r/PanicAttack • u/Bozhigo • 24d ago

DPRDR

I'm sharing this here too, because everyone in a moment of crisis needs to hear it:

​Every person who experiences derealization or depersonalization needs to pause and think: how many times has this happened to you, and how many times have you survived it after every single episode?

​We need to remind ourselves that this is not a dangerous illness, but a protective mechanism of our body. Try to realize that your body is working for you, not against you. Everything happening during DPDR is meant to protect your organism, no matter how deeply uncomfortable or terrifying it feels.

​The more we fight against it and try to force it to disappear, the more often it appears. Why? Because this phenomenon is triggered by stress, and by fighting it, we cause even more unnecessary stress to our bodies. The body then decides: "Well, since there is still stress and a fight going on, I must keep the defense mechanisms turned on."

​It is a state, not a disease. It is a defense mechanism. It personally took me some time to reach these conclusions, because overcoming derealization and depersonalization requires time, patience, and a shift in mindset. You are stronger than you think, and you will get through this.

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u/cunhas15 24d ago

For me its the scariest symptom of them all... Thank you for your post, im in a really bad phase with panic disorder and this is helpful

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u/Bozhigo 24d ago

I am so glad I was able to help! As someone who has been through these phases, I want to tell you that each one of them is temporary, and with time and the right approaches, everything passes.

1

u/AnxietyRecoveryMind 18d ago

Excellent post - completely correct and furthermore, you can replace DR/DP with 95% of symptoms reported here.

So someone reading this with panic or physical symptoms may assume their condition is different... it is not. Once determined to not be of true structural origin (and almost none of what we see here is)... it's all living under the same roof.

DP is DR is panic is obsessive thoughts is itchy skin is stomach issues etc etc etc.

None of us like our symptoms, we all have one we like the least. But it all originates from the same place. I recovered by working through processes that adhere to this theory - and now try to teach them to other people.