Trying to Make Connections With Other People

        My thoughts for this post derive from a conversation I had with my therapist on Monday.  We were discussing many of the strategies and plans I have been using to treat my symptoms and he complimented me on putting myself out there and seeking help and being proactive in my recovery.  He pointed out that it would be incredibly easy (given the pain and discomfort of the symptoms) to retreat inside myself, and justifiably so.  Although I do not always appreciate what I am doing day in and day out I think it's important to put myself out there in the world.  I truly do not think that there is a panacea for the symptoms of DP/DR or even my anxiety symptoms.  However, I do think that we can either allow the symptoms to force us to retreat even further into ourselves and our thoughts or we can try to make connections.  Remember, I do not think that all can be solved at once, but we can set small goals to put ourselves out there and try to connect with the world.
        My therapist uses this term called "grounding," which to me means strategies and actions I can or do take to make myself feel more connected to myself and my environment.  For example, I notice that my symptoms of DP/DR are not as bad or noticeable when I'm talking sports with my coworkers.  Now I may still return to the state of DP/DR immediately after or even during the conversation, but the point is that there are times when I do not feel as bad.  This does two things for me:  one it offers evidence that what I am experiencing is not an unchangeable truth, but rather symptoms of a condition that I am working through.  The second thing it does is it gives me ways to temporarily relieve my seemingly ever present symptoms.
        Unfortunately, anyone who has experienced symptoms of DP/DR day in and day out for a period of time knows that this is easier, much easier said than done.  This is not to say that we are a community of recluses who never come in contact with other humans, but I think it's fair to say that people with DP/DR likely feel more inclined to retreat within.  But I think there are little things we can all do to reintegrate ourselves with our environments and the people in our lives.  One thing I have been doing at work has been asking people about their weekends (I would never think to do this before).  I've been trying to make better eye contact with the cashiers at grocery stores and coffee shops.  I try to text message friends once a day with banter about fantasy baseball.  These are all little, seemingly unimportant parts of my day, but I think they are important for my recovery.
        I went to a session today with another therapist that I see and she had some interesting insight about the condition and its role in the grand scheme of my life.  She said, "you need to go through this time and these symptoms in order to become the person that you're going to be."  As tough as this is to accept her point is not only valid, but actually irrefutable.  Whoever I end up becoming will undoubtedly result in some part to my experiences with DP/DR.  Not only that I am the person I am today as a result of the DP/DR I've been experiencing for the past three months or so.  And one thing that I will have improved about myself when I do make it through this difficult time is that I will connect with other people more than I did before.  My recovery will not happen over night.  My ability to make connections will not always be easy or even happen every day.  But I believe that even the smallest connection can start to make a difference along the road to recovering from our symptoms.