MovieChat Forums > Numb (2008) Discussion > From a sufferer...

From a sufferer...

posted 16 years ago by Part2
22 replies | jump to latest

Hey all,

I've suffered from Depersonlization Disorder for 4 years now and it's affected my life in many (mostly negative ways), and I'm very interested to see how it's portrayed in this movie. It's a very subtle disease to others, quite intense to sufferers but without many (if any) physical symptoms to show, making it hard to diagnose and treat.

My question is to anyone who has seen it - how is the disease portrayed? Is it an exaggerated account; i.e, presented as a more 'typical' mental disorder, or is it handled with more realism - with only slight symptoms actually showing as in real life? I'd especially like to hear from anyone who does, or has, suffered from the disorder and what they thought of the portrayal in the movie.

Thanks!

[–] bgaidano 16 years ago

I have dp and saw the movie in Ojai film festival a couple months ago. It was a great movie, I felt like I was watching myself, not overexagerated, mathew perry was SOOOO believable, I felt like he had it as well. I talked to him after the movie, he was cool. I talked to Harris (writer) as well and told him how I hope it makes it to the theaters.

It can open peoples eyes and probably help people that suffer that do not know what is wrong with them. Maybe open new studies as well.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] joshzancan 15 years ago

a BIT of disorder? really??

"you're a handsome devil. what's your name?"
--grosse pointe blank

[–] moviemuncher1 16 years ago

Sounds like another made up disorder from psychologists to take advantage of americans pockets through mega drug companies.

USA accounts for 90% of Ritalin perscriptions, because ADD is a made up disorder starting from the last 30 years; Along with all these other disorders your trusty Psychologists tells you! It has to do with all the fatty un-nutritional and non-organic crap you are eating and letting your kids eat, while at the same time not giving them any attention and using the tv/video games as a babysitter. Take care of your body and you you will feel better instead of medicating it.

check this out for more on ADD and ADHD (dont buy into the BS):
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/myth_add_adhd.htm

[–] Xris-5 16 years ago

depersonalization is very real

[–] fragile-moon-fairy 16 years ago

While alot of ADD and ADHD is misdiagnosed not all of it is.

Mental disorders are very real and even the healthiest of people can develope them. I ate well as a kid and never really liked TV yet I am not free from disorders.

Just because you have a disorder doesn't mean you HAVE to take drug but sometimes you do. If possible psychologist would rather treat people without medication.

While titles like depression and ADHD are thrown around and parents and people complaining of them are often prescribe low doses of drugs to make them think things are better and therefore they feel better it doesn't mean most people are suffering severely.

I haven't been diagnosed with depersonalization disorder but I saw most of the movie and I could relate so much to how he was walking through life in the beginning.

[–] plucko 16 years ago

ADD is made up? I don't think so.

[–] alan-alderman 16 years ago

Just a quick point from pedants corner ...

Psychologists aren't the ones in league with the drug companies you're thinking of Psychiatrists

[–] GladyRuth 10 years ago

Most psychologists have MD's to send their patients to for drugs they think they need. So they are no longer any better than the drug pushers.

I was shocked when I found this out as I had thought it was safe to go to a psychologist since they can't prescribe drugs themselves.

Sadly most of them are just as dependent on masking symptoms and never getting to the cause of the problem for their patients as the psychiatrist.

[–] Jane_Doe01 16 years ago

So you refuse to believe in any mental disorder just because of your annoyance with (admitted) overdiagnosing of ADHD (btw, while ADHD is perhaps overdiagnosed children, ADD in adults is not.)?

I wish people wouldn't feign more knowledge on the issue than they actually have. ADD not withstanding, mental disorders have been documented FOREVER, and have been medically treated for just as long. The only difference nowadays is the less barbaric, albeit still often flawed approaches toward treatment. Mental illness is real and one can either develop it or be born with it. The brain can genuinely become ill and chemical functioning can be disrupted. Do you also believe that Alzheimer's isn't real? Let's hope you never have to learn these facts the hard way.

[–] charabia 15 years ago

Psychologists? Yeah, I'll listen to you, you're an expert on the subject.

Psychiatrists.

It's ok though, Tom Cruise, we know you're sane.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] CryoBerries 12 years ago

I think people who say disorders like ADHD and Dyslexia are "myths" are disgusting and beyond ignorant (that goes for all mental illnesses actually). I have Dyspraxia and I can tell you first hand, it has not been made up. It was a neurological condition I was born with. Mental illness classification isn't perfect, but it does serve a purpose of helping health professions treat people's problems. If you don't understand something, don't whine about how it's not real, just shut your damn mouth.

Freedom! Horrible, horrible freedom!

[–] esprit9 16 years ago

I've had the problem talked about for many years but never made any progress with a doctor for it. I really don't see a relationship with a normal healthy person happening unless she or he is a bit of a masochist, so I thought the movie was a bit flawed in that way.

When depersonalization gets really pronounced for me, its definitely an episode of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (google it), and its like I'm playing a video game. I've gotten much better with mercury chelation according to the Cutler protocol, but I can't say that would work for everyone with this problem. My personal opinion is, doctors could never cure me since they can't understand mercury toxicity, and they're the ones that poisoned me to begin with. And 99% of doctors are technicians, not problem solvers. If they didn't learn about something in school, they have no idea how to deal with it. They are incredibly illiterate in science and medicine outside of what they were taught by their peers.

[–] NerdLife 16 years ago

you just blew my fu***** mind.

[–] kiran_aryan 16 years ago

Since I was 9, I had mild experiences of DD. I talked about it to my parents and friends but nobody knew/understood what I was talking about.

I only experience it once in few months and it stays on for a couple of seconds. So, my condition isn't as severe as Perry's condition in the movie. I talked about it to my friend few months back and then I came to conclusion this could be related to stress and anxiety attacks. Even my friend said to have experienced it few times when he got stressed at work.

However, I enjoyed the movie. This movie taught me that I experiece DD sometimes. I also have Social Phobia and I do similar way by shaking legs and twisting hands when in public. lol.

[–] paululrich 16 years ago

I had a depersonalization disorder attack when I was 18. It was triggered by experiencing an event I never thought would ever occur. The event lasted about 12 hours and ended as soon as I stepped off the bus back home. Whatever causes it is still floating around in my body because when I read and/or type on the computer (especially now where there is a bunch of white space), then my head starts to float away and my hands start to seem so far away. I also shake my leg up and down like the characters in the movie while I'm typing this. Haven't had an attack since 18 though, but I am on the edge.

But I think eventually once people start to gather data on the experience people have and how they snap out of it, then more treatments will be put together for this cure. I think you could put together one with some kind of electronic/syntactic stimulus of a certain pattern of lights and touches that would help some people snap out of it. Others probably need to be put in a situation they feel is Perfectly possible. Perfectly normal. I think the disorder is sometimes brought on by people going down a road of increasing situations they feel they should not be in (like living a certain place, having a certain job, seeing a certain person) and then all of a sudden it hits their unconscious mind that the situation they are in should be impossible. This triggers a long episode of DD, where the persons mind detaches itself from it's surroundings, because part of that mind knows what it is seeing is impossible.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] leftmefordead 9 years ago

A movie... taught you, that you have multiple mental illnesses..... oooooook those shaking legs n twisting hands, lets just call the OCD. Fk i hate you self diagnosis types, you are truly the bane of all who actually have mental illness.. Your the reason why ADD and a bipolar have become popular issues to have... for fk sake if only you people actually had these issues to the extreme, then you wouldn't be bogging down the medical system to such an extreme that mental illness is laughed at and desriminated again because its not taken seriously. I lost my entire life, 20 very close friends and around 100 more frequent acquaintances.. all gone because i couldnt handle such a dramatic change basically over night and over a year thinking i had brain damage or something from falling down or something, anything to explain why i was not myself anymore. The stigma over mental health turned all my normal happy friends away from me within a year because they don't want to be around someone who's never happy and can't relate to you anymore. The whole supportive friends thing.. is *beep* if you actually have real mental illness.. 99% of them won't stick around. And 99% of people in matt perrys situation end up very very lonely unless you make friends with people on the fringe with abnormal issues or people with mental health problems aswel..

[–] katgurl81 15 years ago

Just a note:
Depersonalization can often be a more general symptom and doesn't necessarily have to be associated with a diagnosis of Depersonalization Disorder... it can be something that stems from even just a single anxiety or panic attack. As someone who has experienced panic attacks on & off for years, I can vouch for this...it's one of my most prevalent symptoms when an attack strikes...

[–] lounisproduction 11 years ago

I suffer of derealisation.
I learned this 3min ago on google when I typed my symptom.
I feel so relieve. I thought I had a brain tumor! but now I realise that its just psychological.

the symptom is so weird. You see things that you see everyday but just don't look the same and you are actually aware of it :)