Derealization,please give advice!

[Sara3333]

Hi everyone!I'm too much worried about my brother. Only ones he tried spice(he claims that he put it in his mouth only ones). He felt dizzy, he felt as if he was not real and he was afraid to death.He thought he might die. When he came back home we all(close people)seemed strangers to him but not completely of course. After that case he is not the same person anymore.He tells us he doesn't feel real very often,he has headaches,he sees flashes of lights from time to time and can't concentrate on work. He is short-sighted, wears lenses and we sometimes convince him that the lights may appear because of it. He digs all kinds of forums to find answers and claims that a lot of people suffer from depersonaliation an derealization because of trying spice even once. After reading such stories he feels even worse. The thing is that his friends tried it as well but they don't have such symptoms. I really hope that my brother is too sensitive and he just can't get rid of the feeling of fright he had after trying spice that day.
I really want to help my brother and see him as he used to be. If there are people among you who are familiar with this kind of problem and can give me any advice I will be very grateful. Can smoking spice only ones cause such problems and what are the solutions?
Thank you very much in advance.

[Razin Sazzad]

i have the same problem

[DrStrangeluv]

Hi everyone!I'm too much worried about my brother. Only ones he tried spice(he claims that he put it in his mouth only ones). He felt dizzy, he felt as if he was not real and he was afraid to death.He thought he might die. When he came back home we all(close people)seemed strangers to him but not completely of course. After that case he is not the same person anymore.He tells us he doesn't feel real very often,he has headaches,he sees flashes of lights from time to time and can't concentrate on work. He is short-sighted, wears lenses and we sometimes convince him that the lights may appear because of it. He digs all kinds of forums to find answers and claims that a lot of people suffer from depersonaliation an derealization because of trying spice even once. After reading such stories he feels even worse. The thing is that his friends tried it as well but they don't have such symptoms. I really hope that my brother is too sensitive and he just can't get rid of the feeling of fright he had after trying spice that day.
I really want to help my brother and see him as he used to be. If there are people among you who are familiar with this kind of problem and can give me any advice I will be very grateful. Can smoking spice only ones cause such problems and what are the solutions?
Thank you very much in advance.

Hi Sara,

It is ok to worry about your brother, just remember that you can give him a helping hand, but he needs to stand up for himself and really want a change in his life. You cannot fight his battles... Or feel guilty in any way at all... We cannot protect our loves ones 100% of the time... Now I'm saying this because I knew how my relatives and friends felt when I was in a very dark place like your brother's. I too suffered from depersonalization, very often wondering if I or the rest of the world was real.

You have to wonder why did he tried spice in the first place, peer pressure maybe? But why is he hanging with people like that in the first place? Your brother needs guidance and support specially if he is just a teenager. To give you some background, my first panic attack and road towards depersonalization came after I tried Ayahuasca( also known as DMT) and then often consumed "Creepy" a potent marihuana strain.

Now.. some people are truly sensitive to drugs, spice(or synthetic marihuana ) is a poor and dangerous attempt from drug dealers to get people hooked on a mixture of chemicals that somewhat resembles the marihuana experience, not wanting to get too techy... but marihuana only binds to certain receptors in the brain, whereas spice fully blocks them and really interferes with brain-body functions. So it's very potent in comparison.. Side effects as well..

I'm not the one to diagnose but people get GAD(General Anxiety Disorder) because their primal instinct of survival kicked in, being turned on by some event, usually a disease, accident, hallucination or near death event... but this instinct.. this brain-body response to fight or flee never got turned off. Doctors still don't understand how these drugs work or for that matter neuro-transmitters.. so somewhere deep in his subconscious when he tried this drug... when his "defenses" were down... whatever scared him... really left an imprint, this drug either lowered his defenses or caused psychological trauma.

So the pattern is this:

Trauma(either concious or subconscious)->Brain response->Body response->Brain response... Trauma increases.. repeat

The brain response is usually in the form of releasing chemicals such as adrenaline, the body response comes in the form of rapid hearbeats, loss of balance, headaches( and a gazillion other symptoms)... Also when there barriers are down( usually in the form of low neurotransmitter levels such as serotonine) the brain and body do not function properly. If you combine high adrenaline levels with low neurotransmitter levels you get a "mental disease". That's why depression/anxiety are so closely related and if you treat one you cure the other usually via reuptake inhibitors.

So... what is depersonalization?

After so much worry... after so much psychological pain... the brain need a rest... Depersonalization is shutting down, closing doors, not wanting to believe the world is real because the though of it brings it so much discomfort... Depersonalization is not a disease or symptom after all. It is a defense mechanism. Just like a panic attack is a way of releasing all that pent up anxiety, Depersonalization is a way of protecting from it.

We need to understand that no one really goes psychotic/ anxious / depressed / bipolar overnight... If anything the use of this drug drove him over the edge where he was already standing. Now there are many ways out of it, but from my personal experience they would be:

1) Change yourself: by learning about the condition, doing lifestyle changes(better sleep, food, exercise), also I'd deeply recommend stop hanging out with drug addicts. not the best company, period..

2) Get therapy from a certified psychologist, face your fears, learn about your inner kid.

3) Visit a psychiatrist, go slow first, there are many options out there.

Or even better a combination of all of the above.

So dear sara, I wish you and your brother the best. Yes... it gets better and it's not the end of the road for anyone.

- God bless.

[Sara3333]

Hi DrStrangeluv,

First of all I'd like to thank you for your support and your time to answer my question. You really gave me hope. My brother always insisted that this is something that no one can cure and he should either get used to it or...I don't even want to use that word. He was so convincing I was starting to belive him and was about to give up.

I always thought that depersonalization/derealization is a desease and I was surprised there was no medicine for curing it. I was also surprised that there are no psychologists specializing exactly in this sphere as I've found a lot of people on forums suffering beacuse of this. My brother happened to attend a psychologist once or twice but he always found excuses not to attend her anymore(like she needs cure herself or she was talking to me as if I was crazy). I don't even know whether these all are just excuses to avoid confessing his problem or he was right. But one thing is true that there was no psychologist at least in our country who would have firm knowledge about derelaziation. They seemed to give him medicine they would give to any person who suffers from anxiety, depression etc.They all said he was normal yet for my brother every day was a struggle.

However, thank you again DrStrangeluv for your advice. You seem to have deep knowledge about this matter.If you don"t mind I 'd like to ask you a few questions as well.
Can I conclude from your words that in this case my brother doesn't need medicine and need only psychological help and healthy lifestle?
Is this really curable(for 100%)?
Do you thnik spice really changed something in his brain(he claims its irrecoverable) or it's just a psychological problem.
Does it matter how many times you used spice(can such a serious problem arise only after one smoke)?
If you could help me with these questions as well I'd really apprecaite.

Dear DrStrangeluv, I am really happy for you that you found strength to get rid of this problem.I wish my brother could be as strong as you were.
Stay healthy!God bless you and your family!

[Sara3333]

Dear Razin Sazzad,
I know it's hard. DrStrangeluv's advice may be helpful for you as well.
Wish you recover as soon as possible.

[DrStrangeluv]

Hi DrStrangeluv,

First of all I'd like to thank you for your support and your time to answer my question. You really gave me hope. My brother always insisted that this is something that no one can cure and he should either get used to it or...I don't even want to use that word. He was so convincing I was starting to belive him and was about to give up.

I always thought that depersonalization/derealization is a desease and I was surprised there was no medicine for curing it. I was also surprised that there are no psychologists specializing exactly in this sphere as I've found a lot of people on forums suffering beacuse of this. My brother happened to attend a psychologist once or twice but he always found excuses not to attend her anymore(like she needs cure herself or she was talking to me as if I was crazy). I don't even know whether these all are just excuses to avoid confessing his problem or he was right. But one thing is true that there was no psychologist at least in our country who would have firm knowledge about derelaziation. They seemed to give him medicine they would give to any person who suffers from anxiety, depression etc.They all said he was normal yet for my brother every day was a struggle.

However, thank you again DrStrangeluv for your advice. You seem to have deep knowledge about this matter.If you don"t mind I 'd like to ask you a few questions as well.
Can I conclude from your words that in this case my brother doesn't need medicine and need only psychological help and healthy lifestle?
Is this really curable(for 100%)?
Do you thnik spice really changed something in his brain(he claims its irrecoverable) or it's just a psychological problem.
Does it matter how many times you used spice(can such a serious problem arise only after one smoke)?
If you could help me with these questions as well I'd really apprecaite.

Dear DrStrangeluv, I am really happy for you that you found strength to get rid of this problem.I wish my brother could be as strong as you were.
Stay healthy!God bless you and your family!

Morning Sara,

Depersonalization is not very well understood because is like being in a dream and not being able to wake up. It is a very personal, out of focus experience... You really cannot put it in words that doctors, therapists and family members can truly relate to. You need to keep looking for professionals, yes there a bunch of quacks out there, but there also really smart and nurturing ones too. I was lucky enough to find a couple that played an instrumental part in my recovery, a psychiatrist strong enough to help me realize I had a problem and a psychologist supporting enough to hear my stories and guide me thru the dark tunnel.

Yes, whatever road he chooses can cure his condition, what therapy and medicine gives you is a stepping stone towards recovery. Everyone's different, so he might be able to do it on his own. He does need careful planning and discipline to turn the switch off.

Now... something I realized is that at that moment I was very afraid to get help, I was very stubborn, and I thought that whatever I'd do would make things worse, in my "paranoia" I thought I had no cure and that no one could really help me...After all they were scary strangers telling me that I was "crazy", when you add the social stigmas to the equation you understand why is so difficult at the time... I thought I could do it in my own, but I tried and tried and kept falling down. I just didn't have the strength do it .

That's why your brother needs to realize... it is ok to be weak it is ok to ask for help and let go and trust.

[DrStrangeluv]

Oh, and one more thing... don't trust what people with this condition tell you, it's not brain damage / ghosts / The Devil / UFOs. It is a completely reversible matter once you realize what causes it.

[Sara3333]

Ok. Thank you again for your valuable advice. I will definitely follow them hoping everything will be alright...)))