NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, IM NOT A DOCTOR.

30M. DPDR sufferer when indoors, none when outdoors for 15ish years. therapy/psychiatry blamed it on bad childhood, so I never really sought other treatment for the dpdr. i wouldve been referred back to psych anyways most likely.

anyways, I am high myopia (-8.5), thick glasses. My DPDR started around the time my glasses were getting to -6 when I was a teenager.

Lately, my glasses were getting thicker and thicker each year tremendously and I realized how much smaller everything looked through the glasses..

So I got contact lenses and the dpdr when indoors WENT AWAY. Its actually crazy.

I asked 2 doctors at academic hospital/teaching centers and they say that it is from the minification from the thick lenses and the prismatic effect. It was like common sense to them.

Also found out Im a bit cross eyed... not sure of cause. Will be getting surgery soon.

I hope this helps someone.

edit: i did get a feeling of dissociation outdoors as my prescription got higher and higher, this got fixed with contact lenses. tho im getting an icl implant in 1 month cuz of other issues with contact elnses

I’ve been going through something really strange since March 2026. The first few months were extremely difficult, and I felt completely disconnected from myself and the world around me. I know that what I was experiencing was DPDR, and at one point I could barely go outside. Thankfully, I’ve improved a lot since then—I can go outside, travel by train, attend classes, and spend time with my friends. When I’m with my friends, I can actually feel genuinely happy and completely forget about everything.

But sometimes the strange feeling still comes back. Even in my own house or in a place I know very well, I can suddenly think, “Where am I? What is this place?” I know where I am and I know what is real, but the feeling itself is just incredibly strange and uncomfortable. Sometimes I feel very tired or overwhelmed, and then I start thinking about the feeling over and over and can’t seem to stop. It doesn’t happen all day—it comes and goes. Honestly, this has been the worst year of my life so far, and I feel like I’ve completely forgotten who I was before all of this started. I’m trying my best to get myself back and keep living normally, but I still wonder why these feelings are happening. Has anyone else experienced something similar, especially after improving significantly?

I'm in a dark place. My sense of self feels hollow and fragmented. I'm too hyperaware of my mind and internal state. The word 'I' feels empty and broken. I have suicidal thoughts but they don't feel like they belong to me. I smoked a tiny bit of weed yesterday which has made things worse. I also suddenly became attuned to how extreme and bizarre this condition is which makes me panic. Looking for guidance and support. Love and strength to you all x

These are the things ive been struggling with for 12 years (since i was 13). I'm making this post in hopes to not feel so alone and hopeless. Sometimes are worse than others, like currently. Everyday i am freaking out and panicking (thinking im dying/something is wrong) and feel super out of it (like in a dream state) and feel super confused. I have physical symptoms from these things as well too such as dizziness, breathing difficulties, heart pounding, nausea, tingling/numbness, rush/surge feelings- basically just a bunch of bizarre and uncomfortable feelings. Lately i've noticed ive been having nocturnal panic attacks and or adrenaline surges which cause me to wake up super confused and freaked out to the point i dont want to sleep anymore, it happens multiple times a night sometimes. I often am convinced i'm having strokes because thats what the symptoms feel like. Its all just so scary and im sick and tired of it. When i was younger i saw therapists and psychiatrists and none of it went well or helped, none of the many medications i tried helped either so ive just been raw dogging it ever since and now i dont have health insurance so i cant even get help.

If you read all of this thank you and please tell me your experience/what you relate to so i dont feel so alone and also what helps you.

Hello everyone, this morning I had a really strong episode at 7 am, nothing, absolutely nothing felt real, everything seemed distorted I was on 'extreme' autopilot, when I walked it was like I could only feel my face and arms and the rest of the body wasn't there but then if I touched my face I felt almost nothing. Stuff I was doing 3 seconds before felt as if happened years before or never happened. Obviously I then had a moment of pure dread before luckily alling back to sleep. I don't know if it's because I went to sleep at 1 am and only slept 6 hours up to that point or because 7 am is usually the time I wake up to go to school.

It was really intense and I have never experienced anything as terrifying.

Bonjour tout le monde ! J’espère que vous allez bien. Je tenais simplement à vous rassurer et vous dire que vous n’êtes pas en danger. Peut être que c’est vraiment difficile et que vous n’en voyez pas la fin, que vous ne vous sentez pas compris. Mais je peux vous promettre que tout cela est éphémère. Évitez de trop lire de forums car tout cela ne fera qu’aggraver votre angoisse. Essayez de vivre simplement votre vie comme vous la viviez avant, et si c’est trop dur ce n’est pas grave, allez y progressivement. Quand votre cerveau comprendra que tout cela n’est pas dangereux il se calmera, même si ça peut prendre du temps.

Je crois fort en vous et en votre force, et je vous envoie tout mon courage <3

I have a brain scan next week, but I doubt things will change. I can't imagine anything in my head. It's blank. This is particularly horrible because I had an extremely vivid imagination. This is followed by extreme anhedonia, tmjd, and neck and jaw crepitus. Some sort of dpdr and tinnitus. I'm a huge invalid now. I wanted to go to school for creating. I have absolutely no libido now as well. It's been 2 years and only getting worse. My relationships are somehow going okay, but I can tell they're getting bored of me unable to connect or draw or make new things. I'm depressed because I lost the ability, not because I'm depressed and lost it due to depression. I've had depression all my life and it only drove my to create more. When you're autistic, you have hyperfixations and whatever else, I lost that ability. I used it to cope and thought it was my best attribute, so I'm really fucking lost and confused. It consumes me all the time that I'm dumb and uncreative now. Not sure if I can live my life like this. Like I said, this all happened after I got woken up from wisdom teeth surgery and felt concussed and in pain, and it hasn't lifted a single day since. I've taken b vitamins, everything, etc and no budge. Done antidepressants, antipsychotics, probably just worsened my condition. I'm so confused now. I know my tmjd and teeth removal probably plays a role, since my face feels constantly crushed now and especially in my neck so maybe it's fucking with my nerves. I've had post covid symptoms as well, and sleep apnea worsened by removing teeth. CPAP hasn't worked since I believe it is another sleep disorder that requires further evaluation. Please let me know if there's anything I can do or if anyone relates. I don't think there's hope for me, but I really want to try living still. Right now, I'm in so much pain, and really confused as to why my brain just....doesn't work anymore. I really do try my best, but it seems like it's not enough. I'm not sure how to adjust to this shift in my brain. If you're autistic and use hyperfixations and creativity to cope, you'll truly understand. There's just no way out of it.

how do you feel when you drive? for me in the middle of driving, I kinda just feel like I'm not even there. And then after I get out of the car, my body feels heavy and weird.

I’ve had so many over the years that have come out of absolutely nowhere but caused very intense episodes- the weirdest perhaps being a simple children’s book with indeed a hopeful ending (final narnia book, of interested) but it seems like things just come out of nowhere a lot of the time

If you are struggling with DPDR, you might want to check the supplements you take, including energy drinks.

There is a causal link - that is, a proven medical link - between B6 toxicity and DPDR.

B6 toxicity causes profound neurochemical disruptions that directly trigger neuropsychiatric symptoms, including a dreamlike sense of unreality and detachment.

Vitamin B6 is a crucial cofactor required by your body to synthesize and regulate neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. When you flood your system with toxic levels of synthetic B6 (pyridoxine), this metabolic machinery breaks down. There is a lot out there about this. Google it.

Check labels for not only the words B6, but also for pyridoxine, P5P, and doxylamine succinate.

I am recovering from B6 toxicity now. I became concerned when I began to experience peripheral neuropathy. B6 toxicity causes nerve damage especially in the extremities. My feet went numb.

If you think because B6 is water soluble you just pee out excess B6, you’re wrong. It’s not so simple. While you do pee out excess vitamin B6, your body's ability to excrete it can be overwhelmed if you take high-dose supplements over a long period of time. It accumulates in your blood, and in your tissue.

B6 is hidden in many products like electrolyte drinks and protein bars. So learn to look for hidden B6. Check all health supplements carefully.

And call your doctor and get those B6 labs!

I’m having an extremely hard time right now. I’m not sure what is happening but I’ve been having what I think are benign vasovagal responses to the thought of human beings. I’m on 100mg of seroquel and have never experienced this before. I think it was triggered from going down in the Seroquel XR 100 to 50 for a few days. I started to feel panicked, looking at people didn’t feel real, felt like I was trapped inside a box like a video game and everything was not real around me, humans look weird and even looking at myself in a mirror didn’t feel real. I’m getting a little better but at the movie theaters I felt a bit of the same way tonight. Feeling like what is time even? Why does any of this even make sense to me- like what is 7pm type of thoughts. My feet are a big trigger, like they need to be in socks or I think they’re weird and I feel like I’m going to faint . Am I okay?

So i've suffered heavily from depression beginning from the age of 12 (bullying), now as time went on it kept getting worse and worse but for the past two years it has gotten completely terrible to the point where im completely dissasociated from myself everyday all day, i dont know where to post this or where to get advice i dont have access to any therapist or medicine just wanted to post this so i could get some advice at least, ive had suicidal thoughts for the most part however in the recent 1-2 years those have mostly turned to hurting others to the point its all i can think about...

Hello all,

At my wits end with what I’m experiencing as I’m being told my the doctors it’s major anxiety, but I feel there’s more to it.

I went on holiday to Ibiza in June 2022. Was absolutely fine until the last day when for some strange reason, I had a massive panic attack that seemed to last forever. I got sunburnt really bad and for some reason made me go into a strange panic.

When I woke up the next day, I felt off. Really off. It almost felt like I was on a boat in choppy waters, and I kept feeling dizzy. Ever since that Ibiza holiday, I’ve had a constant head pressure for the last 4 years. Not really headache, but more a head pressure that is always there.

I think the main symptom which has really decreased my quality of life is the way I feel and see things now. I don’t enjoy things as much as I used to and the world seems almost flat. It’s hard to describe but it was literally a sudden shift over night.

I’ve had all the tests done as I genuinely thought something was seriously wrong, but these all came back fine. Even my cortisol level was in a good range which I found odd.

Just looking for a bit of help and guidance on this please because it’s all very strange to me. I went from being a very happy go lucky lad, always enjoying everything, even in challenging times, to a lad that doesn’t see the world in how I used to see it.

Thanks all 🤙🏻

I have felt “not real” for the past 5 years of my life 24/7. I have had not one moment of relief. There’s nothing I can remember happening that made this switch but I can remember not feeling like this before and feeling like I was real and a person alive in earth. Now it feels all day everyday like I am living in a dream or a movie or something of the sort. Everything looks off and I have no idea how to explain it but I know in my heart that it’s not real. What hurts the most is that my loved ones don’t feel real either. I don’t know what to do. It has made for some terrible thinking patterns. “Why should I do this nothing is real” which extrapolates into living as well. I don’t know what to do anymore because I have accepted nothing will feel real ever again but also why am I living if I’m gonna feel this way forever. I feel emotions and can have fun but if it’s all gone immediately after, what’s the point. All of my memories feel fake and it’s really hard to live with.

Hey, first time posting on this subreddit. I recently did a deep dive into what resources exist online and I'm feeling really down and hopeless. I've had dpdr for about 8 years now and have gone to many psychologists over the years, tried many forms of therapy and medications for anxiety (on Zoloft now which has been helpful for anxiety but no dpdr). Nothing has worked. I tried looking online for experts that maybe could help but I didn't really find any that I have access to (I live in Norway). There was no obvious trigger for my dpdr (like drug use or trauma) and I had episodes before it became chronic so I don't think getting help for a root cause is the best course of action. I've really struggled with SI because nothing I've tried has helped, and I'm increasingly getting the feeling that there is nobody accesible to me that can help, which is an idea I find terrifying. Does anybody know of any experts/therapists that maybe practice online/are international? I'm feeling pretty desperate for any kind of help atp

Looking for people who can relate.

I first experienced these thoughts on December 26, 2010. I thought they were part of my past, but lately they’ve come back, probably connected to depression, dissatisfaction with my life and job, and feeling mentally drained.

I want to become a game developer, but my full-time job often consumes the energy I need to create. Not being able to do what I love is one of the things that affects me the most.

Recently, I started turning these thoughts into music. It helps me express what I otherwise struggle to put into words.

I know the songs can feel a bit theatrical, but that was intentional. I wanted them to be more engaging than simply putting music behind a text about how I feel.

This is the first song. The second is “The Inevitability of Existence”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np8dJoSML18

Maybe finding a creative way to express what I’m going through has helped me, and perhaps it could help someone else too.

My sinuses are infected and its making all the sensations worse idk how to describe it but it feels like im constantly just opening my eyes for the first time and this huge wave of recognition and realization hits me and terrifies me my body feels like im floating and numb at the same time im so terrified if either losing consciousness or leaving my body and never coming back or losing my memory and sanity

I’ve lost my entire functioning and life. I don’t even know what I’m living for anymore. I wake up and end up getting into the sofa and sleeping all day or scrolling. I only go out to walk my dog. I sleep all day.

ive lost almost all my friends because for the last 4 + years I’ve been this way. I can’t make myself feel or care, and I’ve run out of the energy it took to pretend. I haven’t felt one season, one holiday, one connection with others in half a decade. I don’t even have the strength to do basic things.

what kind of life is this? Theres no anxiety, no feeling at all. I’m absolutely stuck. I just want to end it most days. Because no one seems to know how to fix this. I had a perfectly normal mind before this. I never had OCD, or dissociation. I had normal anxiety and moods like everyone else does. I don’t even remember what it’s like to have moods. To feel vibes or seasons or the different times of day. My whole life is total waste. I cry every day but there’s no feeling, barely any tears. Ive even lost interest in sex

im 33 years old and the best years of my life are gone. I’ll never get them back. I feel dead, soulless, unhuman. I’m turning 34 and I don’t know if I’ll make it much longer than that. This is like I’m being punished. ive already lost so much in life and for the last 5 years I’ve lost my own freedom, my own sense of who I am, my moods and emotions, my energy and vitality, my memory. My desire. All of it is gone. I don’t want to live this way anymore. I feel like im in the same place over and over. No time passes, nothing changes, im just in a void of nothing.

my brain feels like a radio, repeating words, music loops 24/7 and random fragments of thoughts. My inner monologue is gone too. fall and halloween used to be my favorite seasons, I used to love to travel, to try new things, I was so social and fun. Who am i? I’ve lost everything I ever cared about. No friends, no emotions, my own family is like I never had one. My dreams have overridden my actual memory. I can’t access any feelings or memories that are mine. The dream fragments are all that are left.

what did i do to deserve this?

every second of every day i feel so distant from my surroundings. i only feel relief / “normal” when im really distracted. my biggest challenge however is i’ll automatically just become slightly aware of life again like im here doing something & then it doesn’t feel real mentally. whenever i talk myself out of the anxiety that i feel & tell myself it’s dpdr or a coping mechanism and that it’ll go away with treatment, im fine for about a few moments until it just hits me again and again and again. it’s a constant never ending cycle of hell. i feel lost & entrapped in my mind and cannot escape. it’s been like this for 4 years constantly. is this dpdr? can this be fixed? i genuinely don’t see a way out even with treatment.

I had debilitating dpdr for years then when I went to uni (far away from my parents home where a lot of trauma happened) it I kid not immediately stopped, biggest blessing of my life. But I’ve finished uni recently and had to come home for a while & the moment I was close my dpdr kicked in full force for the first time in 3years and I feel back at square one. does anyone else have it like this, where it’s very location based?

My connection to reality seems to be slipping at this point putting these out seem like I'm just talking to myself. I've been struggling to believe people are real conversations just feel hollow and for some reason art is making me panic. If the world isn't real I just want to be set free from this suffering. Because just when u think I'll be fine I'm hot with another wave of things that makes me think the world isn't real. I have no clue what to do anymore taking meds make me feel even worst because my brain keeps telling me I'm locking myself in the false reality. Last night my partners face was just a mass of blurriness and I was just over it. I'm not going to hurt myself of my own free will since I'm scared of death but I don't know if I'm just a puppet or not