Chris, founder of MindSide Recovery

Depersonalisation & Derealisation Recovery

You’re not broken. Recovery is possible

If the world feels unreal and you’re frightened you may never feel like yourself again, this page will help you begin making sense of what you’re experiencing.

Start here First, hear my story
I’m Chris de Winnaar. I recovered from DPDR, and I understand how frightening and isolating it can feel. Psychology Honours Graduate · Accredited Mental Health Coach · Founder of MindSide Recovery
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A short video from Chris explaining this topic will appear here soon.

01:00

A welcome from Chris

Watch Chris Explain DPDR

A calm 60-second introduction to what DPDR can feel like and where to begin.

Stay with me

I know how frightening this can feel.

  1. 01The world feels unfamiliar.
  2. 02I feel far away from myself.
  3. 03I keep checking whether I am back.
Feeling unreal is not the same as losing touch with reality. In DPDR, people generally recognise that the experience is a feeling—even when it feels intensely convincing.

Depersonalisation can feel like being disconnected from yourself, your emotions, or your body. Derealisation can make your surroundings feel dreamlike, distant, or unfamiliar. These are recognised experiences of DPDR, although only a qualified professional can assess what is causing your symptoms.

Chris reflecting beside a window

A note from Chris

I remember sitting in a familiar room and feeling as if I had never seen it before.

I searched constantly for certainty. I checked how I felt, read everything I could find, and became increasingly frightened that I might never feel like myself again.

Recovery was not one sudden breakthrough. It began when I understood the experience differently, became less afraid of the symptoms, and gradually reconnected with ordinary life.

That experience eventually led me to study psychology and create the kind of calm, responsible educational support I wish I had found at the beginning.

I created MindSide because clear, responsible information was difficult to find when I first experienced DPDR.

Its purpose is to help people understand what they may be experiencing, respond with less fear, and take practical steps towards reconnecting with everyday life.

Chris de Winnaar
Psychology Honours Graduate Accredited Mental Health Coach
Recovered from DPDR
Founder of MindSide Recovery

MindSide provides education and coaching. It does not diagnose DPDR or replace medical or psychological care.

This may be a protective response.

One way of understanding DPDR is as a response associated with intense fear, stress, or overwhelm, in which experience begins to feel distant or unreal.

Checking how you feel is an understandable attempt to regain certainty. Repeated checking and reassurance-seeking can sometimes keep attention fixed on danger and make the experience feel more persistent.

This is not your fault. Recovery may involve understanding the symptoms, reducing fear around them, changing checking patterns, and gradually reconnecting with everyday life.

  1. 01A sensation
  2. 02Fear
  3. 03Checking
  4. 04More alarm

You are not failing to recover. You may simply be caught in a loop no one has explained clearly enough.

If these feelings are new, persistent, severe, or interfering with daily life, speak with a doctor or qualified mental-health professional. An assessment can help rule out other causes and identify appropriate support.

The MindSide Method

A quieter way back to yourself.

A practical educational approach to understanding DPDR, reducing fear around the symptoms, and gradually reconnecting with life beyond them.

  1. 01 / UNDERSTAND

    Make sense of it.

    Replace frightening interpretations with a clear understanding of what your nervous system is doing.

  2. 02 / RESPOND

    Change the pattern.

    Learn to meet symptoms without feeding the fear, checking, and reassurance cycle.

  3. 03 / RECONNECT

    Reconnect with everyday life.

    Rebuild attention, emotion, confidence, and connection—gently, in ordinary life.

Start where you are.

You do not need to understand everything today. Choose the next step that feels manageable.

  1. 01

    Free recovery guide

    A calm first explanation of DPDR, the fear loop, and what recovery can look like.
  2. 02

    Online recovery course

    A structured, self-paced course for understanding DPDR, changing the fear cycle, and reconnecting with life.
  3. 03

    Ask about personal coaching

    Enquire about current availability for private guidance with Chris.

Before you go

You’re not broken. This can be a nervous system response.
Download the free recovery guide