De-realisation support

[coops025]

Hi all,

As some of you are away i am suffering with de-realisation and wanted to share somethings with you to help.

I have been getting slightly better recently and wanted to share what im doing that appears to be helping.

As far as de-realisation goes, its basicly your mind in a defensive tired state, normally triggered buy drug use or over thinking. Yes overthinking but in a bad way, think about it most people here will be constantly observing their health and the state of what your Anxiety is upto thus making your mind so tired that it enters a state of constant tiredness. You may also find that you feel un-attached from your feelings due to this.

The main thing is to distract your mind from your symptoms which is the hardest part but let me tell you it works!! :) I found that watching feel good movies or tear jerkers worked very well to bring out my emotions, which also works as a great distraction.

The other things i have been trying are to sleep as much as possible and take a high grade Vitamin B complex (not cheap stuff). Try to keep your mind fairly active throughout the day helps too.

I found that my de-realisation is always worst in the morning which makes sense as my mind is even more tired, and it well get easier throughout the day. This is when i focused more on my sleep which i think is the main key.

Also i have noticed since sticking to my plan that im actually dreaming more and more :)

[learningtobreathe]

Just wanted to let you know that this is one of my worst symptoms, and you're completely right, it's all about distraction! When I first began experiencing this I literally thought I would going crazy, and it was such a scary feeling.

For months I let it be the main focus in my life, and then I discovered that just staying busy does lessen it! I can say that I haven't experienced it for months now, it's so amazing! When you're in the thick of it, it's hard to imagine just pretending it's not there. But as they say, mind over matter!

Things that helped me - exercising, reading, movies, walking my dog, and lots of sleep!

[coops025]

wow it's great that you no longer have to suffer from this scary dream.

Can i ask if it went gradually or did you just wake up and it had gone?

[learningtobreathe]

It was very gradual. It's one of those things, for me anyway, where the more anxiety you have, the worse it gets. After months of panicking about it, I started to try to just ignore it. I don't mean to make it sound easy, because we all know it's not. But you have to find a way to ignore it. And when it creeps back, that thought that things feel like a dream, you have to completely distract yourself, right away.

I feel like anxiety has a way of making you live completely in your own head. And we all have to find a way out!

[Robbed]

As far as de-realisation goes, its basicly your mind in a defensive tired state, normally triggered buy drug use or over thinking.

Although unreality is a common symptom of anxiety disorder (as well as depression and substance abuse problems), the whole idea that it the result of your mind being in a defensive state is pure conjecture. This has not been proven, and it is unlikely that it would be possible to prove this for quite some time. Another speculated cause is that conditions like depression and anxiety simply produce this symptom as a side effect of the altered brain chemistry. In essence, unreality might simply be something more similar to the effects of a mind-altering drug. Of course, others believe it is simply the result of the deeply interspective thinking resulting from problems like depression and anxiety. And some people even think it is caused by the lack of oxygen resulting from hyperventilation (although most unreality is not associated with hyperventilation). But the fact of the matter is that the cause matters little. And it is probably quite clear to most of us here that the intensity of this symptom is quite dependent on the level of anxiety you are feeling. When you are feeling more anxious, feelings of unreality increase.

As far as dealing with unreality, acceptance is once again the best way to deal with it. Accept that it is simply a symptom, and that it will subside as anxiety subsides. Also, as others have pointed out, distraction helps to get your mind off of it - this is DEFINITELY one of those symptoms that gets worse if you worry about it. Finally, keep in mind that this seems to be one of the more long-lived anxiety symptoms. Accept that it will take some time to go away, and be prepared to live with it for some time to come.

[Weeze Begs]

This is going to sound very basic and lame, but when I need some distraction I do a jigsaw puzzle or colouring with my 4yr old Son.

I find that concentrating on a task helps me to not think so much of the symptom at hand.
I also find them relaxing so that also helps me to take 5 and calm down for a while.

[dtrotter]

Human are basically stimulation junkies. We always need to do something, if we are left idle. We tend to over think, which is a bad thing. Oh well, we just gotta find more distracts :)

[coops025]

Just a little update on my progress on this symptom.

I'm doing fairly well now, sticking to my plan where possible seems to be putting me into the right direction. I'm still totaly convinced that sleep is one of the main factors here with keeping your mind distracted.

Just something else i noticed recently but cant say for sure if it is related is eating too much food. I found that when i eat a large meal that my de-realisation becomes worse for a while.

Will keep you posted on my progress with this :)

[stella]

I can relate. I have had it it since my May 2008 and it has gotten much better. It's not gone but I can deal with it now. It makes a person really really strong emotionally in my opinion. If I can get through this and come out of it I honestly can say I have dealt with the worst part of my anxiety. It really breaks you down and makes you tired. I had it really bad last year but I am improving. I thought I should be admitted in a mental asylum honestly. I didn't know what it was but when I read about it I kind of relaxed.

I try not to read about it too much because when I first started researching about it I just felt so sad and thought that I would have to live with it for the rest of my life! When i read that ppl had it for 20-30 years I was so shocked and scared. It doesn't help someone with anxiety to read that kind of stuff. So stay away I suggest.

I also notice when I go to a wedding or a special occasion during the end I get really tired so the derealization gets even stronger which is weird.

[coops025]

So far with this i have found that fluorescent lighting does seem to escualte de-realisation.

To date there are no known cures for this symptom. All people can do is live in the hope that it will pass.

Yesterday i had a good day with this but today is much worse than normal :unsure: Not sure why this happend but i suppose i can treat this as a good sign in some respects.

[stella]

I find that when i start running and doing houswork it gets worse too.

[coops025]

I sometimes notice it can become worse when i have a ciggarette, maybe its linked to running and house work as it is a stimulant and makes your heart rate raise as it would excercising.

Although i do find a temp sanctuary playing computer games. Basicly im so focused on when im doing while i play on the computer the de-realisation becomes dampend :) Problem is i dont want to play games all the time.

Stella i dont know if this is a breakthrogh or not but im noticing an improvment since i started to take half an asprin a day to thin my blood. My blood appears to be ok anyway but for some reason this appears to be helping. If you decide to try this make sure you only have 75mg a day as it can damage your stomach taking too much. I will keep you updated on my progress.