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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:00:57
Hello everyone,
I am wondering, if someone suffers from both derealization and depersonalization for a long period of time...say 10-15 years...along with anxiety and depression...is it possible for these symptoms to resolve solely through psychotherapy? if this is possible, is it likely to happen if a person is committed to doing the healing? or is it much more likely that these things will not resolve and simply need to be managed for the rest of a person's life?
thank you.
Posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 6:50:40
In reply to Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:00:57
Derealization and depersonalization can have a neurological cause too (for example, inappropriate electrical activity in the temporal lobe).
Posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:53:11
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization » therock, posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 6:50:40
and if that is the cause then it wont go away, correct? or is there a med to treat that?
because i have taken depakote, lamictal and trileptal and none of them have worked. i have had my psychiatrist tell me "there is something wrong with your temporal lobe you know..." but perhaps he said it this way because he felt anxiety was a greater issue than the degree of brain damage i have in my lobe.
Posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 7:17:39
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:53:11
> and if that is the cause then it wont go away, correct? or is there a med to treat that?
I am not an expert on anticonvulsants, but I think temporal lobe epilepsy would be treated with an anticonvulsant. The condition needs to be diagnosed with an EEG though.
If you do have temporal lobe epilepsy, then probably psychotherapy will only have limited, if any, success in treating your symptoms of derealization and depersonalization. However, psychotherapy may be useful in many other ways, for example to teach you methods for coping with stressful situations which could trigger a temporal lobe seizure, so I would not up psychotherapy.
Posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 7:22:08
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization » therock, posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 7:17:39
Sorry, in my last post, I meant to say "I would not give up psychotherapy".
Posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 12:14:12
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 7:22:08
Jamal thanks you just taught me something I never connected epilepsy to anxiety. So that is why they give long acting bezos especially klonopin as it is used for epilepsy at high doses. Are all seizures temporal lobe. Thanks Phillipa
Posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 12:42:38
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization » Jamal Spelling, posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 12:14:12
'Ello 'ello 'ello Phillipa
(i) I am not aware that there is any specific relationship between epilepsy and anxiety.
(ii) I think benzodiazepines are used in the treatment of epilepsy because benzodiazepines themselves have an anti-convulsant effect.
(iii) Not all seizures happen in the temporal lobe. There is a specific class of seizure, known as "simple partial seizure" which, if occuring in the temporal lobe, may cause psychiatric symptoms including dissociation.
Posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2008, at 14:15:28
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:53:11
In "Feeling Unreal" the authors suggest that there is no whizzbang pharmacological treatment for depersonalisation.
It seems the associated depression and anxiety are easier to treat.
They suggest various things.
Log keeping is one, to help you find if there is a pattern to the depersonalisation, what triggers it etc.
Posted by your#1fan on March 4, 2008, at 18:02:07
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by Sigismund on March 4, 2008, at 14:15:28
this brings back memories of those horrid days, of thinking im going insane because what i look at is unreal.
Its a mental state, your in, it will leave, you just have to let stress off yourself, when i was having derealization, i was having TREMDONOUS anxiety and at the same time i was taking Adderall, which i though Adderall got me out of the state. It didnt. This was almost......lets see 2005? is when it started, and ended mainly that year, 2004 also.
Im so sorry you have to have this? is there anythiung that happened, or tramatized you? car wreck...multiple stresses? or just you know.....(thats what i thought, i didnt know thats why i though i was going crazy)
Today, i suvived it. Im glad. Im still here, i used to think that i was mentally deterainting (my brain was going in reverse)
Have you asked about Ativan, or Klonopin? those are two medication that can help. It usally will take moderate doses to make you feel sane.
take care of yourself.
fan
Posted by Phillipa on March 4, 2008, at 19:13:34
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by Jamal Spelling on March 4, 2008, at 12:42:38
Jamal seriously thanks. So I've learned something else today which is a good thing. Love Phillipa
Posted by brooke484 on March 4, 2008, at 21:27:29
In reply to Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:00:57
I doubt it. I've had DR since 1993 and the only thing that got rid of it was Imipramine (400 mgs) back in 1994 and Lexapro (20 mgs) in 2002. Therapy never worked for me.
brooke
Posted by g_g_g_unit on March 6, 2008, at 4:05:38
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by brooke484 on March 4, 2008, at 21:27:29
does anyone know whether dr/dp can be caused through thought patterns alone? i've become so scared of the prospect that i might have dr/dp that it's like my mind has turned outwards and is constantly aware of itself via worry ... so it's almost as if i've contracted dr/dp thru a fear of it. i realise it falls totally in sync with my 'magical thinking', i.e. i sometimes believed that thinking about a heartattack might cause one, yet dr/dp seems like such a fuzzy, hard-to-pin disorder that i wasn't sure if it could genuinely come about through thinking alone ... anyway i realise that having that label on-hand won't change anything, and i'm just falling into my usual traps by seeking reassurance here, but this time it feels so REAL lol . .
Posted by oldschool305 on March 8, 2008, at 15:35:37
In reply to Re: Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:53:11
I have experienced Derealization/Depersonalization many many years now, but only after drinking. I have a drinking problem, and the next day is absolute hell. I suffer with that, and it gets so bad that I cannot leave my bed, if someone knocks on the door, I cannot open it. I don't answer the phone, I stay hidden in bed until it wears off. Luckily, benzos have helped me conquer Derealization / Depersonalization. I haven't had an episode in awhile.
do you drink?
Posted by rskontos on March 10, 2008, at 15:08:52
In reply to Derealization / Depersonalization, posted by therock on March 4, 2008, at 6:00:57
Hi therock, I am mainly using psychotherapy to undo my d/d issues. I too having anxiety/depression too with it along with more but another story. I am not using AD's as I don't like them. I am using xnanx for the anxiety and it is helping. It helps the anxiety which for me triggers the dereal and the deper. I have learned some grounding techniques that have helped me stay in the here and now. At first they did not work. My therapist helped me with them. I had to tell him when things felt unreal or I lost touch with the world or my body. I often leave me body and go someplace else. I have lost alot of time. I have don't this my entire life so I understand. Initially they treated me for partial seizures but have since, my current neuro says no they aren't real seizures. The are part of the DD DX. I underwent tests to see. Anyway, my therapists says I will not need him indefinitely I will get well and won't need him longterm. He has offered an Ad for the depression but so far the xnanx and the therapy is working well. I have been seeing this therapist since Dec. 07. It is important to get the right one.
Let me know if you need anymore information. It can work I think. I am far from well but doing better so much better. I also have panic attacks.
rsk
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