HELP I FEEL LIKE EVERYTHING IS UNREAL

[cody81]

I have been dealing with anxiety for a while now I am 16 years old and this mainly started when i was in 7th grade (12 or 13) where i am just nervous randomly but over the past year or so it has just been getting worse and worse, i havnt been to the doctor or anything about it because i just really hate going to the doctor its not a fun place. i havnt always been like this which is why i really want to feel normal again and it seems to just be getting worse with time and it really scares me about a year and a half or so ago i got this feeling that was veeerrry strange like i was walking at school and there were alot of people around me and i suddenly felt as if i wasnt really there like everything was unreal or dreamlike it was very scary and i figured lke whoa i must be sick but then it passed as i got back into class. then one night i got it again when i was hangin out with friends after that i started getting it every so often that was back around 7th grade i am in 9th grade now and just about this last summer it came back and now i feel like this all the time its so horrible and scary! i have learned to deal with it alot now but i just want to feel like myself again sometimes i seriously feel like im going crazy or like i will never feel like myself again i feel like and i worry that i have all these different mental disorders, i constantly look up my symptoms online because i just want to find the answer its so hard to enjoy the great life that i have when i constantly feel like i am in a dream i swear everything feels so unreal, like all the time now most every where i go i feel like the only time i feel normal is whne im sitting in my room, or in my house but i still get it when i get up and go somewhere alot and it really ***** i also noticed that i am getting really bad anxiety in social situations such as talking to people looking people in the eye i feel as if my neck is stiffening and i feel like my head shakes. (not visibly usualy i just feel it.) i get alot of muscle spasms as well, i constantly think that i am very sick like mentaly i am soo afraid of getting serious mental disorders

also my memory feels like it is getting worse now i feel like i cant think of what im trying to say anymore i cant ask quesitons in class because i feel really strange and when i talk alot of times i feel like it is not me, like it doesnt sound like me its so scary i just want to feel normal again is there a cure for this problem that i have im really a normal person i just dont feel normal anymore and it affects me in so many ways. i usualy wont be aware of the dreamlike/unreal feeling untill i remember it or think of it then it seems to come right back and i will just feel like i am not there and everything is just not really happening scary!!!

about my memory it seems like its getting harder to remember things such as peoples names even though i know themreally well usualy when i'm trying to tell somebody something about someone or anything like that. i cant focus at all i have the worst attention span eveer and its just gotten worse in this year or two year period.

I mean i  just dont know i feel like im getting dumber i cant stand up infront of the class anymore i cant read in class casue when i do it doesnt sound like me to me everyone tells me that im ok and its just stupid because i talk about it 24/7 i wanna be with reality again and be able to hangout and enjoy my life without feeling like im just not myself THIS *****! helpp pleeeasse


ALSO i feel dizzy all the time my eyes suck too they seem fuzzy and dizzy/strainedi dont know what to do becaues my eyes feel really messed up all the time not that i cant see good i see fine there just seems to be like tiny dots and i just dont really know how to explain but thats one more thing that reeally affects me is i feel dizzy like all the time now its so annoying!

[slickaroo]

First thing you need to talk to your Dr...there are so many ppl out there with depresstion and anxiety..you are not alone...try going to the Lucinda Bassit web site...she has alots of help ..but u do really need to see a Dr ..or tell someone how u feel so you can get help

[suzi-q]

I agree with slickaroo that you need to get to a doctor.  Get a full physical (which will most likely come back normal) and then take it from there.  You should then see a psychiatrist...I know you are saying, "heck, no", but seriously, you should.  You want your life back, don't you?  I am sure you can find one on your parent's insurance plan.  It seems to me that you suffer from anxiety and possibly depression.  All of your symptoms are very familiar to me.  They CAN get better and WILL get better with the right help.  Start with your doctor and take it from there..one day at a time.

[MMomma]

Medication can help you, I was the same EXCAT way you were, i didn't wanna go to the doctor i didn't wanna take meds or anything, I felt (feel) the same way you described. I'm also young (18) and its scary, but you need to know that your not alone and that you can make things better!
there are tons of ppl on here for support , just like myself, i have made some wonderful friendships.
If you need to chat PM me
Best of luck!

[CMMC]

I feel horrible like that too, sometimes. I don't have high energy like that, but I feel like every thing's fuzzy, dream like, like I need to wake up. It makes me very....sick some times. sad. sometimes I just get randomly angry. I don't want to see a doctor about it because what if they tell me thats normal teen stuff and I'm just exaggerating for attiton

[rose498]

Ifirst felt like that when i was 12 like my mind just closed on itself. I could manage until 21yrs then everything went downhill from there i took depression anxiety meds for years. Didn't get any help, I have been to a neorologist and a psychiatrist the meds made me sleep all day. Then one day I fdound out about spiritual warfare and after fasting and prayer i remembered being involved in witchcraft when I was around twelve. Iprayed alot to Jesus and got prayed for too. The improvement is unbelievable my sister is 100% okay and iam like 85% okay. Please go to like an evangelical church they will pray for you. Don't waste so many years lik i did. I was close to 30yrs when I started feeling better. Dontgive up.

[Axis]

I feel the exact same way you are describing. There is a good reason for this. The longer you sleep and stay in the house, the more you will feel like this in the outside world. Take the "Mouse in the cage" senario - what happens when you release a mouse into the open for the very first time in like... years (if they lasted years) I believe there was a case where a very disturbed german or austrian dude (don't quote me on this, but it was big news) kept a whole bunch of kids prisoner in a confined space or cellar all their lives and they had not been in touch with the outside world and were acting like animals. I too suffer from anxiety, and yes.. the test results came back with nothing. If you are feeling "Dream-like" your mind could be lazy (like mines) and needs FOCUS. If you focus on things the anxiety goes away, and you see things as real again. If you want to confuse yourself - you may seek interest in a philosophy course which may get your focus back and relates to issues like "What is real?" :P

[dmbfan07cb]

I get a similar thing when I'm talking to someone.  Sometimes I feel like i cant look them in the eyes, and my eyes start to feel like they are straining and I have to close them.  I have to make an excuse like man i have something in my eye.  I dont know what that is about.  Also sometimes i feel like stuff isnt real, like especially out in public

[dlin420]

the website is steady health . com and since they wont show my e-mail ^^ just pm me.

[blueheart824]

Cody I have the same symptoms and I am 38. I have dealing with the anxiety since I was 19. I was depressed at 10,  I mean really bumbed out at 10, imagine. What 10 year old is bumbed out. Well, I have all the symptoms, sweaty, nausea, feels like I have twitches that I need to control. I do take medication now, but I am not saying that you should. My son and I went to the beach overnite and I didn't have one symptom until I came home. Try to find out where and when you are getting the symptoms. Is it at school, before school, tests, family. It's something. Whatever it is, talk to someone like you are. Tell you parents, mom, brother, sister, aunt whoever is not going to judge.  By the way you are not going nuts or mental. You have an anxiety disorder and it is fixable. You just need to find out what is causing it, then you can fix it or stay away from it.
I get it a couple weeks before a final and mostly coming home because it is crazy in my neighborhood. Any way you aren't alone.

[gma2]

Where are your parents in this?

I think because you are a minor, we should be very, very careful with you. You are discussing such important personal health issues and I can't help but think you should be talking to your parents first and if not (for whatever reason) find an advocate (school advisor/counselor?).

Just my opinion but any advice on your medical health, any diagnosing you, or comparing you with what other people have is... well wrong. Because you are not an adult I worry for you. Please look to the adults in your life for this, please.

Take care

[nursegirl6572]

This actual thread is pretty old....so I'm not entirely sure the original poster is still even around.

But..fwiw..I agree about discussing these types of things with minors...it's important that they find an adult in their life to turn to and confide in.

[hearsiecr]

I am still young at the age of 17 but i have had alot of experience with anxiety/ depression. I found for myself that one of the best things that helped me  was exercise. While doing it your heartrate can go up and make you more anxious but long term it helps. Also always have hope, Pray, Talk to someone but dont give up. Always expect to get better because you will. And people who suffer from anxiety and depression often are of higher intellegents. This advice is coming from someone who is currently suffering from anxiety/depression myself. Mine first started when i was 12 and i beat it.I was over it for about 2 years when i got in a car crash which brought it back. i am hopeful i will recover fast this time around.

List of symptoms i have gone through-
-Mindblankness( feels like you cant think or control your thoughts)
-Unreal feeling( you feel completely disoriented)
-dissy and lightheaded(Got this symptom bad 2nd time)
-Depression(tired/ Losing hope)

Thats just a small list of what i have gone though, There have been points where i felt i was going crazy and points where i thought i was dieing. IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE ITS NEVER GONNA GET BETTER///////BUT IT WILL!!!!!!!!

I Hope this gave you hope or any kind of help, Please feel free to email me at ***@**** if you have any questions or just wanna talk and remember im going though the same thing so it would help us both to talk about it. Good Luck

[robierobert]

i have excactly the same symptoms.When I felt my heart wasent beating right or as if something was pushing against my heart and i couldent breath i had gone to hospitals and they checked vitals and did EKG(is a simple test that detects and records the electrical activity of the heart) cause i was having breathing problems and if it wasent my lungs i thought probably my heart wasent beating right and it would mess with my breathing i assumed,but evrything was normal they gave my anxiety pills for a feeling that felt like it was killing me i mean come on. Sometimes i get an arritated asophugus when i eat on my left side i thought that might be a hernia that changing the pressure with my breathing, i dont know havent got checked for it.But theres times my head felt dizzy and pressured and foggy and you just dont feel you have anything going on in youre head  just a big blank when im speaking i still know what im saying natrualy but at the same time i feel like speaking but how when my head feels blank im in and out and i feel like im gona faint or pass out. I have had anxiety and now depression cause i cant find out whats wrong. and it also started at age 12 with anxiety first "its crazy evryone starts at that age" anyway it went on till i was 17 and it stoped for 5years now its back but with the syptoms you said cody81.Sometime i would eat and as the food gose down the pressure would change to wher my breathing would slow down and almost as if my body wanted to stop breathing and a confused feeling at the head wher you see dim colors or( youre pulse in youre eyes), anyway ive had head pressure and light headedness sometimes i looked to my left and right and my left side of my brain gose numb only happend once now i just feel alot of crawling sensation in my head at the brain. or sometimes when i look left and right the body feels like it its gonna just drop but the feeling quickly gose a way.But i do feel confusion when i look at things, I mean i know what they are but at the same time u just feel like you dont know it likes looking at a tool youve never seen before and you wanna ask what it dose that type of confusion.all I can say i probably need to get my head checked up by a brain and spine specialist. iv fought a lot of punks that messed with younger kids and ive have been hit to the head alot but its always came out good  in the end so i might just have to go get my head checked up by a specialist.I hope you've found help cody if not try to finding a specialist that knows about the brain and spine, cause the brain and spine obviously have alot to do with regestering data to the brain to work correctly so that wher you get the feeling  IS what ive been told though.but watch out for normal doctor usually they just assume its youre anxiety and depression if youve have history of it.Its happend alot to my twin. I wish you good luck

[FreeBird91]

I have felt the same way. It feels like your are in a dream... everything seems so unreal and then it scares the hell out of you. You start to think somethings wrong with you and that you mite be going crazy or insane. You feel like no one can relate to you and it makes you feel ostracized. For a long time I thought I was the only one who felt this way and I had all these unnamed feelings. Then I found out that it was just anxiety. It makes me feel better to know that I am not the only one feeling this way, all these people feel what you feel. All you have to do is chill out and try not to worry, if you worry you're just going to freak out more. For anyone else out there who reads this you are not alone.  Peace to all!

[NeoMa3]

How do you feel right now,after all this years? Have you felt that the dream world is much real than the real world?

[Ludivine]

It's been a year now since you wrote about your situation cody81 and I really hope and pray that you are not having this problem anymore. I, myself, have suffered the same symptoms that you mentioned. I'm 27 y/o now and everything started when I turned 24 (3 years of constant worry now) and the worse for me is that I'm expected to act mature and responsible since I'm an adult now and I have to work and have all these plans.

Well, what I want to tell you is that you don't have to feel like you're the only one, I suffer from feelings of unreality, I know what they're like and I hate them, they make me feel that I'm crazy but to be honest if we were going crazy we wouldn't be worrying about it. I'd recommend you to see a doctor or a counselor and speak to your parents about it. I'm just going to write a few things that help me cope with my anxiety, because all you wrote is a sign of anxiety but check with your doctor to rule out any medical problems that mimic anxiety-like symptoms.

1. Music: Singing out loud to the tunes I like it's a great help to me, I speak French which happens to be my 3rd language and for some reason when I sing out in French I stopped worrying about my anxiety symptoms. I believe that it's because I'm redirecting my thoughts into signing and doing it well, plus I love French. So find an activity where you can focus all your thoughts on and enjoy it, might be painting, drawing, dancing, something you truly enjoy. It will definitely help you. Avoid really negative music (heavy metal, rap metal or anything that's too depressing) I had to stop listening to Cat Power because some of her songs, although great ones, are very depressing since she had her own battle with depression and anxiety so I just don't listen to them anymore and that has help me a great deal.

2.Breath really slowly when you feel that way and lay down for a few minutes (relax) and get lots of sleep.

3. Make sure to eat well and get your B vitamins, magnesium and iron (as they are all mood boosters)

4. Make a habit of thinking of at least 2 to 3 things that you're greatful for (you already mentioned you have a great life) and meditate (think deeply) on those things.

5. Exercise or engage in physical activity that will burn you out. I just experienced zero anxiety after having worked for almost 10 hrs standing up (don't recommend doing that) but the point of it is that I was so physically exhausted that I couldn't  think of anything else than getting a food massage and going to bed. I even told my mom that I didn't have time to think about my anxiety then when she asked me if I had experience a panic attack. I answered "I didn't have time to think about it" you see a lot of it is engaging in activities that will prevent us from thinking about it and then worrying about it. Discipline our thought patterns is they key which is easier said than done but trying makes perfect!

Hope and pray this helps you, I know is such a debilitating thing but it's not an illness and you will overcome it.

One last thing, I read once that when our minds are tired of a situation where they don't want to be they withdraw from it and that's why we feel unreal, like as if our brain detaches itself from our feelings to protect us from something we don't want to experience or feel again. I thought that was interesting, think about where you are or what are you thinking when you feel like that. Maybe you're avoiding feeling someway...plus is good to know a rational explanation for this crazy feelings. I used to dread weekends because when I was younger I wasn't allowed to go out, now I dread them because I don't know what to do with that much "free" time since I find no pleasure in going out (I want to avoid a panic attack at the mall or elsewhere), then I would start feeling so unreal Friday nights and Saturdays and Sundays. I hated them and I realized that I was trying so hard not to feel so boring and lonely that somehow my brain would stop those feelings and then I'd feel the unreality thing. It's weird but I hope this will help you.

Keep up and even if I don't know you my heart goes to you!

John 3:16

[anxietyx123]

About 3 months ago I smoked some weed with my friends, I was really really high i think i started having a panic attack which then i thought i was dieing and what not. That night was the worst experience of my life. I will eventually smoke weed again but my panic attacks are just slowing down now after 3 months of feeling as if i cant breathe. Just to tell you now "Cody" i had the exact same symptoms as you. By seeing dots you mean looking in a dark room and you see dots? Everything is fine with you and me, its totally normal. The way I've gotten over my attacks is just dont think about it, I know its hard to picture, but just get distracted.

[cleggstarh123]

Ifound this information usefull cause atleast am not the only one out there
i also feel likes its dajaavuu kind off i feel like its a dream and i just need 2 wake up
ive been seen by 2 doctors and also wating for an apointment at a specialest
they said they think that am suferying from axitey and repetertive thoughts and its
anyoing me at the minute its like gone up a ladder for over the last 2 mouths and i
just want to feel normal again but i dont no how to :(
i need some tips on how to cope with it and b the way i am only 14 years of age
so you could imagine how am feel down depressed not going out with freinds feel horbible
i just need help

[Josh1988]

Dear Cody.
I know how you feel man you are not alone. I have been this way since I was about 13 and over the years it has only gotten worse. I am 21 years old now & its worse then it ever has been. Everyday feels like a dream to me everything feels so unreal. The only time I feel like something is real is if I am in my room. I am married to the love of my life & we have a beautiful 2 year old daughter. But this really makes me sad cause I feel like I cannot give them my all. Over the years I have done alot of research & still have not gotten an answer to why this is happening. I do know some of it is stress and Anxiety. I am so tired of this I just want to feel normal again but I feel like I never will. So I swear to you brother you are not alone. My email is ***@**** if you ever want/need to talk feel free to send me a message.

Josh.

[Suzie87]

Well I'm really glad I found this page. A couple of years ago I found myself falling into these dream like states once or twice a month, sometimes when I was out and about or sometimes when I was just sat at home with my boyfriend. It felt like I wasn't really there, like it wasn't real and the people who I with were strangers. They used to pass after around 15 minutes, I'd pretend that I was OK and wait for it to be over.
For the past 2 or 3 months though I've felt like this constantly. I wake up and nothing seems real, I find myself doing things like making a cup of tea and half way through it I suddenly realise I can't remember doing it. When I get the bus to places, half way through the journey I think 'how did I get here?'
I know that I'm quite an anxious person, I always have been, but it's terrifying and also frustrating to feel this way. I have a holiday coming up and just think whats the point in going because I'm not going to be able to enjoy it. After reading this page I've just made an appointment with my doctor and I hope he'll be able to help me.

[RichReligion]

lol. "16 year old man." this condition will mature u hella fast...its almost like life is speeding up. Embrace it for now, Cody; let it be your teacher. However, there are simple ways to try and keep it under control: it may come and go. Stay away from cafien and sugar; learn to let things go: stop giving a damn about things that are out of your control or things that you cant take back. Move foward with life, Cody, but in the mean time watch comedies listen to jokes; make urself laugh. Rent Happy Gilmore and just laughin till u almost die. People are gonna react strangely to the new you, but just remember that they dont have the knowledge that u've accumalated in your years of the depression and anxiety: you will be more advanced than others. Chronic cycling: the evidence of your dwelling on your issues is in the amount that you wrote; you said a whole lot at one time.  This proves your willingness to stay in that box...get you mind off of things.....be creative: write a song..build a bird cage or something. Free yourself from that box you were trapped in. What you go through does matter but the way you dig yourself out is not in dwelling on it...stay busy, Cody..

[Bran863]

I swear I was the only one who felt this way, I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I'm 18 years old and these symptoms came upon me out of nowhere, which really scared the hell out of me. I was sitting in my kitchen eating some eggs in the mourning, when this big rush of unrealness came over me, I looked around at everything and it seemed like I was high and really started getting scared. My mom drove me to the ER that day and I had tests ran on me, they checked my brain for a tumor cause my symptoms were the same as yours and that's what they suspected, and luckly I was pefectly normal, which made me feel like I was lossing my mind more. It's been 3 months now and I feel like I've gotten better, then again I involantarly make myself feel like I'm getting worse. Just tonight my friend smoked pot and I smelled it and got scared that I would get high and I diddent want to, and crazy as it seems my brain was scared and made me think I was high. So I belive all the anxiety makes you feel like there's something wrong which makes you feel that way, cause I fully understand what your saying. When I'm laying down in my bed I feel normal, I wanna feel normal again so bad I just wanna bust into tears and give up, but I'm teaching myself to chill out and just let it flow so I can ajust to my new perspective of how the world looks to me now. I even went and got my eyes checked cause I thoght that was the problem, but obviously not.
I really hope someone knows what's wrong with us cause I will give anything to feel the way I felt the begging of this year

[mrcowbell]

It's a condition called "depersonalization" and it is a symptom of anxiety and panic. I used to get it all the time but it faded away once I understood what it was and became less fearful of it.

[jaygaga]

omg i feel like that all the time, i feel as if am permenatly high wen i am not, it scares the hell out of me, i went to a doctor screaming for help, n still they never told me athing about something called depersonalisation, i onle found out by looking on the net, and i think its what i have. i am terrified to leave my house because of it, and although many reserch has shown that its quite common and unharmful, i still cant get used to the feeling, i have panic attaks every day due to this, or at least i think there panic attacks,.
i have been put on medication for this, but still finding it hard to cope with, so i really no how u feel, it can onle be described as 1 of the worst feelings in the world, it sound mad but i am really happy that its not just me who has it, and other people understand what am going thru, coz ive been to many docs and said to them, please help i feel like am not real any more, n they just thro tablets at u,.i thought for 4 years i was the onle sufferer, and thought i had a brain tumor or something, but this sounds alot like wat i have, i hope u get better and to every1 else out there suffering, the best to u all xx

[badboygangsta55]

man i feel exactly as you do. im 16 too and gradually i just like feel like im losing my mind. i used to be so in touch with the world, but now all the dizziness has brought on anxiety and sometimes i feel like everything isnt real and it can be pretty scary. just hang in there and know that it will pass. it is only a feeling, and it will come and go, you just need to deal with it. try to actually bring that feeling of anxiety upon yourself to kind of deal with it on your own terms, not having a sudden unexpected outbreak of unreality. during this time our perception of things change. if you have any mental issues cuz of it, see a doctor cuz it made me think i had cancer or some scary disease like that. really i had low blood sugar. once  i found that out it kinda gave me peace of mind. but like u said, the dizziness and the anxiety is still there and thats the hard thing to get over.  hope this help[s!