Depersonalisation disorder

Hi Lem After a quick google, I don’t think it’s the same thing, but… as a teenager I had quite a few of those unnerving ‘Shit, I’ve forgotten who I’m supposed to be’ episodes. You know, when your mind’s bobbing about somewhere and you have to coax it back down to reality… often having just caught ‘yourself’ in the mirror. Quick run-through of… okay, I’m seventeen, I’m a girl, I appear to have just walked home, this is where I live apparently, that must be my mother standing in the kitchen asking a question… better think of something to say in reply… shit, what would this ‘Louise person’ normally say? Whatever your symptoms are though, if it’s happening frequently I’d suggest having a chat with your GP – as long as your GP isn’t tranquiliser-happy (dangerous with a potentially still-developing brain, I’d say). Hopefully, it will just resolve itself on its own, but it would be helpful to have some official affirmation. ~ www.fabulousmother.co.uk

I've suffered episodes of depoersonalisation. This goes beyond just not knowing who you're supposed to be and the disintergration of ego boundaries and de-realization was extremely frightening. I must declare that mine was possibly linked to past use of drugs but surfaced more recently following traumatic brain injury. Interestingly, I am currently writing an essay about mental illness and I feel that we are wrongly lumping together genuine phenomena arising from neuropathology and phenomena which have no physical cause, and are just a way of describing a deviation from the norm. the 'illness' refers simply to a difficulty with living. I am not in with the anti-psychiatry brigade who deny that mental illness exists but it is often just a classification or theoretical contruct. I am becoming concerned with the unhelpful medicalization of every aspect of what we are as human beings. I can only comment from my own experience but I have had no fewer than 5 psychiatric diagnoses and have in the past suffered severe difficulties in living. But these diagnoses did not help me because they encouraged me to keep playing the victim. No medication was ever even slightly effective (and as Lou points out can be damaging) and I spent thousands of punds on therapists, not one of whom was able to engage with me on any kind of meaningful level. I know the mental health profession is crucial to some people but I recovered when I disengaged with the 'professionals', jettisoned all the diagnoses and now do not consider myself to have any psychiatric condition and took responsibility for the way I live. An acceptance that I have characteristics (not symptoms) that mean I will probably always have difficulty in living has helped tremendously because I stopped stressing about trying to find a 'cure'. jude "Cacoethes scribendi" http://www.judesworld.net

judith i have just read your latest letter from abc tales and you sound so increadiably like me every thing you have said makes so much sense to me . thankyou , sue .

I'm glad I make sense! One crucial element I forgot to add is that in order to cope with life and take control despite my difficulties with living, I had to stop drinking and using drugs. With them, life's completely unmanageable. Sober, I'm in with a chance! So Lem, if you're like I was as a 17 year old, steer clear of anything that might aggravate your condition. I would never advise somebody else to drop their medication or shrink. I can only share that those things didn't work for me but living life on life's (often very difficult) terms does! jude

This (free) lecture may be of interest: http://www.essex.ac.uk/centres/psycho/news/FML2009.htm Ladle