# acute dysphoria



## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

For those who have bouts of acute dysphoria, how do you get through it? I'm talking about depression, anxiety, self-deprecating thoughts, restlessness, loss of pleasure, loss of motivation, rocking back and forth, doing anything to get your mind off of the terrible shift in reality that has taken place. Effects of withdrawal count as well as that is when it usually happens to me. The dysphoria lifts at some point but it never feels like it will. It's hard for me to get through it without reverting to bad behavior like drinking alcohol which only makes things worse in the long run. It's really a terrible feeling and if you've never experienced it you should be thankful. It can happen to anyone.


----------



## dax (Nov 19, 2004)

Nothing I can do. I just try to find a diversion. It hits hardest late at night before bed or early in the wee hours of the morning if I wake up before my alarm goes off. Really, I like sleeping much more than I like being awake. I wish I could just sleep.


----------



## nothing to fear (Mar 23, 2005)

i'm bipolar and i've experienced dysphoria/mixed states and it is definitely the worse condition you could be in. one episode was when i made my most serious suicide attempt and my self-injury was horrible. i think what makes it so terrible is that unlike normal depression, you don't just feel suicidal ideation and lethargy and low-motivation, rather you feel a bit energized and agitated and like you have to do something extreme to alleviate the feeling. it's almost impossible to just sit there and let it pass because you just get such strong urges to make it go away.
my brother is experiencing dysphoria right now and it is very terrifying, for him of course but also for myself and my parents since we know firsthand how bad it is.

for me what helped the most in calming me down was marijiuana surprisingly. it didn't worsen my negative thoughts as it usually would and instead i was able to lie down and not feeling like jumping off the walls or feeling like putting a knife to my neck.


----------



## kev (Jan 28, 2005)

nothing to fear said:


> i'm bipolar and i've experienced dysphoria/mixed states and it is definitely the worse condition you could be in. one episode was when i made my most serious suicide attempt and my self-injury was horrible. i think what makes it so terrible is that unlike normal depression, you don't just feel suicidal ideation and lethargy and low-motivation, rather you feel a bit energized and agitated and like you have to do something extreme to alleviate the feeling. it's almost impossible to just sit there and let it pass because you just get such strong urges to make it go away.
> my brother is experiencing dysphoria right now and it is very terrifying, for him of course but also for myself and my parents since we know firsthand how bad it is.
> 
> for me what helped the most in calming me down was marijiuana surprisingly. it didn't worsen my negative thoughts as it usually would and instead i was able to lie down and not feeling like jumping off the walls or feeling like putting a knife to my neck.


That sounds terrible. Fortunately my dysphoria has never gotten to that level where I actually wanted to kill myself but I totally get it now. If I had to endure that feeling for any period of time lasting more than a few days I probably would be suicidal. If I had to endure that mood for several weeks there is no question that I would be suicidal without serious seriuos intervention/morphine-induced coma. And this is coming from someone who has never actually wanted to kill himself. I completely get it now.

But I suppose this isn't the most pleasant thing to say especially if someone reading this is dysphoric.

That's funny you mention marijuana because that's what works best for me too (at least as far as anything I've found that works). There is still some edge though. I suppose I am not giving the dysphoria enough time to settle down. Time is the only real cure.

Also, amazingly, I was able to play some tennis tonight and that helped some. But the dysphoria started coming back after I stopped playing. I guess I need to exercise every day, 24 hours a day, lol. Seriously, I'm giving that some actual consideration now. Maybe I should increase my exercise to one hour, maybe 20 minutes isn't cutting it anymore.


----------

