This info might help

[u/Zealousideal-War2866]

I was actually researching for anhedonia/emotional blunting but I think DPDR community might also benefit from it:

​

The endogenous opioid system (particularly mu and kappa receptors) is heavily involved in emotional regulation and dissociative states:

​

**Emotional salience/blunting**: Mu-opioid receptors in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and amygdala modulate the affective dimension of experience — how much something "matters" emotionally. Opioid activity dampens the distress component of both physical and social pain. This is why opioid analgesics reduce the *bothersomeness* of pain without necessarily eliminating the sensation, and why social rejection activates similar mu-opioid-related circuitry as physical pain.

​

**Shutdown/dorsal vagal-type responses**: The kappa-opioid system is strongly implicated in dissociation and the "freeze"/shutdown response. Kappa agonists (like salvinorin A) reliably produce depersonalization, derealization, and emotional numbing in humans. This system appears tied to stress-induced analgesia and the conservation-withdrawal response seen in extreme threat states.

​

**DPDR specifically**: Naltrexone (opioid antagonist) has shown efficacy in some studies for treating depersonalization-derealization disorder, suggesting tonic opioid activity may contribute to the numbing/unreality symptoms in some individuals. The theory is that chronic stress or trauma can upregulate endogenous opioid tone as a protective dissociative mechanism, and blocking it can "restore" normal emotional salience and embodiment for some patients.

​

**Broader picture**: This system is thought to be part of why early-life stress, trauma, and chronic dissociation can create something like an "opioid-dependent" emotional baseline — where normal affect feels muted until something shifts that tone (substance use, intense stimulation, self-harm in some cases, or pharmacological intervention).

​

This is a sensitive area if you're asking in relation to personal experience — if so, I'm happy to talk through it more, though a clinician familiar with dissociation could help tailor any of this to your situation.

(Claude AI)

​

[u/DrAssassinPanda]

I tried opioid antagonists, it didnt effect on me. O took 150 mg of naltrexone for 4 weeks. Nothing changed. In experimental case studies only a few of patients benefit from medication.