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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
Without going into details i endured a less than healthy childhood emerging with many defense mechanisms that have taken years to settle, some of which i still cannot. The main concern of those being my nature to dissociate or detach. I simply dissapear. Initially it occured to protect myself during certain situations growing up, but upon entering adulthood it seems to have become a constant state of being, the severity seemingly random. I have been diagnosed with a range of mental disorders ranging from bipolar to ptsd, to schizoaffective. Frankly i dont give a sh*t about the label, only the symptoms. I am currently prescribed 200mg Lamictal, 400mg Seroquil, 40mg propanolol for anxiety because i cannot take my usually prescribed kolonopin for drug abuse reasons. Lamictal produces a noticable effect on my detachment for the better, though only a little, but not the seroquil though it does help with mood stability. This is a bit of a long post and those who have read it i appreciate your patience. If you have any experience with medications that might help with this i would be forever grateful. I talk to my psyc about this and he just looks at me with a blank stare waiting for me to come up with a suggestion of meds.
Posted by Phillipa on December 13, 2008, at 23:50:54
In reply to med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
Could you see a psychpharmacologist? Do you see a therapist as they might be able to help with the dissasociation? Love Phllipa
Posted by Sigismund on December 14, 2008, at 0:44:01
In reply to med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
I don't think there are helpful meds for dissociation/depersonalisation as such.
Such drugs as the early stages of the amphetamine effect and the effect of some opiates before tolerance sets in can help, but maybe not for long.
There are meds that help with the anxiety and/or depression that may trigger or result from depersonalisation.
At one stage they were trialling methamphetamine + ECT for it.
You can read all this and more about it in
Posted by Sigismund on December 14, 2008, at 0:56:30
In reply to med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
I really don't know with me how much is depression and how much is dissociation, but here's the best I have come up with, or can, the drug laws being as they are........
Trivastal 50mg
Hydergine 4.5mg
Diazepam 7.5mgIf you don't need the diazepam, so much the better.
In the long run, I feel, it is worse than useless for depersonalisation, even though it helps with the anxiety.
Posted by darwinsmunky on December 14, 2008, at 11:04:45
In reply to Re: med help for dissociation, posted by Sigismund on December 14, 2008, at 0:44:01
Thanks for the link, after doing a bit of reading it doesnt look too good for me though. There doesnt seem to be any therapy that has proven to be effective. I am very curious about naltrexone though because that has shown at least a 30% relief of depersonalization which to me would be a huge improvement. But it was a small clinical trial so theres still no guarantee in regards to the effect it has on people. I will definately ask my psych about it though. I always stress over long term effects of drugs though and there seems to be very little knowledge about that with this drug aside from increasing sensitivity of the opioid receptors.
Posted by desolationrower on December 14, 2008, at 18:31:27
In reply to Re: med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 14, 2008, at 11:04:45
I think mindfulness meditation specifically on bodily awareness might be one of the most helpful. You might want to track down these fulltext of this to see what it says:
Abstract:
The purpose of the current paper is to compare meditational and dissociative states in terms of their effects on consciousness, attention, affect, cognition, identity, and pain sensitivity. To illustrate these dimensions of dissociation, a case example is presented of a veteran with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder who had particularly severe dissociation symptoms. The Classical Yoga literature is reviewed to examine these dimensions as they pertain to meditational states. Although dissociative and meditational states can involve alterations in consciousness, attention, affect, cognition, identity, and pain sensitivity, the nature of changes in these two states is distinct. Applications of meditation in treatment contexts have made use of some of the powerful techniques for attention control but do not incorporate the full range of practices because of the secular setting of treatment and the goal of symptom relief. The use of meditation as a treatment for dissociation has not been systematically evaluated.
Journal Title:
Journal of Trauma & Dissociation:
The official journal of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
Volume: 5 Issue: 2
ISSN: 1529-9732 Pub Date: 7/13/2004
Mindfulness, dissociation, EMDR and the anterior cingulate cortex: a hypothesis
Dr Frank M Corrigan *
Lomond and Argyll Primary Care NHS Trust, Lochgilphead, Argyll, Scotland
email: Frank M Corrigan (frank.corrigan@aandb.scot.nhs.uk)*Correspondence to Frank M Corrigan, Lomond and Argyll Primary Care NHS Trust, Argyll and Bute Hospital, Lochgilphead, Argyll PA31 8LD.
Abstract
Hypotheses on the neurobiology of a mindfulness-dissociation continuum are presented. Crucial to the hypotheses are the observations of a reciprocal interaction between the cognitive and affective subdivisions of the anterior cingulate cortex and the unilateral activation of right anterior cingulate in hypnotic dissociation and in post-traumatic syndromes. It is proposed that the unilateral activation can cause a loss of the reciprocal relationship between the subdivisions and that in the case of peri-traumatic dissociation the subsequent syndrome responds to eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) through restoration of the bilateral activation and reinstatement of the reciprocal relationship between the subdivisions. Bilateral activation of the cognitive subdivisions is proposed to underlie the attentional state of concentration mindfulness in which affect is well regulated. Copyright © 2002 British Society of Experimental and Clinical HypnosisEMDR therapy for PTSD is possibly effective by enhancing interhemispheric transfer, so piracetam at time of therapy might be beneficial.
-d/r
Posted by Sigismund on December 15, 2008, at 1:07:23
In reply to Re: med help for dissociation, posted by desolationrower on December 14, 2008, at 18:31:27
The feeling that one is unreal might be in line with the Buddhist idea of 'no-self'??
Posted by desolationrower on December 15, 2008, at 10:18:55
In reply to Re: med help for dissociation, posted by Sigismund on December 15, 2008, at 1:07:23
> The feeling that one is unreal might be in line with the Buddhist idea of 'no-self'??
I can see some connection, but i'd be wary of drawing too strong a line from dysfunctional states. No-self is more of a reminder not to detach one's identidy from the world you're in, and seeing the 'me' parts as more important. The self is impermanent and it is our habit of mind that clings to ego. But the things we think of as being 'self' are part of the world so i don't think detachment or dissociation are the same thing. I think the very different brain activatino with mindfullness activity backs this up.
-d/r
Posted by cactus on December 20, 2008, at 3:04:03
In reply to med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
The 2 times I was put on seroquel I had pretty bad dissociation episodes which I had never experienced before. I'd be sitting on the couch watching tv, and then I'd realise I could see myself in the kitchen doing very strange things which weren't good. I was actually in the kitchen, not on the couch
Posted by cactus on December 20, 2008, at 14:48:42
In reply to Re: med help for dissociation » darwinsmunky, posted by cactus on December 20, 2008, at 3:04:03
sorry I didn't get to finish the post, I just found seroquel put me so far out there that sometime I would leave my body. I was also in a situation where I was forced to take it which made it worse. I had to play ball for a couple of week because I had daily unannounced visits from psych teams who made sure I was taking it. Once they stopped coming I stopped taking it and got much better very quickly. Look, everything works differently for everyone, it might not even be the seroquel making it worse, I hope you find what works for you. Good luck, peace C
Posted by qbsbrown on December 22, 2008, at 19:50:23
In reply to med help for dissociation, posted by darwinsmunky on December 13, 2008, at 22:48:58
meds that clear my derealization are
depakote
lexapro
zyprexa
low dose of lithiumnot all taken together of course
best of luck. I can name 50 meds that give me disassociatiion, but these are luckily the ones i found worked
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