Depersonalisation/Derealisation

[SaharaWorld]

I used to experience these anxiety symptoms regularly when out and about, but their frequency has decreased substantially over the years. Does anyone else get these? They feel something like this:

They occur when people's identity become blurred. People no longer recognise themselves or know whether they even exist. They feel as if they are not there, as if the body they are in is devoid of anything. The anxiety becomes so unbearable that they disconnect themselves from the environment so that they are no longer part of their surroundings and become detached. Everything around them appears to be unreal.


“I feel like I’m outside my body, watching myself.”

“If I am out and about in shops, I feel like I am a ghost floating through the air. I have found it helpful to pinch myself or hold onto the person I am out with (I do not go out alone) to try to ground myself. I also find it really helpful to carry a drink and something to chew, cannot explain how but it makes you feel like you are really there.”

“I have to constantly remind myself that I am there, that I exist, I feel like nothing is real”

 

[SaharaWorld]

i think that when we have an adrenaline rush our body needs to release extra glucose and until it does we have a weird feeling like that? maybe thats why a drink or something to chew helps? the important thing is not to feel it..or feel it start even..and then turn back home..the thing to do is accept it..understand it..let it be..and then carry on. (all of this is my own mental specualtion lol)

lol. The drink and chewing gum helps me because it makes me feel more alive and real. Ofcourse, if I am eating or drinking then I am obviously real and not just some ghost or spirit. Carrying or holding an object and serves a similair purpose in that it reinforces that I am really there...........

.....Anyway, I know of agoraphobic people who experience 'unreality' so just wanted to ask everyone to see if this is also a symptom of SA or just agoraphobia.

 

[Disconnected]

I'm not agoraphobic, but I do have varying levels of depersonalization/derealization that range anywhere from very mild to very severe. For me it seems to be a packaged deal with anxiety and depression. When I start to panic I feel like I become disconnected from my body. If I'm depressed then sometimes theres enough of a wish to not want to be me, that I literally feel as if I am not me. Then of course, since I haven't socialized, I've developed a VERY weak sense of self. I spend alot of my time trying to figure out who I am, and why I am alive.

This got really bad at one point and then was more under control. However, recently I've been feeling the DP more often and it is a scary feeling. I have this very odd idea that there is no reason or purpose for me to be alive or to exist. And if I am going to exist, why was I given this particular form? Strange ideas.

 

[Chilling__Echo]

yeah, i deffinately experience this, during presentations or if i'm kicked into high gear kind of embarrassed in an instant, all of a sudden i feel like i'm dreaming, and i kind of say to myself "this is what i fear the most" and i kind of feel detached from the situation... it's weird. but it takes alot alot of stress

 

[indy]

Yeah, I get like this a lot too. I think the reason I often detach myself is as a defence mechanism, when I find it hard to cope with things…and things can get a bit dreamy, and I almost feel lessened responsibility, like, because it’s a dream I can do what I want and it won’t matter…..which scares me a bit. Luckily, the cure for me came in the form of a hedgehog! Ahem! Let me explain…I was in my garden one night and I heard rustling in the bushes, so I went to check it out, and when I got closer this hedgehog scurried out and scared the crap out of me! (I didn’t know they moved so fast!) But the point was I suddenly felt something…these instinctive reactions, and it woke me up, and I remembered that I AM real and I’m NOT dreaming.

So I guess my advice is, firstly, you KNOW you are real, even though you might not feel it, so try to hang on to that fact…and then secondly, and I’m cautious what to advise here, but try doing something that might give you the wake up call the hedgehog gave me. Sometimes just a hug or a touch of another person can help, or maybe a scary movie, I dunno. Hope this helps.

 

[allanboy]

I donno but, isnt that a borderline personality disorder sympton?
I actually think i´m wrong, but could you have a look in wikipedia?

 

[bluenow]

I felt like I was outside of my body once. It was caused by an extremely shocking event.
At my worst with SA, I am very painfully weighted in my body. I feel heavy and am highly sensitive to every sensation in my body. It does feel like a dam ready to break, I don't think I could take much more. Maybe going out of the body is the next step.

 

[Disconnected]

Feeling outside your body is more of a metaphor. I never really have an "out of body experience" it just sometimes seems as if my consciousness is located outside my physical self. Like my mind needs to seperate itself from my body because it can't deal with the physical reality it inhabits. Definately a defense mechanism.

 

[Tom_Measor]

I think its just because we become more aware of your senses, thats all. Most of the time we are on a sort of automatic pilot - just getting on with life. It's when we experience anxiety that we feel a bit like a robot.

Tom

 

[PhazedOut]

i sometimes have a feeling of non-reality when under extreme stress..a busy mall or someone approaching me and saying 'hey sarah hows it going?' and me not recognising them (which is one of my worse case scenarios always..im very bad at recognising people) ...then i get a very strong feeling of non-reality/dreamstate..however sometimes i cultivate intentionally a feeling that i am invisible..a ghost..which is just a ..game i play with myself lol......i think that when we have an adrenaline rush our body needs to release extra glucose and until it does we have a weird feeling like that? maybe thats why a drink or something to chew helps? the important thing is not to feel it..or feel it start even..and then turn back home..the thing to do is accept it..understand it..let it be..and then carry on. (all of this is my own mental specualtion lol)

I suffer very badly with feelings of unreality, it started in large meetings at work 3 years ago. I'm now agoraphobic. Its the worse form of anxiety because it feels so surreal, the sensations frightend the hell out of me. It took ages for me to accept it was stress induced anxiety rather than madness !! I believe though breathing techniques and learning to accept these symptoms I will recover. :wink:

 

[flux]

I feel like that all time.

I work every now and then in a department store (perhaps not a good idea when you've got SA).
Every second seems unreal. Like I cant actually hear what other people are saying, thinking of a reply is even more difficult. It's like I'm invisible watching everybody else.

I don't meen to be selfish by talking to much about myself, but me and my boyfriend of two years broke up two days ago... tomorrow I'm supposed to work. I don't know if I should try to endure the pain by having to be around people in this state or if I should just call in sick...

sorry about my english.

 

[jenz]

whoa 8O ...i used to experience this all the time..but im still trying to make it disappear completely...I think this started happening when i was feeling depressed 5yrs ago...people would talk to me and its like i wasn't even there....mentally i was somewhere else..and people would have to repeat themselves to me several times...this really got annoying with my family as well esp. my sister ..started noticing how frequently i did this..and tell me stop.....i also used to complain to my mom how I didnt' feel like i was awake like i living my life between a dream and wake state....its like i didn't want to hear what people had to say always believing they had something negative to say towards me....well its no suprise i thought that way considering... :roll: ...oh well..but i guess working a little more ..being more aware of it and making an effort to be quick...cause my repsonses are usually slow. ...has helped decrease the freq it a lil... ...i never knew there was a name for it or that others experienced it ..interesting :?