I remember when I first developed chronic Depersonalization Disorder.

I spent days, weeks, months researching every online forum and website and in every book I could find for a simple, easy Depersonalization cure so that I just recover as quickly as possible.

In fact, was totally consumed by the search for a Depersonalization cure. And if you're suffering from DPDR?

I bet you're already doing the exact same thing.

So in this article I’m going to save you a lot of time and frustration and tell you the answer, once and for all.

Is there a cure for Depersonalization Disorder?

The answer is YES.

And I know a lot of you are also asking  - Can you get rid of Derealization too?

Again, the answer is YES! We'll get to that soon 🙂

But first, we need to clarify the initial question.

When we ask, ‘Is Depersonalization curable?’, we need to think about what that question. What do we need cures for?

For example, if you have a cold or a headache, you can ‘cure’ them. The cold can be cured with a decongestant. The headache can be cured with aspirin.

If you have something more serious, like say, appendicitis or laryngitis, then you'll need to seek out medical help. But still -- there are definitive treatments that are basically guaranteed to fix the problem.

The point is, there are specific medications you can take that will CURE you of the illness. That’s the miracle of modern medicine:

You have an issue, you ask a doctor, you're prescribed a cure, you get better.

It’s a wonderful process that we pretty much take for granted!

But that process doesn't apply to ALL medical problems.

For example, is there a cure for smoking? Is there a cure for being overweight?

Of course not. Why? Because the term ‘cure’ doesn’t apply to these things.

These are problems based on behaviours rather than being standalone illnesses.

Of course, they can absolutely be reduced and stopped with therapies and treatment. But there's no overnight 'cure' and it can be frustrating, even damaging, to think of them in that way!

A Song Stuck In Your Head

Let's look at a really simple example. If you get a song stuck in your head for a day or two and you can’t seem to get rid of it, what do you do? Well, you don’t do anything!

You go about your life, you listen to other songs and allow the annoying thought to run its course. You know that it will pass.

What you DON'T do is seek out a cure for it. You don’t go to a doctor looking for medication. You don’t spend hours and days on the internet researching the details of that song, other peoples’ experiences with similar songs.

You don’t start blogging about it. You don’t go and start discussing the roots of that song and how and why it got into your head in the first place.

Frustrated and Frightened

Why? Because you know that having a song stuck in your head is NOT a sickness.

It’s a habit, a behaviour. That's all! It will run its course naturally as you go about your life.

But taking time out of your life to sit around researching it, learning about it, focusing on it intently? Of course that will only prolong it!

Now I know that's a bit of an oversimplification, but Depersonalization / Derealization has a lot more in common with having a song stuck in your head than you might think. It's an anxiety-driven behaviour of thought, that's all.

It's completely different from organic conditions like schizophrenia, cancer etc. It can't hurt you and it won't turn into anything worse.

But of course, you don't know that when you first experience the bizarre thoughts and feelings of DPDR.

So just like I did, you spend entire days researching how to get rid of Depersonalization. And you want an easy, quick solution, right?

You want to know how to cure Depersonalization as immediately as possible, and find yourself frustrated and frightened when you can't find a quick answer, like you would with a flu or an allergy.

Is Depersonalization Curable?

So asking ‘Is Depersonalization curable?’ is like asking ‘Is there a cure for smoking?’ or ‘Is there a cure for for having a song stuck in your head?’

It's a totally understandable question, but it's simply not relevant to DPDR. There's no pill or medication that will cure Depersonalization overnight.

But you know what? THAT'S OK!

There's no pill or medication that makes people quit smoking or get over social anxiety overnight either. But can people do these things?

Of course they can, they do it every day!

There are tons of different techniques to deal with them. CBT, cognitive distancing, positive reinforcement etc etc. You probably know people who have done those things -- You may even have done them yourself!

Look -- asking 'Is there a cure for Depersonalization Disorder?' is totally understandable. Everyone asks the same thing at first. But the idea of a single 'cure' that will switch off the condition overnight is not helpful.

There's no single cure for smoking, for obesity etc. They're behavioural conditions, just like Depersonalization / Derealization, and all anxiety conditions are. But people still recover from them every single day!

So instead you should ask: “Can I learn how to get rid of Depersonalization / Derealization? To stop thinking about it for good and recover completely?”

Because the answer to that question is YES.