What is the treatment?

I have been reading a lot about depersonalisation since I was diagnosed with it, and I was surprised to learn there is no actual treatment for it. My psychiatrist wants me to take Rivotril, Efexor and Trileptal, but I'm not so sure it'll do any good.

Do any of you take meds for it? If you don't, do you seek some sort of alternative therapy? I know I cannot stay much longer in the state I am in now, but I have no idea on how to "counterattack", so to say.

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

With medication usually is the treatment of this disorder. Most people who have depersonalization deal with dissociative disorders from trauma's etc... The medication is usually an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety.

Thank you, Butterfly. It is just that, I have taken nearly every anti-depressant or anti-anxiety med in the book and they do not seem to work. Yesterday I switched to a new psychiatrist, since I knew the former one was at a loss on how to treat me, and it was actually kind of funny, in a perverse way, to answer his questions...Tegretol, Pondera, Lexapro, Rivotril, Anafranil, Frontal, Olcadil, Lexotan, Prozac, Bup, Trileptal etc etc..."took it, took it, took it".

I'm sorry. I guess I am just frustrated.

mittinana, you said that you suspected that you might have Schizoid Personality Disorder. Did you consider looking deeper in that direction (or the general direction of personality disorders)? Because if your depersonalization is caused by a defect in your personality, then meds will tend to be ineffective; probably because if you have a PD then you'd subconsciously try to counter their effect. It was the case with me at least... I noticed that while I was on Wellbutrin (an antidepressiant that attempts to intensify your emotions), I could surprise myself trying to intellectualize to the ground any emotion that would surface, basically having me try to counter the benefits of the drug I was given.

mittinana, you said that you suspected that you might have Schizoid Personality Disorder. Did you consider looking deeper in that direction (or the general direction of personality disorders)? Because if your depersonalization is caused by a defect in your personality, then meds will tend to be ineffective

Hmm, Peptron, that's an interesting idea. My new psychiatrist (I had to get a new one, because my former's doctor strategy turned out to be nothing but increasing the dosis of the same meds every time I saw him) says my lack of emotion comes from taking too much Pondera. I am sure he is wrong, but since not having emotions turns out to be a blessing when your head is falling apart, I ignored his opinion.

I too tend to intellectualise any feelings that happen to pop up as a result of medication. Do you think that is really a personality defect, or are we unconsciously afraid to feel? Oh my. Another riddle to solve

mittinana wrote:I am sure he is wrong, but since not having emotions turns out to be a blessing when your head is falling apart, I ignored his opinion.

I don't know all of your story, bu twhen you talk about your head falling apart, do you mean it as a "depersonalization-flavored" kind of falling apart? I'm not sure how to explain that better... But if so, do you think that your head falling apart might be CAUSED by your lack of emotion? Strong depersonalization can really make you believe you are on the edge of insanity.

mittinana wrote:I too tend to intellectualise any feelings that happen to pop up as a result of medication. Do you think that is really a personality defect, or are we unconsciously afraid to feel? Oh my. Another riddle to solve

Isn't the fact of being unconsciously afraid to feel a personality defect? What is the difference you see between "personality defect" and "unconsciously afraid"?

Hi again, Peptron! Thanks for your concern.

Well, I haven't had any real emotions for as long as I remember. So that's why I said I think the psychiatrist is wrong to put it down to the meds side effects.

Let me describe the kind of falling apart I feel, and then you tell me what you think, OK? I feel like I am standing on solid ground and all of a sudden it starts crumbling under my feet. I feel like there's a spiral vortex engulfing me, calling me into oblivion. I know it sounds stupid, but during the worst of the crisis - whatever I might be doing before - I feel compelled to sit down and press both sides of my head together, breathing in as sparsely as I can. The idea, I fathom, is to pretend I'm dead so the madness passes me by - okay, it sounds ridiculous even to me. I have, more than once, banged my head against a wall so that both sides would meld.

Oh, I think there's no difference whatsoever between a personality defect and the fear of feeling emotions. I just meant to point out that some people - psychopaths - are born without the minimum requirements to experience them, and I don't believe I am one - I'm not cruel to other people or animals at all.

Most people with DPD often are having tons of anxiety and depression along with it, and SSRIs combined with clonazepam or valium can help. But you have to be careful with addiction and side-effects...find drugs that are right for you, these are all obvious things though.

NOOTROPICS aka smart drugs have been taken by DP sufferers and helped greatly.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nootropic I remember talking to someone somewhere on the net about Piracetam and Aniracetam, he said it worked very well.

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/depersonclom.htm

I've personally noticed a great increase in overall mood and increased contentness about my skewed view when taking tons of B vitamins. But those are about it, there is no miracle drug out there..for anything including DPD.