Dave Budd's DPDR Recovery Story
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I was delighted to interview Dave Budd for the DP Manual YouTube channel. Dave is a musician and chef based in Plymouth in the south west of England.
Dave's experience with DPDR was triggered by a panic attack that happened at work, when a co-worker told him about the outbreak of war in the Ukraine with the words "It's World War Three". This kicked off a very frightening experience with chronic anxiety that lasted for months.
The anxiety also triggered intense feelings of disconnection and DPDR. Dave describes it as being like "someone took my personality and put it behind a locked door".
Dave says he feels like he experienced 'every symptom under the sun' related to DPDR, including intense headaches and brain fog, loss of inner monologue, neck and back pain, the constant fear of dying.
We discuss jumping to scary conclusions, and catastrophizing that the DPDR must be another condition like 'brain shrinkage' or Alzheimer's.
Dave and I also talk at length about how DPDR makes you feel like you can't enjoy music (or films, or any art) anymore, and how 'brutal' that feels, especially for people working in those areas.
Dave talks about how, as he recovered, he not only got back to normal, but went over to America to attend Richard Thompson's musical camp, 'Frets and Refrains'.
And Dave talks about how his recovery, how getting back to normal really IS getting back to normal, and how he now even thinks of the whole experience as being like a comedy!
I had such a fantastic time interviewing Dave and I'm so happy that he has recovered completely from Depersonalization Disorder.
And check out hundreds more DPDR recovery testimonials here!
Written by Shaun O Connor
Shaun O Connor is the creator of The DP Manual Recovery Program and a mental health educator specializing in DPDR recovery. Since overcoming Depersonalization himself, he has helped tens of thousands of others do the same through his writing, one-on-one coaching and YouTube channel.
✍️🕒 Last Updated on July 25, 2025 by Shaun O Connor