Derealization/depersonalization?

[kaybeee]

Does anyone suffer from either of these? I guess I don't suffer from it too seriously, but I was/am experiencing a lot of anxiety due to large changes happening in my life. I'm moving, starting at a new school, in a long distance relationship, etc so my doctor said that things should feel better after I get situated in my new place. Because it's temporary, she advised no medication for now unless I wanted it, but I said no because I've only been experiencing the anxiety for about a month.
Sometimes I just feel like my life is a dream, but I know that it's not. Sometimes the things around me just don't seem real. Maybe I'm just thinking too much or maybe it's part of my anxiety, but I've never self-harmed because of this. I don't even know if I have it. I've never had an out of the body experience or anything like that. My doctor said that my anxiety is due to my big life changes and she also said I will probably experience a few depression symptoms too and I have..things like lack of motivation, not really caring about much or being in the mood to do anything. I've never experienced bouts of just wanting to cry except for when I missed my boyfriend.

I've never had a panic attack because of the derealization, but then again I don't even know if that is what I'm experiencing. I can still do things throughout the day, but the minute I start thinking that I'm in a dream I can't stop. Sometimes it makes me a little panicky, but nothing too serious happens. I've never experienced the seizure feeling (from what I've read online) or like something/someone else is controlling me.

Any thoughts?

[RavenM]

This is probably one of the most common and most unsettling symptoms of anxiety. Since you are going through so many changes, it would make sense that your life doesn't always feel real. You're not used to the changes yet! So to you, it doesn't yet feel like your life. Give it time and rest assured that what you're experiencing is 100% normal....if anxiety can be considered normal lol. :)

[kaybeee]

Thanks RavenM. Always there to help me out! haha

[RavenM]

No prob! :)

[Joe.]

I get some pretty bad derealisation or whatever it's categorised as.

I find the best way to 'deal' with it is to embrace it almost, don't link it too much with negativity, that causes more of it. :)

[Canna87]

Had a couple episodes during childhood unrelated to trauma. I had a normal childhood. The feeling is comparable to being stoned, hard to make sense of when you're ten. Only happened once or twice as a kid but when I was a young adult and was started smoking marijuana, the feeling was familiar.

[JaneB]

This happens to me a lot. It can definitely be triggered by big life changes or interruptions in your normal routine. Sounds like you have a lot of that going on. My experience is that I just need to ride it out when I feel like that. I like to call it "dream-walking," because that's what it feels like to me.

Try to do things that go well with the sensation if you can. Lay in the dark and listen to your favorite music really loud. Go for a walk someplace peaceful. Do some kind of art if you're into that. In a weird way I find the derealization or whatever you want to call it to be enjoyable when I do stuff like that. You're not having panic attacks, or self-harming, or any other serious stuff because of it, so that's good. The best thing to do is probably just ride it out and know that it'll pass ... probably once you're settled into your new life after you've moved and established a routine.

Good luck with everything!! Hang in there! :)

[superchick22684]

The first time I experienced this I was walking across a college campus, that was about 7 years ago and it was quite scary at the time. However at that time I had no idea what I was experiencing. It almost feels like an out of body experience. What worked for me is finding an object to focus on and eventually it brought me back to feeling like myself. I've experienced it a few times after having a panic attack as well but not nearly as severe.