Is this normal for DPDR? (memory problems)

Hi there,

I have experienced DPDR for a few months now and I feel as though I’m slowly recovering. However, there’s something that is concerning me A LOT, and that’s memory issues.

For example, I go for a walk and by the time I’m finished the walk I can’t remember being on the walk. By the end of each day I can’t really remember anything that’s happened on that day.... yesterday is a mystery.

Many symptoms have eased up a little but this one is by far the worst. I’m losing days, weeks, months of my life as I just can’t remember them!

Anyone else experience it like this?

I can’t wait for this to go away!

Many thanks, in advance, for your replies.

It's pretty normal with depersonalization disorder for your memories to feel like they belong to someone else. But not remembering the walk afterwards and not remembering an entire day following that day seem a bit more dissociative than just DPDR. I'm no expert but it suggests other things may be going on.

Have you been diagnosed with DPDR and if so, was it mentioned that these symptoms can and do appear as part of other dissociative disorders? I wouldn't assume that such severe symptoms are likely to clear up on their own. It may seem obvious but working with a skilled therapist seems more likely to produce copying skills, relief from symptoms, and even a full end to the condition.

Dissociative disorders are often caused by events earlier in life, especially childhood. Although symptoms may be present to some degree throughout life, they may increase in adulthood due to bing triggered by stressful events. In other words, life events can appear to cause the dissociation, depersonalization and/or derealization, whereas they're actually revealing it.