EXERCISE nº20 - "What must I think about people when I am walking in the street?"

One of the symptoms of DPDR consists of looking invisible for the rest of the people.

When we are walking in the street we usually avoid to look at the rest of the people because WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO THINK ABOUT THEM, in fact, we are not sure about their existence. They mean nothing for us. Why this happens?

Since I don't know who I am and I am not able to remember clearly what have I done in my former life due to DPDR, it seems very difficult to guess in which way the rest will react when they see me. We lost our roots, our references, our own image. Our image depends on what the others think about us.

In order to remove that invisibility and recover our place again in the real world I should make this exercise:

EXERCISE 20 - "What must I think about people when walking in the street?"

Before facing the people in the street we should remember aspects that are unique to us

1st - How old am I?

2nd - What were my main achievements in life?

3rd - What were my most relevant hobbies/skills? I should overpass everybody in those skills and feel proud.

4rd - Pay attention to your physical aspect. Am I well dressed?, Do I look handsome today?

... etc

 

 

Any time you face people and don't know what to think about them, you should think:

• Could it be dangerous crossing his/her way? Should I be frightened?
• Is he/she physically neat, clean? or Should I feel disgusted?
• Is he/she a normal person or is he/she facing any disability?
• Is he/she going to ask me anything? Which could it be? Could I be robbed by him/her? could I be taken by surprise?
• Is he/she older than me, the same age or on the contrary I am older than he/she?
• If we are of the same age, Would I like to accept him/her in my own gang or group? I didn't like every classmate of my school. I had my reasons. Can I remember why?
• If I am older, I should know more than him/her and be superior somehow. I could teech him/her things and be compassionate with him. If I don't pay attention I could hurt him/her.
• If I am younger, that person probably knows more about life than me. I should show respect and learn from his/her.
• His/her level of studies... Are lower or higher than my own level? Would he/she overpass ME?
  I was very good playing or practising my hobby. Could he/she be better than me? Could he/she even know how to do it? Probably not If my skill is high.
• Am I stronger than that person?, Taller?, more corpulent? If we had to fight... could I win?; If I hit him/her, what would happen? (Considering physical contact helps a lot to overcome DP)I
• Is he/she more beautiful or attractive than me? Do I like him/her?....
• ...
   

Previosuly, when you were alright, you wondered those questions automatically, just within seconds. Now you cannot consider that info about people easily.

SO, YOU SHOULD BE MORE TRIVIAL AND CARE ABOUT APPEARANCES!

 

WITHOUT BEING SURE!

WITH NO LOGIC AT ALL!

ALL HEALTHY PERSON TAKE ALWAYS INTO ACCOUNT HIS/HER IMAGE AND COMPARES CONTINUOUSLY WITH OTHERS
 

 

santos.barrioscanseco@gmail.com

EXERCISE No. 6 - "Connecting every 10 minutes"

It is normal having to deal with daily tasks that need our concentration and abstraction from the real world :

• Read or study books , articles, web pages on the Internet, ...
• View movies , or listen to music with headphones.
• Playing video games (eg PCs, tablets, smartphones, ..)
• Programming a computer
• Think for a long time in a work or family problem that concerns us
• and so on ...



These activities naturally evade us from the real world. As we do these activities we cease to pay attention to what surrounds us  so we create a propitious environment to the occurence of derealization disorders.



This evasion of the real world, combined with other factors such as stress , work pressure, trauma, anxiety, ... if it lasts for a long time can be the trigger for an episode of DP / DR .

Today in my proposed exercise we will attack the excess concentration of our mind immersed in one of these risk activities:

Exercise No. 6: "Connect every 10 minutes"

If we're watching a movie at home at night, keep a light that illuminates the room to, and for about 10 minutes long, stop paying attention to the movie and: focus on objects within reach, look our legs, our hands , arms, be aware of our position (if we are sitting, lying, comfortable or not, ...), look at the other people who might be watching the same movie, etc ...

If we are required to read or study printed material , either on paper or on computer, do the same thing, stop every , let's say 10 minutes, to connect with the objects, place, our own body and people that surround us. You don't need to get up, but you MUST stop reading the book, move your head to every direction focusing and connecting with the environment.

Avoid software and addictive games. If you must face to one, stop every few minutes to acquire information from the space where your body is.

Do you have a profession or hobby that requires you concentrating for long periods of time?

BE CAREFUL AND TAKE MEASURES!!