Itt: We talk about Depersonalization/Derealization
Has anyone had any experience with either of these? I've been struggling with DP/DR for almost 3 and a half months now as a result of smoking a lot of weed over last year - In terms of getting over I read that the best thing is to just ignore it, don't think about it, distract yourself - Has anyone else got any suggestions? I'm so bored of feeling like this all the time. Anyone had this and recovered?
If you only have it from smoking weed, just stop for a while and it should dissipate.
I have it without smoking, and I smoke dope to stop giving a shit about it.
Had this happen to me after a bad acid trip. You just have to ignore it, being alone is what makes it worse so be around people as much as possible.
I mean weed is what seemed to have triggered it yeah. I am trying to stop smoking weed but its difficult because I've done it for so long now - I was thinking of substituting it with hash. How long would you say it'll take to dissipate if I go clean?
Yeah, I am in a much better mood when I'm chilling with friends and stuff. How long did it last for you?
Hasnt gone away lol. I just supress it when it comes. Derealization is linked with anxiety so maybe look into treatments or root causes of that
Yeah apparently anxiety is the cause
I haven't got a clue, I only just started my first real clean streak today.
I can tell you that subbing with hash won't help though, it's just the exact same drug in a higher concentrated form.
Fair play, Hash never seems to mong me out as much as weed so I thought maybe it'll help - Drinking kinda helps for me
I got DP/DR after smoking weed too, and I'm telling you, it gets easier!!!
I'm also autistic as fuck and I have OCD so not a good bunch to begin with but Zoloft worked for me. Removing the anxiety helps the DP/DR. It fucking sucks but trust me, you learn to live with it.
I've had DP/DR for going on 10 years now. Started when I was 15 after smoking weed. It was absolute hell the first 6 months or so. I didn't know anything like this even existed, thought I was legit going insane. After a while it just becomes a part of life. The best way to "get over it" is to accept it and move on IMO. I still have some days worse than others but they are few and far between, nowhere near as bad as when I was younger. For about a year back in 2012 I thought I was done with it for good, started eating healthy, exercising regularly, good job etc... but then something happens to start that anxiety cycle and it comes right back.
I will say though that it did bring along anxiety and bouts of depression. Before all this I never had anything like depression or anxiety, happy go lucky kid. Maybe it was the growing up too not just the DP/DR but still. That and the brain fog sucks too.
Will it ever go?
10 years - Jesus Christ thats scary man
Are you retarded? Stop smoking weed. Next phase is being psychotic. When i got anxiety attacks i i stopped smoking and it disappeared within 6-12 months
Short answer, no. Long answer, you learn to live with it if you do something about it. DP/DR sucks because you convince yourself that what you're feeling is reality. It's not. There's still a world in front of your face, you know. I don't think about it anymore to be honest, but I still have it. Some days are good, some are bad. I'm still able to keep a job, earn a living and I'm pretty happy to. Go to a psych, better now than later.
What disappeared the anxiety or DP?
I can't learn to live with this its ruining my fucking life, surely it'll pass - I've read in so many places that its temporary
Nah it's not like some of the horror stories that you read on some of these self help forums and shit. It was only really bad the first 6 months to a year. You learn to cope with it and it just becomes background noise. I mean, everyones different but that's how it is for me. Don't let it control your life, ever. Things like working, doing hobbies, doing constructive things with your life will make DP/DR take a backseat.
Drinking'll make it worse in the long run. Taking drugs to stop taking drugs is always a bad idea.
I would suggest taking a couple months off everything you're on (besides nicotine if you do it) and see how you feel then. If that hasn't fixed it, it's time to go talk to a professional.
Well there's no easy answer. It fucking sucks but you gotta suck it up. That's the only answer I can give, it gets better for sure, and 90% of sufferers agree.
Yeah I read that engaging in life in normal is a good way to benefit it.
Ideally thats what I want to do but I have the worst self discipline and every time I say to myself I'm gonna stop I just end up smoking again a couple days later
I used to have it when I was younger but it disappeared after I started being a pothead.
I'm actually really curious how this feels, because I can't remember.
As long as it gets better, I mean since I first developed it I do feel very slightly better but I think the general drug/alcohol abuse is slowing the process
After you started being a pothead? Bruh its weed thats put me in this place - Best way I can describe it is being in a very clear lucid dream
This feeling is linked with anxiety.
Life and the human condition are surreal, grow a pair and move on with yr lives.
Yup, and also if weed/drugs is what started it for you, stop. I haven't smoked regularly since I was 17, only a handful of times since and each time it makes it come back for a while. I know people react to stuff differently but it is definitely something to try. Alcohol and caffeine trigger it to a lesser extent for me.
And as always, seek professional help if you need it. I have never seen a therapist or psychologist about it, but every now and then I get the urge to go and get it all off my chest. I've never told anyone I know about all this shit.
>grow a pair
gr8 advice
Yeah I need to go cold turkey for a while - Hopefully that might sort me out - I smoked weed for so long and I was fine but eventually since the DP kicked in it just doesn't sit with me right - I guess I've grown up a lot mentally since I started so idk. If it persists yeah I'll have to go get some help. Same as you, the only person I've told is my Mum, I don't wish to discuss it with anyone else tbh
I see a lot of people mentioning weed in this thread. I know nothing about it's impact on your mental health so I'm not disputing or anything. But is weed actually a cause of this? Beyond the fact that it causes changes in developing brains, is there anything solid about this? Could this just be a coincidence considering teenagers/early 20's are when you typically start doing drugs or showing signs of mental illness.
I'm juts gonna say based on my short life expirience(24) i think weed can actually fuck you prety bad if you are predisposed to mental illness when you start somking as a kid or teen.
Drugs can bring out your problems not always cause them
I mean something to consider is that I'm from the UK and with weed being illegal here it isn't grown very well - For example most of the bud you get is really high in THC but very low in CBD - As for your question "is weed actually a cause of this" - in my case I like to think yes and no because weed was something that would suppress my general stress/worries etc. and when it got the stage when I had none to smoke (after a long period of essentially smoking everyday) I think my brain just didn't know how to handle the stress/worry/anxiety properly due to being so used to getting high.
From what I gather weed can bring up a lot of underlying anxiety issues that you may not have known that you had before. The cause might not so much be the weed itself but issues that you already had, and your brains reaction to it. I'm just talking out of my ass here, but I've definitely seen it mentioned multiple times before.
Yeah, I'm seriously thinking of quitting forever - Its just difficult since its such a prominent thing now in my friend groups.
Yeah thats a good point - I never struggled with anxiety to the point where I'm now experiencing random anxiety attacks since smoking weed for as long as I have - which is a year and 9 months.
Derealization here
i'm 23, i think (been a long day)
>When i was younger i used to huff butane gas from the can, i was like 14 or so
>i remember the day when i got really high and ran outside
>i sprinted like 5 meters down the road before i stopped and i was hit with this feeling;
>vision unfocused and felt like i was zooming out
>everything looked different somehow, like i was viewing the world through a lense but i couldn't quite say what it was that was different
>i heard myself in my head, like my own conscious presence became alot more prominent
never really went away, i'm just so used to it that i forget it's even a thing
reality doesn't feel real anymore, kinda feels like a game to me, or a dream
or like theres a thick, unbreakable window between me (my consciousness) and the world around me
Everyone here is talking about weed but what about anything else causing it? I personally have experienced this after coming off SSRI's, which I only used for a few months. I've smoked weed for years and while I can't be certain, I'm pretty sure it wasn't the weed I was smoking.
if you have even just a "stupid tought" for a moment about not ever doing it again you should really stop. I only somke a little bit at night because I just can't fall asleep unlees I am drunk or high and it really fucks me up not sleeping but I really hope I can completly quit it soon...
you kknow when I was in high school I asked my friends " hey wouldn't it be cool if your wohle family knew you smoke andyou could do it whenever you want and most of them told me it wouldn't make sense to do it if their parents allowed them, I'm pretty sure that was the point in my life where I stoped hangin out with other people.
See
Nah theres lots of things known to cause it, not just weed
Oh and i was frequenting /x/ at the time
i genuinely thought that feeling that there was suddenly something kinda off about the world was because i got so high i shifted into an alternate reality
LMAO my fucking ass off
idk but i want to say that when my psychiatrist put me on mirtazapine for depression ( not an SSRI) it was very hard for me to tell the difference between real life and dreams.