Derealization and Depersonalization: VERY common anxiety effects...please read.

It's so easy to feel alone and abandoned. Great contribution!

Keep hope alive!

Another absolutely amazing journal entry! Like I told you yesterday, I've always wanted to learn more about this particular symptom, but most literature I've read on AD just doesn't seem to cover it, or only describe it very briefly. Thanks for this entry. Looking forward to your next one.. ;)

this is by far the best article I've read so far!!! I've been suffering from depersonalization for the last month, it started out as anxiety over exams then led to this... Its so scary and I've been feeling so alone because no one seems to understand... The worst part is, I keep trying to research it on the Internet and I keep coming across these forums that perople say they had it for 20 years non stop etc. Then I read that its not even anxiety but a separate mental disorder and these things just made it worse for me because it just gave me more anxiety!

This is a very helpful article.....it is exactly what I have been feeling like for the last 4ish months.  I guess I've had experiences with both but its very helpful to know how closely tied it is to anxiety

and all this time I thought I was dying of some unknown sickness.. Thank you for summing this up.. I get this all the time, it feels like I'm not in reality, what I see isn't real.. But thanks to you I now know that I'm "normal"..

I just ran upon your journal! And I just wanted to let you know that this entry has help me out a great deal. I never knew how to put into words how I was feeling, and everyone just seem to look at me crazy when I tried to explain it!! And I truly feel like I am going insane.! When I 1st started to experience derealization, it would come and go. Now, most of the time its a constant thing. I am in the process of trying to get my anxiety under control, but it is really scary. It seems that  I could possibly be living like this the rest of my days!! But thanks to your journal, I have hope that it will fade away. I think the derealization is what keeps me wanting to lock up in the house!! I can't wait til it all fades away so I can start travel nursing! Thanks alot for this entry!!!

Thank you all for your kind words.  I just wanted to add that while you feel as though these feelings will NEVER go away, they will.  For me, it is the oddest thing...I'll be so focused on it, it will drive me nuts...I start working on my anxiety and one day just realize that it has been gone for a while.  As quickly as it comes...it goes...like a thief sneaking out in the night!

One day I'll be thinking how "weird" everything looks....even colors...everything looks so "distorted" and weird...and before I know it...all of that is gone.  The less you try to focus on it, the better it will get (I know...lol...easier said than done when your whole world looks messed up!!!!)  For me, it's always much more pronounced when I''m outside too.  Definitely one of the more upsetting anxiety symptoms.  But, totally normal within the realm of anxiety too...and while annoying, it is totally harmless.

Manthalatrice....I hope you can do travel nursing one day...the possibilities and opportunities are endless...and the pay can't be beat!  I have a good friend who does that.  She travels everywhere.

Hugs to you all!

Hi i have been suffereing from derealization for almost 2months now and let me tell you its the scariest thing someone can ever experiance. i feel like nothing is real to me. i constantley ask myself am i really here,am i really doing this. its so hard to control. i feel like it will never go away. i saw a theripist the other day and she helped a little but not much. she told me it was most likey a side effect to the pot i smoked because this didnt happen until that night. if anyone smoked and there probelsm have been happening ever since them please post something.

I have been suffering with this unbeilivably horrifing symptom of derealization and depersonalzation for six months. Mine started shortly after suffering from encephalitis. I wish I could have found this beutiful entry long time ago. But as stated mine has finally left me I noticed it not being with me last night while in the home depot. I don't usually go to the store because I notice it more when looking at items in the store. They seem not real nothing did. Even my wife and four childen seemed dream like. It does go away when the anxiety goes away. Hold on your not going crazy. It will pass. Also I was treated with a antibotic of the quinolone family right before it started. Come to find out it is a hidden side effect of quinalone antibiotics like avelox which is what I took. You can look this info up. Interesting. Has anyone else here remember if you were givin antibiotic around the time of the onset of depersonalzation. Lord bless all of you.

I've suffered from anxiety/panic disorder for over 20 years. One of my first symptoms was depersonalization and derealization. It was, by far, the most disconcerting experience I've ever faced, I was convinced that I was loosing my mind. It became so bad that, if I was in a a certain low light fluorescent situation, the feeling would be automatically triggered (I lost more than a few future dates because my date couldn't understand how the innocuous light inside the Pizza Hut was causing me intense anxiety)

Talk therapy did nothing to alleviate, I only found solace through medication. For those of you experiencing this disturbing symprtom of anxiety, there are solutions to it. Don't bother going to your family doctor or GP, I wasted 1.5 years hoping they could help. For me, when I finally got over my own social stigma of seeing a psychiatrist/psychopharmacologist, I was finally able to overcome it. I haven't had in years, not since my last "crash". Fortunately, my arch nemesis has been put back in its cage. Don't worry what others may think, do what you have to do for you, to make you better.

To iloveyou723, marijuana is a well known inducer of panic attacks/anxiety, which depersonalization is a symptom of. I never enjoyed pot because I was one of those that it made paranoid. I learned it was actually not good for an anxiety sufferer so I haven't touched it in over 20 years. You may want to give it up as well.

There are plenty of good books out there on anxiety and panic. The one that enlightened me was "The Anxiety Disease by Dr. David Sheehan from 1986. It is terribly out of date in regards to the medications it mentions but it provides a great well of information on anxiety synptoms. Best of all, it's only going for a penny on Amazon in their used books. If you suffer from this disorder, I'd get this book first, read it to get an understanding what you're going through and then get hyself to a psychiatrist. You'll eventually be glad you did, it can be a long process to relief, your mileage may vary.

Just wondering if my DP/DR will lift after my baby, thats what triggered the inital Panic Attack. I think its so stressful its like i wake up zombie like and its like no one can understand me cause there not really there. Freaky, its so bizzare I understand everything and everyone and can respond to people but its just not right! Does anyone have any helpful hints?

my daughter is 18 mnths now and the DP started when she was 5months old. I am still waiting for t to go now. Despite therapy etc it's still with me although a bit more manageable sertraline has also helped a little too but im still always hoping that i will go back to my old self at some point its a frighteneing prospect to have it forever

I have dp and dr sometimes and it is absolutely miserable but it is good to see posts from some of y'all that talk about how it is treatable and curable and it is possible to get over it.  For me, it is usually better when I am distracted because it keeps my mind off it.  Also, I struggle with this myself, but still will tell y'all that I think that proper sleeping habits, proper eating habits not procrastinating with things are some things that I think help with anxiety and panic.  I have a sever panic disorder so I constantly struggle, but I am totally confident I will get through my problems.  Best of luck to all of y'all and please if anyone has tips on helping with dp dr, please post them.  All the best.
Scott

I have suffered from this,well at least I think it is this since October last year.Sometimes I feel as if I'm just not here at all and as if I'm on Auto Pilot.It's so frustrating trying to explain to people and they really don't have a clue as to what you're talking about, this then makes me feel silly! Like some people have mentioned my DR seems to intensify when I'm in a room that has fluorescent lights, don't know why but it can be so frightening.I've got to the stage now where I'm not working and find it difficult to go out and socialise as I feel so weird all the time.I'm glad this forum is here and I'm not the only one.Take Care

i used to feel like everything around me is a dream.. as if i'm in a different zone..
thats gone now.. now i just feel numb.. i cant feel my emotions anymore.. i deep breathe sometimes , it helps.. will i start feeling normal again ?
after having read ur post, i feel assured that it'll fade away.. i cant believe someone had it for 20 yrs! i'd go mad if i have it for that long!

oh man im so happy to finally find what ive been going through for the past 5 months.
i think i experience more derealization than depersonalization. but i definately do have episodes of depersonalization.but i also get random episodes where it looks like theres a big black dot in the middle of my vision that is enabling me from reading anything, does this happen to anyone else?

Jesusisthelord, i also experienced derealization after having encephalitis. It was a nightmare. I was very sick and dizzy and couldn't stand up, i couldn't walk more than 10 steps and i also felt this horrible horrible state of unreality which i couldn't shake off. I spent a lot of time trying to find someone who felt the same way during encephalitis. And to answer your question, i know about someone who started having the same problem after taking quinolones.


,

I lived through this.In one period of my life I was completely stranger to myself.Even when I was looking at the mirror it was like looking at somebody else.Thnks for the infos at your post.It is very helpful.

Hello! Just like everyone else, I am very happy to have found this website. I thought I was the only person who felt this way. I started to feel like I was going crazy and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend did, too. It's hard to explain it to someone who has never experienced it. They look at you as if you're crazy.

Mine startedright before Christmas. I don't really know what triggered it, but I have been overly stressed at work everyday to the point where I feel like I'm goig to explode. I also was on a couple prescriptions at the time, which I have no idea if that would affect anything or not. I started to convince my self that the overdose I took of flonase (which is how the lovely P.A. who didn't know what she was talking about told me to take it) was the sole cause of it all and that it somehow ruined my brain... (my ridiculous worries are another cause of my anxiety). I constantly worry about dieing, about my boyfriend, my dog, my family, my job.... EVERYTHING. I worry every day when I go to work that something is going to happen to my dog while I'm gone.... it's that bad!

I have been having these feelings of depersonalization and derealization for about a month now. It is driving me crazy. I feel like I don't evne enjoy life... or CAN'T enjoy it anymore. I feel like I'm "not really there." I have a lot of panic attacks, and I am terrified to even leave my apartment alone. I don't even go to church alone anymore.....

I want to take my life back and not let this control me anymore, but I am still working on it. I have been going to acupuncture for stress and anxiety, and I am going to start taking some herbs... I prefer a more natural way.

If anyone has anymore advice... please let me know.

The only advice I have (hopefully it might help SOMEONE reading this) is that I use to constantly think when I had lots of anxiety.... panic.... and this "unreal" feeling that I was going to pass out for sure. I was afraid to walk outside of work to get lunch because I was terrified of passing out. My acunpuncturist told me that if I am healthy and it's just panic and anxiety.... I am not going to pass out from it! When she told me that... I did find some relief from panic. I am still working on the "unreal" feelings, though.

Good luck to everyone! Let's beat this!

i was told i had hodgkins diease(cancer) in 2000 and cope very well untill my last treatment of chemotrapy when i just fliped out and every time they tryed to do my treatment i felt like i couldnt breathe in the end they called for a doctor who said it was a panic attack now 9 years on and its only getting worse and the anti depressent dont seem to be helping even though the doctors doubled my medicaltion recently and when i was googleing just how i fill i found out about depersonalization and it fills like a clouds already been lifted because i can now name how ive been feeling for 9 years without feeling like im going mad or thinking that im completely crazy just wondering what helps out there as ive really had enough and really really want help(need help) many thanks kris.

I have had anxiety and panic attacks forever but one day I was sitting at my job (a little shop) by myself just looking out the window. I wasn't stressed, just hanging then I started to panic. I was burning holes in the floor, walking in big circles around the store. It kept getting worse so I got on the phone and called my boss/friend and told her to fly up there because something was wrong. The music on the radio started sounding distorted (like the voices were really whiney or something), then I started to notice the colors in the room changing, my tongue started to feel a little numb, then I really started to freak. My boss got there and mentioned one bad thing she was upset about and not 2 seconds later I fell to the floor. I was sweating profusely, crying uncontrollably, and COULD NOT get up from the fetal position on the floor. My boss even tried to move me onto a blanket, but I was not budging. I was scared to death, literally. I kept looking up at the ceiling and I remember thinking it looked unreal and very scary, this went on for about 2 hours. It kept coming in waves, I would think it was over, then I'd go right back into it. Oh and then my hands and feet went numb. Like a pins and needles feeling that started to travel up my arms  and legs. I really thought I was gonna die. My boss knew I had panic attacks so she figured I could ride it out. I took almost 5 mg of klonipin during this (like 2 then 2 again and it didnt make it stop, but when it finally ended (after 2 hrs)I was very tired feeling. I was truely scared to death, but could hardly speak for fear it would make it worse. This same thing actually happened again on another occasion. I have lived with panic disorder pretty much all my life, but this was way different. ANd I hope it NEVER happens again. Any ideas, has anyone ever experienced this?? Some docs say it could be a seizure but I dont think so cause I never lost  consiousness and because of how long it lasted. Could this have been a bad manic episode?? Please any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Does this sound like derealization or deper. to anyone???

i get this alot too but everyone keeps saying its panic attacks but i all so fill theres more to it.

marijuana gave an INTENSE panic attack and a horrible feeling of depersonalization/anxiety. The panic has subsided, but the underlying anxiety has remained. I think that after a while of feeling super anxious, your brain kicks in to protect you by making you feel like everything around you, including yourself, is an illusion, a movie, fake. It *****, I wished for the anxiety to be gone, and now all I feel is depressed that everything feels so fake to me. Just don't give into the depersonalization. Things are real, you are real. Things have meaning; you have meaning. Never believe that depersonalization/derealization is trying to show you some greater truth about reality or your self: it's ********. I'm still working through all this stuff, and I truly wish all of you the best of luck. You are not alone and we will all get through this and learn from it. Although I smoked pot for years and loved it, it's simply not worth it to take that gamble. Doesn't this make you appreciate regular, sober, calm life? Yeah, me too.

please read through my story...all comes together....ok so I am 23 years old, and a dancer since I was 3. I have been in the arts and in entertainment since then going on to do other things such as acting and singing and moved to new york city when I was 19, where i lived alone in the bronx while trying to persue my career. I recently had a huge mental/nervous/emotional breakdown in mid January of this year. I realized I had unresolved issues with rejection and abandonment from my parents before I left for new york. I was in denial about myself for 5 years. I suffered depression throughout the 5 years and the years before i left home as well, since the psychological effects of my parents discouragement, rejection and ultimate bashing of my presumed profession and me going out to embark on it damaged me but little did i know it was too much to handle and deal with and i went into a severe 5 year denail unbeounced to me until now. When you are in denial (in my case about really dealing with the abandonment which i didn't because it was too painful) you dont realize you are in denial because u ultimately reject yourself and have nothing but negative thoughts caused by my parents conditioning of that in me. I went into denial as a defense mechanism to deal with the new dilema of living and surviving in the world on your own now with no help, no support, and no backbone in family. Now there was no time to deal with the real me and my issues surrounding me and my life, there was only forget me, I must have been the one to have gotten into this mess myself, not I can only deal with superficial ways of living and survival. So after 5 years I am at work one day in january and something i was doing caught me off guard, i dont remember exactly but i just remember all the commotion surrounding me and my co workers made me flustered and that was the first time i ever had a panic attack. It was massive. Heart racing with palpitations, and heavy breathing, lightheadedness, cant think straight, thought I was losing control, like i would go nuts. It feels like a tailspin cycle that you could go into right away where every other thought or moment that occurs after the one of initial panic will also be panic and never go away. You literally dont know what to do with yourself and go crazier at the thought that there is no escaping it and that you cant actually jump out of your own skin which is what you want to do because it seems like the only thing that would make it stop and go away. Anywayz since that day I have had bouts daily of anxiety and panic at times when its too intense, basically guess what happened, I came out of that denial and "woke up" as I like to call it, you see anxiety sets in when an awareness of your soul sets in and u either know what that awareness is or where it is coming from or you don't. I am convinced that anxiety and panic attacks are triggered by stress, in my case massive stress, of coming out of a huge denial. I don't believe that anxiety and panic come out of nowhere with no eventual fully realized reason and if you have it and don't know the reason, you just haven't found it there is always a reason why we panic and have anxiety even if the reason is underlyingly there and "hidden to you" believe me in order for it to go away you need to get to the source of whats causing the anxiety and panic. If it still baffles you then u are still not in touch with your soul. Listen to yourself, its probably more deeply rooted than you think. I believe that I have post traumatic stress disorder now see because NOW is when i chose to deal with the abandonment which wasn't dealt with then when it happened 5 years ago. Your anxiety could be so deeply rooted u think u have no idea why or where it came from, but u must have an unresolved issue in your life never dealt with, and it doesn't have to be anything that HAPPENED it could even be something that DIDN'T HAPPEN too! For example with me I never had to courage to persue my dream because my denial of myself and the right to live my life as i had originally set out to live it stopped me from going to auditions and fullfilling needs with me. I lost sight of me altogether eventually I also abandoned myself stopped loving myself and went on a downward spiral of self- depletion to the point that I have no idea who I am anymore which causes my anxiety and you could imagine ding ding ding.....depersonalization. My anxiety is about myself and who I am in the world, and that got so lost over the years. I was so convinced of who i was, all my talents and beliefs and self'confidence and self-esteem when I first decided I wanted to be an entertainer in new york and hollywood for the rest of my life it was a strong decision backed by a strong belief that i could do it and that i was so confident in myself that it would happen for me, when the whole world just sees being in movies a fantasy. **** that whose right is it to destroy anybody's dreams anywayz especially not your own two parents. Now I have moved back home after 5 years to take care of my depression and anxiety and finally deal with the abandonment issues with my parents that i never dealt with before. The reason why I didn't come home sooner to do so in my opinion was because my parents were impossible to deal with, until now when things got better for them and they started to come around for me now. I even had my mother arrested in 06 for physically assaulting me and almost sent her to jail, some think that is mean and awful but considering the psychological damage they have caused me ironically enough it took my mother to be physically handcuffed and arrested to realize that is was actually morally and lawfully wrong in society to physically touch someone even when they are your child. Im sorry but I was raised by them never to lay a hand on my parents through respect for them, why past the age of 5 and the occasional booty spankings should I have to take actual assualt at the age of 20 still???  that opened her eyes then, I have been physically, emotionally, and verbally abused by my parents since the age of 13, and guess how it all started....with me admitting my dreams and goals of being an entertainer big mistake when you have two narcissistic parents that are selfish, scared, and insecure themselves that they become such control freaks over a young innocent child and their dreams being in its purest state and vision for them at that time only to be bashed and beating to death with their discouragement and leading up to initial abandonment because of. You could imagine why i felt so raw about really pursuing my dreams when it was the reason it caused me so much pain and abandonment in the first place. I rejected my dreams but i was the vision in my dream so then I rejected myself too because so much of entertainment was who i am.

Okay so now i am home and finally dealing my anxiety and panic still persist and I need to now seek treatment and therapy which i pray to God helps because i don't feel like myself (suffering depersonalization) being that i don't even know who i am anymore. That dream that vision is so lost at the moment buried in resentments and depression and now the anxiety I feel like i dont know whats going on anymore i am still in shock or shaken up or something, with this anxiety I cant seem to see past tomorrow, my life changed completely and I feel trapped with no where to go, no means of who i am anymore to pick up the pieces that shattered totally starting with the day of my first panic attack and slowly it all unraveled from there with each day realizing more and more why the anxiety was really maifesting for me. remembering and  having flashback of things I forgot about good and bad and ultimately realizing that i was so unhappy alone and in the bronx alone and scared not dealing properly and not going anywhere just idling is what i like to call it, all leading up to this time where i realize my goals would have never been pursued in that "place i was within me" where i see now i would have had to resolve my issues in order to then get out of my own way and then move ahead and forward. these issues i never dealt with kept me in my own way of pursuing the dream, and i stopped myself. I then became even more depressed when the things i onced loved and couldn't live without which were such a big part of who i was, i could no longer feel good or comfortable doing and it sadened me because i thought i hated those things then, I had turned against myself and my need to entertain and enjoy it, i really dont believe i lost interest or started to hate those things, i think i had hard feelings about them because of what it all caused and now if i can just get over the anxiety and depression i can get out of my own way for good, reconcile with my parents, and learn to love what i do, who i am, and who i am in what i do once again so i can finally have my life.

I am so thankful for all the contributions to this journal.  It just goes to show you just how NOT alone we are when it comes to this stuff.  And it gives us all hope, knowing that others have overcome!

wow..i am truly blown away by all these posts!!..i have suffered for so many years with depersonalisation and panic attacks i honestly felt as though i was the only one and that i was slowly going insane because nobody understood what i was going through when i would try explain the symptoms!!..their reactions would send me spiralling even deeper into this dark frightening hole almost confirming that i was losing my mind!!..it is honestly the scariest feeling i have ever known and brings bout of depression along with it as you consume yourself and obsess about it and how things will never appear 'normal' again!!..i had my first experience when i was 11,now 32 i have done tons of research and am really quite surprised at how common it seems amongst GAD sufferers and that it is a very normal experience when one suffers from an anxiety disorder!..i have been on medication for 10 years and although it has helped a whole lot,i find that i still have episodes which appear out of the blue.This scares me into thinking that i am going to relapse and go back to where i was at my worst!..ie.afraid to go out,to leave the house,to go to work etc..that for me was so frightening,the thought of returning to that dark place is not even an option.I do battle to keep my thoughts positive sometimes..the power of the mind is unbelievable.Negative thoughts are so consuming that they only add to your anxiety..hard to distract yourself though and to think that the feeling will pass when it feels so scary.Anyway i am thrilled that it is a well documented symptom of anxiety and that we can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.It is a very common symptom and NOT dangerous,as horrific as the experience may seem!!..wish everyone luck..we are all on the same road to recovery!!

I have been dealing with depersonalization, since i was in the 9th grade about 14 or 15 years old (now im 18, first year in college).I have been dealing with anxiety since the 3rd grade when i found out i was going to die, i would cry every night hyperventalating not knowing what was going on, my parents thinking i was having an asthma attack! But now i know i was just having anxiety attacks. I remember as a young child i would actually get glimpses of dp/dr!!!! I would think to myself, whoah that looked super real and stare at it for as long as i could then it would
go away...I would even tell my mom about it but she just thought i didnt know what i was talking about, (i was probably like 6).
But i really hate it you know, i cry all the time because i dont know what to do, I seem to only want to sleep during the day because i feel better that people are awake, but it depresses me when i stay up all night , all alone....im a bad insomniac! Ive read posts and it says the cure is to not think about it and ive tried but it doesnt work! i dont know what im doing wrong. Its like when i dont think about dp/drthe anxiety lessens but that dp/dr is sitting there laughing in the back of head.
Nobody understands what i am going through, my famiy is actually full of people that are anxiety sufferers but they seem to wnt to compare there depression to mine, then try and say there depression is much worse than mine,,, i mean come on! i dont want to hear that! i want you to help me!
Ive seen a counselor and that did no good, because i am a shy person, and it brings on more anxiety for me to tell my problems to a stranger.
Ive had plenty of panic attacks in my day (including one very embarassing one at six flags!) but i have actually learned to control those thanks to The Linden Method, but it didnt help me with my dp! And on top of that i am a hypochondriac and at constant worry of having a tumor(because i constantly suffer from headaches), heart problems, lung problems, ahh!! I just dont know what to do. I just really want to know of someone who has gotten over this, and tell me exactly how!! Please i beg of you, 3 years ive had this, and i dont know how much more i can take.
When i sleep my mind is at race, and theres no stopping it, i wake up like i never even slept, and with headache because i stressed so much when i was asleep.

I feel numb, i feel no emotion, when i do have emotion i try and hold it as long as i can before it leaves, i overeat, i feel as if someone could stab me and i wouldnt feel a thing. Everything is so cartoonish, flat, like my hand would go through it as if i were a ghost. Am i ghost? Am i dead and i dont know it? Is God testing me? Am i special on this Earth? Thse are the kind of thoughts that go through my head every day!!!!! I sometimes seem to not recognize myself in the mirror, my family, when of course subconciously i know who everyone is, but then i start getting scared that i wont recognize them permanently...
I think this feeling came when i smoked weed, i had smoked it plenty of times before, until one night i did it, and boy did i trip out! I was running everywhere thinking i was going to die, and i did not recognize anything or anyone, it took me an hour just to lay down and TRY and sleep...when i woke up, it ws still there,yet i was able to control it, and its been like that ever since and its killing me inside, The same thing happened to my uncle as well when he was younger. I was so happy when i found out was wrong with me, i was just searching through the internet one day and found it! Now i know im not crazy, but ts not as easy as it looks for the simple fact that i still think that im going crazy every day!!!
If i ever do get rid of this, im going to make sure that i help anyone i can with this condition because it is one of the scariest things that i have ever gone through in my life!
It really makes me sad to see people at school with no worries, partying, no care in the world, just overall happy!
Ive tried to have friends but at the end of the day i push em away and i dont know y.
I almost didnt graduate because of dp/dr because i wouldnt go to school!!
I had to force myself.
Now a days i cant keep my job, friends,boyfriend, or being happy. =(
All i want is the old days back, what i would do for the old days,,,,,I want to cure this before it ruins anymore of my life, i want to have some real fun~!
I want kids one day, and a husband, but honestly i dont see that in my future until i get rid of this,
someone please help me please! I cry as im writing because thats how desperate i am.....im sorry for writing so much, but even at the end of this post all i have to say is IGNORANCE IS BLISS...

God bless you all.

Hey i have been dealing with this for a long time now too. I do sometimes feel like i do not want to go out because i almost know i will get DR/DP. I also sometimes have it like constantly, and i just want to feel the same i did before. DOES ANYONE KNOW OR CAN ANYONE OFFER TIPS THAT THEIR COUNSELOR/PSYCHIATRIST GAVE YOU THAT HAS HELPED YOU IN ANY WAY? OR JUST ANY OTHER TIPS THAT YOU KNOW?

THANKS AND GOD  BLESS  

Thank you, thank you, thank you ...... I thought I was crazy. This is the first time I read that someone else is affected by fluorescent light. I have been in so many fights with my mom to change the lights in her house, she just couldn’t understand. I get this weird feeling, I just need to escape. I avoid it at all cost. Does anyone have a theory of why this occurs?

You guys are my lifeline

I suffered from this for last 2 years constantly and off and on for about 2-3 years before. im now 18 years old and i put my middle finger up to this illness because the more you get upset and dwell on it the worse and longer it will stay ! im now in a place which i got help from a councler that i know why its there, what it is and finaly how to deal with it.

Sometimes pain and being upset is enevitable .. but misery is an option .. when your feeling shit and down GET UP AND DO SOMETHING that is the some of the best advice ive been given.

PLEASE DONT GIVE UP ON YOURSELFS !!

My father is a G.P and a very good 1 aswell, this illness effects mainly youngsters teens to early twenties after that rare case in only a few people.

I KNOW IT WILL GO AWAY, NO MATTER WHAT IT WILL !! And i am looking forward to that day when im better, im not getting upset or worrying now because its going to go away, maybe next week, maybe in a year, maybe in 5 years ! but it will go :)

I was so bad couple years ago that family would have to hold me down whilst i had a panic attack from the d.p d.r because i wanted to do something bad.  I have had the most inapropret thoughts and images in my mind so im not another person telling you youll be ok that knows NOTHING about what it really feels like.

Go out and try to have fun even if you dont end up having fun its better that sitting at home on the edge of your seat worrying about how you are feeling.

I can feel myself getting better (and one day you will to) and thats because of the help i recieved and my fighting mentality against this nasty defence.

I hope im putting encouragment into all you sufferers heart not to belive this is it for the rest of my life because it definatly aint you will be 1000 times stronger when you get better belive me :)

God Bless

thank you so much i had a feeling that this will never change and i ahve suffered with anxiety for years before and didnt expierence this until a few months ago and it freaked me out.everyday i feel this way but to know that it will go away helps alot!

and btw it all started a night i smoked marijuana too so no one is alone on that.i just want this to go away so i cna get back to my normal life and make kids and be happy.i hope it does!

il try and keep this short as you probably get hundreds of messages! But firstly id like to say a MASSIVE thank you for putting the time and effort into explaining this for people like me who have this problem- good karma will come your way! I have been having both experiences on and off for five years now, it was the most petrifying thing for me at first, so bad that I hardly told anyone as i was so worried it was something really serious like a brain tumour! and i even didnt go to the doctors about it as I was convinced I had a really rare disease that even they wouldnt know about! i had never heard of any one else having this kind of problem and have searched and searched on the internet but finally I have found your info so once again thank you SO MUCH!

over the past 5 years i have managed to make the trippy outty feeling feel alot more manageable by telling myself to just "ride it out" since once your in it theres nothing you can do and so you might as well not worry about it. the thing is....when it first started happening i swear (as far as i can remember) i didnt feel like i was worrying about anything before it happened!? but then obviously once it is happening its difficult not to worry.....does this sound strange to you or do you think there was a part of me that was anxious with out me even bein conscious of it? But then again I do have to admit that I was smoking weed at the time- I have quit now because I am guessing it must have been the weed that was inducing this state. Do you know whether I am likely to be lucky that these horrible experiences will ever stop?


ele_lanham@hotmail.co.uk (if any one else has any answers or advice feel free to email me also) THANK YOU X X

hi everyone, may i just say to find this page for me is a lifeline, i have been suffering from anxiety for 3 years now, it all started from a change in routine (i think), my heart just started beating so fast, i was scared that i was going to die, anyway after the normal routine returned i was better, but still had these thoughts, am i real, is the life im living real?, these thoughts just added to my anxiety and depersonalisation, it got to the point it was so serious i had to go to a doctor to check if it was a mental illness or a tumour, they ruled this out eventually, but now i find that if my routine is changed in the slightest or there is any change, i know it may sound silly but even the colour of the room or redecorating, these thoughts reoccur, and i feel like im just living my life, just for the sake of it, i dont find im enjoying life anymore, i just sit down worrying, i am 17 year old and as it is the college holidays i have nothing to do, i just sit at home and these fuel the thoughts which fuel the anxiety, its just a vicious cycle.My experiences 3 years ago helped me a lot, because now i know when i return to college with all my friends i will keep busy and these thoughts will eventually go away like they did 3 years ago. Im just so glad ive found people that are going through the same things as me so we can share our experiences.

Any questions or Advice E-mail ( ***@****)

Thank You

for some reason my email was blocked, but the email is, (dont put the spaces in) w a s 9 1 9 2 @ h o t m a i l . c o . u k

Hi I too suffered derealization after lupus encephalitis and it was my second episode - the first one being eight years ago aged 23, now 31 . . .

Very very frightening the whole thing but after the acute encephalitis wanes a bit the DR/DP seemed to just go on and on . . .. ..  for me then turned into agitated depression which was also scary and a first time for that as well.  My anxiety was sky-high.  I could not settle to ANYTHING!

I commenced citallopram and that helped the depression and panic.

And counselling to try and get over the 'trauma' of the encephalitis which is terrifying experience as well.

And I was in ITU in March/April this year, husband had to give up work May - Sept, he just gone back to work and I feel 95% back to normal and most (99%) of DR /DP gone!

So hang in there.  I thought it was never going to go.

I felt my arms were somehow separate to me, I could not feel hot or cold, nor hungry or thirsty, everyting, even my voice was 'distant', I felt 'automatic' and could not 'feel' anything.  The DP/DR itself made me anxious and depressed - I hated it in 2001 and this time I recognised it straight away - it really IS like a form of torture and I HATE it.

I have also been diagnosed with severe PTSD - after encephalitis and lots of physical illness and apparently DP/DR common in PTSD.

The docs think mine started though with the delirium with encephalitis and then took ages to 'wear' off but wear off it most certainly DOES!

My heart honestly goes out to ALL of you.  It actualy breaks my heart to think of all of us suffering with this awful, misunderstood, condition.  The brain eventually adapts and sorts it out.

My advice : try and find situations where it is 'less' or at least you notice it less.  Do more and more of this and these activities - try and avoid the situations that make it worse.  As you improve, challenge yourself a little but go -easy, your brain is very adaptable but it needs time to reconnect . . .  and it will - the brain is constantly trying to right itself and it is working for you not against you.  Try and reduce stress as much as possible.  Get a counsellor, take an SSRI if you can.  And have faith in you (and your God if you have one) that it WILL go.

i give you all thanks for bringing up this vital topic - thank you so much

love Cathy x

I've been suffering from dp/dr for about four months now. I believe the onset occurred with a panic attack, but I didn't recognize what it was at the time.  I felt I was going to go crazy and totally lose control of myself.  Everything felt unreal, alien, like I had entered into a dream world.  I initially thought I could sleep it off, but was incredibly panicked to find that hadn't gone anywhere when I awoke.  I thought I had some rare disease or something else that would be very difficult to diagnose. Reading some discussion boards online made me panic even more. I was afraid to tell anyone because I didn't think they would understand.  

I have felt incredible isolation and depression.  I had actually started seeing a therapist a month before for depression, which definitely intensified after the depersonalization/derealization.  I find it to be absolutely debilitating and frightening at times.  Other times I don't really notice it, and have been able to enjoy myself.  But it still constantly in my thoughts, and although thinking about it only makes it worse, I think we all know how difficult it is to not think about it when it becomes the lens through which you perceive the world.  

I just want to feel like myself again.  I know that I would have a new appreciation for life and feeling connected to the world if I did.  I also really appreciate knowing that other people suffer from this too.  It is by far the most isolating thing I have ever experienced (or care to experience for that matter).  It feels better knowing you're not alone, but I definitely wish there was more research/understanding of it whether it is linked with anxiety or a disorder of its own! (Come on science!)

Things that help:

- Reduce stress
- The the health trifecta:  Eat well, sleep enough, and exercise
- Go out with friends and continue to do the activities you enjoyed before
- See a therapist and go on medication if you think it would help you
- Don't smoke marijuana, especially if anxiety is difficult for you
- Adopt the "all things must come to pass" mindset, as difficult as it seems at times!
- Be gentle and patient with yourself

I say this for myself and anyone else reading this: stay positive and best of luck!