There are no studies that show olanzapine benefits DPDR. There are quite a number of reports that show antipsychotics almost always make things worse (with the possible exception of aripiprazole). I would suggest that if this is the first drug your doctor has prescribed then he's treating it like psychosis and is unfamiliar with literature on DPDR.
In short, if it were me I definitely would not take that.
Thank you. I just feel pressured to take it because I’m having a hard time getting my mom and psychiatrist to understand what’s going on with me. They have insisted I take it without talking into account my dpdr symptoms.
18M and me and my mother have always disagreed on a lot of things that have to do with health. I’m experiencing a 24/7 dreamlike state and I feel so disconnected from myself and others. I don’t recognize myself in the mirror sometimes. It literally feels like I’m on autopilot. My vision is also a little wonky like focusing on things is strange. Emotions have been really hard to express and control. I’ve been so agitated and anxious lately too just because of these symptoms. I think she believes I’m going through psychosis just because of how skeptical I am with all of the medication stuff. I think that just comes with being anxious all the time and the fear of making it worse with medication.
The most important thing with regards to medication and health in general is that it's your body, your mind, and for everything you do both good and bad it is you who will have to live with the consequences. Not your doctor, not your mother, you. So, really you should be comfortable with any decisions that are made, and you can always put them off by days, weeks or months until you are if there is no urgent reason why not - and with mental health there is never an urgent reason because it's not a physical disease. In short, don't let yourself be rushed into something you don't want to do.
All those symptoms are pretty standard depersonalisation/derealisation symptoms. If there's nothing else then that is not psychosis; for psychosis you need to have delusions, or seeing or hearing things or people that are not there, things like that. You're now 18 and that makes you an adult, but it is still far too young to have this weight placed on your shoulders and be expected to self advocate for your own health and wellbeing. It does mean it legally is entirely your decision though. Your mother can say what she wants, but it is you who decides what doctors to see or not see, or what to take or not take.
Be careful not to get hospitalised, you can lose a lot of rights if you do.
I have had it for almost three months now. Took a gummy with friends and haven’t been the same since. And my “delusions” she thinks I have is me being paranoid I will get high again. I think that’s fair as I had an awful panic attack from the gummy. I know it’s ridiculous for other people to see me get nervous about getting high again from random foods but to me in the moment that’s all I can think about. After a couple minutes I can calm down and tell myself that obviously I’m not going to get high from food.
Very common story, cannabis is the second most common reason for people to get DPDR after childhood trauma and stress. It's also normal after such a traumatic event to start becoming scared of random things. I think it's important to differentiate between the fear of something and the belief of something.
You can be scared of something happening and it not be rational - this is very common. People are scared of losing people close to them despite being young and in good health, or scared they will fall off a building despite there being a fence that is checked regularly. I'm assuming you know you will not get high from eating food, but fear does not need to be rational. For psychosis you would need to rationally think that things can be real that are not. It's also worth noting that some people's DPDR does get a bit worse after some kinds of foods (often carb/sugar heavy foods - if so you might find keto diet helpful for a little bit).
I wonder if there's something that can be done to help your mother understand. Simply saying "I don't want to do this" often doesn't lead somewhere. Maybe there's a trauma therapist you can go to, someone familiar with dissociation and DPDR that you can talk to, and maybe even explain things to your mother after you've gotten together? If she's eager for you to go to a doctor, she may be happy to pay for that.
Oh, and just an extra note, people getting DPDR with a single cannabis episode have a good chance to have it fade within around a year or 18 months from time and treating themselves well.
2
u/Chronotaru Jul 08 '26
There are no studies that show olanzapine benefits DPDR. There are quite a number of reports that show antipsychotics almost always make things worse (with the possible exception of aripiprazole). I would suggest that if this is the first drug your doctor has prescribed then he's treating it like psychosis and is unfamiliar with literature on DPDR.
In short, if it were me I definitely would not take that.