33 replies to this topic

[Average]

Drugs fuel Fear eventually (really any of the big ones will at some point), Fear fuels obsessions, obsessions with fear/etc fuels DPD

 

A big problem though, is even after the drugs are gone, you are already past the stage of drug use fueling the fears. Conquering fear is basically brain/cortex stimulation, something more important than it, have a goal, be curious about stuff, etc... Easier said then done but without goals anyone will eventually end up this way, just maybe not as severe.

 

I have a theory that a lot of people get prematurly married or do other rash decisions from a result of acute DPD (unknowingly) in an unconcious effort to combat it, kind of like a natural defense to it or something. It works for awhile, but without a "big picture" plan they usually slump back into it.

 

I have no clinical research but cutting out masterbating to any porn seems to do wonders for people with these style symptoms. You don't have to forever, but try going like 1 month/etc.. It does have an effect on your brain. There have been a lot of studies showing a huge improvement in peoples well being, anxiety, etc..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaneV]

I have no clinical research but cutting out masterbating to any porn seems to do wonders for people with these style symptoms. You don't have to forever, but try going like 1 month/etc.. It does have an effect on your brain. There have been a lot of studies showing a huge improvement in peoples well being, anxiety, etc..

 

+1 On that. As well as cutting out other artificial stimuli like alcohol, caffeine, gaming and replacing them with exercise. Its just so *** hard

[Average]

 

I have no clinical research but cutting out masterbating to any porn seems to do wonders for people with these style symptoms. You don't have to forever, but try going like 1 month/etc.. It does have an effect on your brain. There have been a lot of studies showing a huge improvement in peoples well being, anxiety, etc..

 

+1 On that. As well as cutting out other artificial stimuli like alcohol, caffeine, gaming and replacing them with exercise. Its just so *** hard

 

 

Yes! I think the big problem is most people try to do them all at once, which is a recipe for failure. Working as a personal trainer for many years I would deal with people daily that tried to do a complete change in one day. Hmmm, what was that Bill Murray movie...baby steps...

 

Start with porn since it is such a "band aid" fix for things. You can always become sexually aroused to porn no matter how crappy you feel and you can tend to exploit that in times where you have bad symptoms, which leads to chronic masterbation to "feel better" and really just makes the overall situation worse as it really messes with your brain balance. Lots of info on the web of porn/brain effects, it was enough for me to cut it out completely, forever...really, I'm not anti-porn or have any hidden agenda here, it's just bad news for some people and I think I'm one of them personally, lol

 

Alcohol is another one but people tend to go overboard and try to just quit drinking completely, if you are not an alcoholic there is no reason since the world just treats "quitters" with temptation and anger (this depends a lot on your age bracket and who you associate with of course). Best way is to just make a limit in your head and don't let anyone know. Have 2 beers socially or volunteer to drive so you can't drink/etc.. The second you announce you are quitting, you just made it 10 times harder for yourself and everyone will think you are lame. Unfortunately, meeting girls and being social can revolve a lot around alcohol use so depending on goals, sometimes it can feel "needed" to be social.

 

I realized alcohol was a bit of an issue for me awhile ago and would tell my friends I wasn't going to drink anymore. Next thing I know, pretty girls are buying me shots/etc peer pressure may seem ridiculous but when it starts to interfere with ones sex drive it becomes a huge issue. For years now I have just set a limit of 3 drinks maximum over the coarse of a social evening, usually no more than once a month but I'm married/kids etc now so it's different for me than the swinging bachelors out there. I highly recommend stopping alcohol with symptoms like these, but don't be a square about it unless you have a serious problem since it just makes it tougher. Just nurse/sip one drink socially or a trick I did when I was single was order a club soda with a lime so it looks like a drink, you get the social feel/acceptance without drinking. Sounds lame but really does work, you can almost give yourself a placebo effect by the end of the night, lol

 

 

[Sciencyst]

I had DP/DR really, really, really badly. I could not talk to people or make eye contact. Any anxiety causing situation: figure of authority, parent, friend, having to talk to strangers, forgetting something important, etc, would all trigger it: I would become numb all over my body, my head would feel weird and out of place. My vision would subtly change. Everything would look and feel very dream like. I would not be able to think or talk normally.. just completely derealized and depersonalized. I had tried many different things in my high school years, and nothing could help it. I could get temporary relief by drinking, but it would not actually make the DP/DR go away, it would just let me forget it. I meditated all the time and was really into lucid dreaming and astral projection. When I felt DP/DR symptoms I would feel like I was astral projecting or dreaming, although the DP/DR certainly came first. It came far before any spiritual experimentation. I had tried aniracetam and choline bit. and they definitely helped but they did not eliminate the symptoms. I would get very occasional 'glimpses' of a more normal, solid feeling existense where I actually felt like I inhabited my environment.

 

I began SSRIs, mainly Zoloft but also Prozac and Lexapro. These helped numb my emotions and made me indifferent to DP/DR sensations but they were still very much present. After withdrawing from Quite a few months ago, I completely and finally withdrew from Zoloft, and my symptoms came back with a vengeance, as if they had intensified twenty fold. It was awful, but I overcame it with the help of a lot of noots and supplements. Bacopa, taurine, noopept, aniracetam, alpha-GPC, sulbutiamine, theanine all did a great part in helping. But sarcosine was the only thing that ever consistently helped the DP/DR, which makes sense seeing as it pretty much has the opposite effect of a dissociative. The other noots helped with anxiety but the DP/DR came back when I stopped sarcosine. I currently do not take it, and I still feel DP/DR all the time with occasional 'glimpses' of normality, but the other noots/supps I take dilute the anxiety enough to where I do not stress about it. Also sarcosine has some strange interactions and probably should be cycled, but still IME it's the only thing that consistently makes me feel "associated" with reality. I'm sure other NMDA-modulating noots have potential in this field, but some of them are not very well studied and I am hesitant to try them.

 

TL;DR: DP/DR sucks, but sarcosine helps.

 

edit: spelling

Edited by katuskoti, 09 June 2014 - 03:57 AM.