- The five second rule is a wonderful little tip
that gave me a huge amount of comfort and motivation
back when I was struggling
with Depersonalization and Derealization,
and I think you'll find it super useful too.
Hey everyone.
I'm Shaun O Connor,
author of "The Depersonalization Manual".
I suffered with chronic Depersonalization disorder
for two years before I recovered completely,
and in the nearly 20 years since then, my book,
"The Depersonalization Manual",
has helped tens of thousands of people around the world
to recover from DPDR.
And today we'll be discussing the five second rule.
Let's get started.
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DPDR can be a struggle
and can certainly feel like it's frustratingly persistent
and even constant.
But you know, sometimes when you're involved in an activity,
maybe playing a video game, watching a movie,
and you suddenly realize that, hang on,
you're not thinking about anxiety or DPDR at all.
Now, I understand that this might have only been
for a few seconds or minutes at most,
and I also understand that just having
that realization usually sets you off
thinking about DPDR, right?
But guess what?
In that short little space of time
when you were focusing on something else,
you just experienced recovery.
That's right.
If you distracted your mind for five seconds,
just five short little seconds, in that time,
you were totally back to normal.
You experienced a brief reminder
of what it's like to not consistently focus
on the symptoms of anxiety
and also how simple it really is to let them go.
Essentially, all that recovery is,
is training your brain to do that consistently,
and it works every time.
So what does the five Second rule show us?
Well, firstly, it proves to you
that recovery from DPDR is not climbing Mount Everest.
It's not some massive, insurmountable task.
Quite the opposite.
Recovery is right beside you at all times.
It's right there.
The five second rule also shows us
just how much we tend to over complicate
the recovery process.
when we say things like,
"But I can't remember what normal felt like,
"so how can I get back there?"
Well, the five second rule shows you
that you don't need to remember
what normal felt like to get back there.
That's not your job.
Think of it like this.
If you were out of shape,
you wouldn't need to remember
what being fit felt like
in order to get fit again.
That's not your job.
What your job is,
is to train yourself back to a habit of fitness.
Show up, do the work, exercise.
Now, to do that, you need to be patient and motivated.
But you wouldn't trip yourself up by saying,
"Yeah, but I can't do it because I can't remember
"what being fit felt like."
Again, that's not your job.
And it's a massive over complication
of what is essentially a pretty simple process.
And the five second rule proves that to you.
Recovery is a relatively simple process.
Getting fit is a relatively simple process.
But for both, you have to show up and be disciplined
and train yourself into that state.
But that too is just a habit
that gets easier over time.
Now, you might be saying,
"But Shaun, I don't even have five seconds of relief.
"Mine is 24/7."
Well, you know what?
That's okay.
Everybody has a period of time
where their DPDR feels like it's 24/7 too.
But you'll soon start to see variations
in the intensity of the symptoms,
and you too will start to have moments of relief.
And guess what?
Those five seconds of relief,
over time, those seconds turn into minutes, and then hours,
and then days, weeks, and months.
The windows of time in which you're not experiencing DPDR
get bigger and bigger.
And soon you get to a point
where you just kind of forget to think about it at all.
And why would you?
You've got much more interesting things
to focus on and enjoy.
That's recovery, and you can get there.
And every time you have
just a few seconds of distraction in the meantime,
well, that's the proof that you can get there.
Don't forget, you could instantly download
my complete guide to recovery,
"The Depersonalization Manual",
featuring hours of exclusive audio and video content
at DPManual.com.
If you've got any comments or questions,
leave them in the comments section below
and I'll make sure to answer and help you out.
Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel,
and if you found this video helpful,
please do hit the like button.
Thanks for watching.
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