NYC DPD STUDY

I'm not sure how many of us are in/around NYC, I'm close--about 6 hours north of it. But I guess Dr. Simeon (noted expert on DP/DR) is doing a new study about how people with DPD process emotions, using EEG. I think anyone who can should do it...I would if I were closer/had a car.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: ARE YOU IN OR NEAR NYC? VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR A NEW STUDY ON DEPERSONALIZATION, EMOTION AND THE BRAIN.

DR. DAPHNE SIMEON AND DR. TRACY DENNIS ARE CONDUCTING A NON-INVASIVE EEG STUDY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE WITH DPD PROCESS EMOTIONS.

THIS STUDY IS BEING CONDUCTED IN NEW YORK CITY AND INVOLVES JUST ONE VISIT TO HUNTER COLLEGE FOR EEG TESTING AS WELL AS AN EVALUATION SESSION

WITH COMPREHENSIVE CLINICAL FEEDBACK AT BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER, DONE BY DR. SIMEON. ALL RESPONSES WILL REMAIN COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL.

FOR INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT KAI MONDE AT 212-650-3838 OR EMAIL kmonde@hunter.cuny.edu

From, http://www.depersonalization.info/main.html

I would be willing to do this if I could. I live in PA so it would be only about an hour and a half to two hours to get there, I suppose. Only problem is I don't have a car, my family members don't know about my DPD, and it would be an awkward conversation.

'Hey Mom, I have this strange disorder that I never told you about that involves me not processing reality correctly. I want to go up to NYC to take part in a psych study.' I can only imagine the horrified look I would receive. And also, I don't have an official diagnosis from a doctor, so I'm not sure if that would disqualify me from participating. Regardless, I'm sure I have it.

I think it would be an interesting study, given that most people with this say they have emotional blunting. I know I do.

Hahah I'm in the same exact boat as you just described But thankfully I myself am going to a psychiatrist/psychologist soon...are you currently going to one?

I'm not currently, no. ^ I'm supposed to be seeing one soon though, still have to look up names within my family's insurance.

I went to a therapist a few years back and I told her about it. But I don't think that she really understood the urgency of it. She just @!@@@! it off saying it was 'caused by anxiety; get rid of the anxiety and it will go away', and to 'not confuse it with this other disorder called DPD'. Hahaha, only was I to find out that she was an idiot and obviously didn't understand what DPD was. Granted, she was really young to the psych business, so its possible she just didn't have any exposure to it.

MANY doctors have little to no knowledge of DP as a disorder. Depersonalization itself is the 3rd most popular mental symptom, and almost every single person has at least one episode in their life. Anxiety and depression can cause it, but I personally get anxiety/depression because of my disassociation. And when I have depression, it's totally seperate..sometimes the anxiety doesn't have to do with the DP/DR, but I can tell that my disassociation is NOT caused by anxiety or depression--simply because I'm constantly disconnected and only feel episodes of anxiety and depression. Also, people think I'm a manic depressive because I cut/burn myself...but this is also due to the DPD!

Many people, doctors or not, do not believe that DPD is a real disorder...but those people are truly mistaken. I suffer so much from this....it has to be real, it's got to be the only thing that is certain/true/real in my life right now

Yes, I have a feeling that I'm probably not going to receive an official diagnosis of this any time soon, just because I feel like no professionals understand this. I don't really understand how having something chronic where you can't connect to yourself and reality would not be considered a mental disorder. I think its just because we're not tearing at our eyes and running naked down the street. We still have our 'reality testing' in tact so we appear normal on the outside. Unlike a Schizophrenic who its obvious they can't connect to reality. Ours is just different. Its more of a silent killer.

Do you also have it chronic? I've had it for like 6-7 years straight. It 'was' actually caused by severe anxiety, it was like a trauma in itself. But then after the danger passed and my anxiety started to lessen, my dissociation continued as strong as ever, actually got worse and never went away. I don't feel like its connected to anxiety anymore. It went into constant 'safe mode' and isn't letting go no matter what. Its frustrating. And I do believe that my depression and depressed thoughts are caused by this as well, like you.

Did you know.. I actually starting experimenting with self-harm in the hopes that it would 'shock me back'. I have more of a problem with DR, so I thought it would work. I still kind of believe if I just hurt myself enough or something it would bring me back to reality.

But yes.. I agree with you. I have no doubts in my mind that this is real. They simply don't understand because they haven't felt it the way we do. They read the descriptions out of the books and then observe the patients who are all sitting normally sipping coffee. Theres nothing they perceive as wrong from the outside. But inside, it just feels like I'm slowly dying. I can't live this way forever.

Sorry if I just started going on and on. Its rare that I can talk about this, since you know.. no one knows it exists.

Don't worry about going on and on, I think this is very helpful not just for me but anyone reading it. Please if you're reading this, don't be scared to respond!

Yeah my disassociation is chronic...going on ~5 years now. I never knew about depersonalization or derealization until I started researching what was wrong with me--about 3 years ago I realized it was DP/DR. I totally understand what you say when "people don't think anything is wrong because us with DP/DR just sit there acting normal". Many of my friends (I don't really have that many because I'm too disconnected to give two sh*ts) say "Ohhhhh there's nothing wrong with you honey! I don't see anything wrong with you!" But there f*cking is something wrong, they cannot understand it, they don't view the world through my skewed perception. DP/DR are 100% the most frustrating things ever, and this frustration sometimes causes me to self-harm. I use the self-harm usually as a reality check...other times it's because I'm extremely overwhelmed by emotion and I don't know how to deal with them. I've been doing that for almost 6 years.

This has caused me extreme distress and has made everything in life so much harder, I have little to no motivation to do anything. I am extremely pessimistic and apathetic...I just flat out don't care whatsoever anymore. I'm really scared I'm going to be misdiagnosed...but I am going to pound it into their brains that I have CHRONIC DISASSOCIATION, which means there is obviously something awry in my mind.