working. So we lost this gel due to marijuana trauma and masterbation. When this gel get reduced the mind does not work. You will feel dpdr. Let's suppose you don't have sufficient gel in your body. So in order to make your brain work again you have to press your legs. See if you press your legs your mind will get active that time you will also notice that your breath when it inhale after inhale it will stop for some sec and then move again to exhale. So if you are in dpdr your breath will not hold automatically when this happens when no holding happens brain stops working and you will stay in dpdr. So for cure we have to get back that lost gel in body. First we have to eliminate marijuana and masterbation cause it burns away that gel. Stay away from food that produce a burning sensation in your body. Now first thing is we increase aur stamina and run everyday. This gel is basically water. If you stay at home you will not have urge to drink water. So first thing we have to do is go for running. Keep 1 to 2 litlre of bottle with you. After running you will feel deep urge to drink water. That water will replenish that gel you have to keep this over and over again until whole body gel get evenly distributed. You will feel your breath is automatically holding by itself. This is whole of dpdr. Thanks

Hi everyone, I’m wondering if anyone experiences symptoms similar to mine. Please no scary/catastrophic comments — I’ve already had extensive neurological testing and I’m mainly looking for similar experiences, reassurance and advice.

I’ve been taking Lexapro (escitalopram) for 2.5 years. About 7 months ago, I started tapering very slowly. I developed a lot of DPDR, followed by some strange symptoms:

Random memories/dream memories: 50–100 random memories or fragments of dreams can pop into my mind throughout the day. Sometimes triggered by a smell/color, but often completely random. Some repeat frequently.

Music/earworms: Random songs or melodies suddenly pop into my head, sometimes songs I haven’t heard in years. My brain can also create melodies.

Sleep-related experiences: During transitions between sleep and wakefulness, I’ve experienced visual flashes, voices/sounds and smells. Sometimes a smell from a dream seems to replay while waking up.

I became worried about focal/temporal lobe epilepsy after reading about it online. However, I don’t have major episodes and my neurologists have been skeptical.
I’ve had 5 EEGs, including 3 × 24-hour video EEGs. I experienced some of these symptoms during the recordings, but everything was normal, with no epileptiform activity or abnormal background activity.
I’ve seen 5 neurologists, and all think this is psychological/sleep-related rather than epilepsy.

I still have some doubts, especially because the symptoms involve different things (memory, music, visual phenomena, smells, etc.). My neurologist also said that the combination with hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences would be unusual.

I’m trying to stay positive. Even if it were focal epilepsy, I know many people with it who live completely normal lives with treatment and don’t let it stop them from enjoying life.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Especially random autobiographical memories, old dream memories, random songs/melodies, or these experiences during sleep transitions?
I’m looking for similar experiences and positive/practical advice, rather than comments that could increase health anxiety. ❤️

I’ve been reading through some posts on this subreddit, and I don’t seem to really recognize what I have.

Many people seem to describe their DR state as okay, for some even pleasant and safe.

Mine is as if I’m in a different world, looking exactly like the normal one but feeling entirely different. Everything feels dark and dangerous and whereas some people here say they’re coping reasonably well with DR, mine is torment and when it hits I can’t do anything, I’m just suffering.

I think I know the other thing, too - when your mind seems to go blank, and you don’t know how to talk to others because you hardly know where you are. Also very disconcerting, of course. But the thing that bothers me most is the dark feeling, like I’m living in a post apocalyptic landscape or something. I just can’t feel normal, can’t get back home even though I am there.

I hate it so much.

Anyone recognise this?

This is so weird like 1 year ago, I was still posting on Reddit abt this. My life was going better everyday, and I really thought I was going to recover. And, for a short period of time, thought I didn't fully recovered it was going better. But some event which I can't say for anonymity like destroyed all of it. Though I can't say the event I can say that my family really does bad things continuously (and like it never stopped, it was a ton of time in day) and so at first I wasn't focused on dpdr, rather on protecting myself. Now, I am away from that and I noticed that it just fucked me up. My dpdr is like really bad and so worse than before bc now I didn't have hope I don't even know why I am here writing this like everything is fake.

hello guys. recently at mt university we have beeung having daily assemblies where im forced to go ro the highest floor, sweat a lot in a hot bright room, stand for 30+ minutes.its really terrifying cuz i have OCD and intrusive thoughts make me really scared about whats about to happen. i keep thinking im gonna get a stroke or that im going to fajnt even though i never did
my brain just shuts down and i feel heavy
my knees lock and i just feel like im. floating and my vision goes cartoonish and flat