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1323306 tn?1274660642

depersonalization

I noticed on a lot of these forums anxiety causes a lot of physical problems.I have had anxiety for a while now and it has been very severe.Recently it has infested within me instead of physical I feel separated from myself and confused and I constantly obsess over it,I also google everything and now I fear that I have a brain tumor or anyerism Im losing my patience and I dont know what else to do.Is this happening to anyone else?
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Avatar universal
Hi Jake,

You sound very frustrated. I can relate, I also deal with anxiety( ~ 3 years now) and I feel like it's never going to end. It's invaded every part of my life. I became limited, depended, depressed and a hypochondriac b/c i think everything on the planet is wrong with me. Anxiety has manifested its way into severe physical pain for me. I have chest pains, I get numbness, muscle tightness, never really enjoy a meal, dizziness and so on. I am also on a path looking for healing. I feel like I have lost myself and I dont know how to find it back. I cant enjoy things from my core being without worrying and worrying. Sometimes, I catch myself enjoying a moment and then I realize and I begin to panic. I don't know why this is happening. I started therapy and they stated that its due to the fears that I have and my inability to handle certain situations in my life. I am afraid of behaving the way I truly feel because I feel like people won't like it and it would lead to abandonment. I'm saying this to you because maybe you also have reasons for your anxiety.. sometimes anxiety is enough reason..and my recognizing it, accepting it and not making it the only definition of you is a place to start, That's where I'm starting, re-building my grounds and then building up, to resume my life...
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Avatar universal

anx·i·e·ty
   /æŋˈzaɪɪti/ Show Spelled[ang-zahy-i-tee] Show IPA
–noun, plural -ties.
1.
distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune: He felt anxiety about the possible loss of his job.
2.
earnest but tense desire; eagerness: He had a keen anxiety to succeed in his work.
3.
Psychiatry . a state of apprehension and psychic tension occurring in some forms of mental disorder.


I know but not everyone always know the difference. I personal get really bothered people(not you) that claim they got over there anxiety very quickly say under 6mth. I have this girl in my cert 2 communitie service work class that claimed she has anxiety and the proceded to tell me to "snap out of it" um I dont know world she's from but it sure does not happen that way lol I'm sure most of here has had some say some like to us or worse. I also had another person tell some to "harden up" I dont see how comments like that help one bit.

There are also people like me that really are confused about what is normal anxiety and what is not. My last phycologist made me even more confused I was surprised when I my new phycologist told me I would not teach me how not to be scared but in stead help me understand the difference between good and bad anxiety. This was after I had talked about how I felt I CANT defend my self when I'm under threat(danger) of any kind I other situation where the same thing has happened including my own sister when I growing up. My sister use to smashed my head in to things and when I bitt her in defence to make her back off she would get me in trouble cause obviously she had the proff my teeth marks. Again when I was 18y I was being attacked by a friends aunty and I had just had C-section and she was trying to knee me in the tummy so I dug my nail in to her in order to keep grip on her to keep her far enough away from me the police who must have smelt that dope and alcohole on her breath let alone seen she was under the influance ignored that and proceded to threaten me with jail for treasspassing and assult the only exist was being blocked by my friends mum who was just was as bad.

things happen in life that can create normal anxiety to become out of control and learning to find the balance again can be harder than just knowing that a fear is compleatly irrational no matter what. I've had my compleatly irrational fears as well I use to be scared of knocking my self out cold by running my self in to a wall on purpose(its funny now but never use to be lol) That is a fear I can face and got over 99% lol because I still do walk in to door frames often lol I not very well balanced and I have stigmatistion so I see thing out of center i wondered why I kept missing the fridge door handle almost every time lol. But I dont take that fear and add other to is like my fear of loosing my kids because I might get hurt or knocked out cold from banging my head and passing out.

So yes I do think you can get over irrational fear 99% I would not say 100% as I think anxiety disorders especially can be a bit like being an alcoholic you'll always be at a higher risk or it coming back if you forget to use to healthy tools and resort back to you older negative behaviour's.
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1272523 tn?1318913352
What you are saying is true and i understand. There are things to be appropriately anxious about. I had panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder, i was on medication and went through cbt. I know the difference between appropriate anxiety and irrational anxiety. When i say completely rid your anxiety i mean irrational anxiety. I still have appropriate anxiety, say i have five tests in one day, obviously i am going to be anxious. This is not what i am talking about removing.  I am talking about curing the anxieties that are irrational.
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Avatar universal
Oh yer and never once said you could never get over DP 100% I'm sure you can as that's a symptom of an anxiety disorder NOT anxiety(fear).
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Avatar universal
Every one gets anxiety(Fear) about some thing but it's a natural reaction. With out anxiety(fear) we would be horrable people or worse crimanal's of some nature.

You miss understanding the differeance between anxiety and an anxiety DISORDER.

Do you have fear(anxiety) about robbing a bank? Thats a normal or good anxiety(fear)
it's only a disorder if you think you are capable of robbing a bank just because you had the thought.

It's something my new phycologist has been helping me to understand. I have a lot fear(anxiety) about a lot of normal things that I should never fully teach my self not to 100% ok with because to do so would go against nature I just need to learn to cope and recognise the difference between good anxiety(fear) symtoms and anxiety disorder (over reaction to the situation)

Example My main OCD fear is that I will/can/do hurt people I'm so scared of this that even when people hurt me physically I can NOT defend my self. I was date raped at 16y and while I did try to get him off me and did say no over and over I never once got violant because I was so scared that I would injure him more than he could hurt me and then I would be the one in jail or go insane over hurting some one that I would end up in a padded cell. I was also a victom a home invasion recently at 29y and while my OCD took over over again I stood between the other people and kids in my house and the guy(a friends boy friend) smashed him way in to my house and all I could do was to tell every to go to the back room of my house to protect them and I stood there like a barracade and he punched me because I would not let him threw and then he left thank goodness as we had called the police and told him several time's. I still did not take care of my self for a while till I knew it was safer and people in my house were ok. I have never been able to defend my self.

The word anxiety may not be the perfect word but I say you'll never be anxiety compleatly because the symptoms of natural fear(anxiety) are the same as the bodys natural's responce mecanisim but it's just that we have responded the wrong way to benign situation's which has caused us to get an anxiety disorder. There is a huge difference beteew anxiety and as anxiety disorder. When you have a disorder you have not learnt healthy tactic's to teach you body that this situation is not really scary so you cant push threw the anxiety and then the anxiety get worse which is the normal brain's responce.

You may have gotten over your anxiety disorder but you would still have anxiety if a bad situation was to happen. With out anxiety in bad situation we start making the wrong choices and our life gets out of control in whole new direction.
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1272523 tn?1318913352
@mum2four
Let me assure you that you can defeat anxiety and DP 100%. It is not something you have to live with, you can get it out of your life. This is not a condition you are born with, it is something that you have developed over time, and you can reverse it. I will be putting together some steps that i took to help me completely remove anxiety from my life.
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Avatar universal
I know it's a hard battle to fight it really is. I think if anyone claims they beat anxiety easy or as some people say "hardened up" or "snaped out of it" then they really were not dealling with an anxiety DISORDER. they may have had anxiety but not an anxiety disorder.

You will never be over anxiety 100% because anxiety is part of life you just need to teach you brain what really is dangerous and what is not.
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1323306 tn?1274660642
I thank you for your advice and help.I do think that one day I can be rid of this I just feel hopeless right now.Even now its 4 in the morning and I feel terrible.
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Avatar universal
I know that feeling as well mate but trust me just keep trying it and evently things do start to get easier, that go's any susjestion that people give you to help with anxiety. It may not work first time but one day it may be something that helps.

When I first started dealing my OCD obsession I could maybe brack my concentration from my obsession every fue hour's and now 5 years later it more my obsessions bracking into my every day thoughts. The point is that you try and expose your self for longer each time if you can.

You cant get over anxiety if walk away from the situation that make you feels anxious before the anxiety has peaked and started to come down. When it come to OCD that also includes not giving in to compulsion(things that make you feel less anxious). Example if you ask for reasurance that your not sick from a Dr or person then try to avoid giving in to asking for reasurance for as long as you can and try to make it longer each time. The key is that have to let the anxiety peak and start to go down a little or lot.
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1323306 tn?1274660642
Thanks for the advice brett,I tried my hardest to ignore the disturbing feelings today and it helped a bit.I just hope I can keep it up because its so hard not to concentrate on why I dont feel like im me anymore.Especially when I see my coworkers laughing and having a good time and I find myself wishing I was like them.I am going to tell people to quit asking me whats wrong and if I feel ok because there is no way to explain to them whats going on and if you do they look at you like your crazy.Also to mum2four I try to do that sometimes but it rarely works you know how sometimes when you say a word so many times it loses its meaning and doesnt make sense? That happens to me basically with everything daily and if I try to concentrate on something thats what happens.
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1272523 tn?1318913352
One thing i found that helped me was to act like i didn't even have anything wrong with me, which i didn't and you don't either. Tell people around you not to ask you how you are feeling because that will just remind you of it. When you have this condition it is burned into your subconscious so anytime you hear and see something relating to it you automatically relate it to yourself. Act like you don't even have it and it will help a bunch.    
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Avatar universal
I use a google a lot to research my symptoms....but I never find my obsessing over the idea that I really do have it.......It fact for me it often has the oppersite effect and it just feel like I'm reading infomation very interesting infomation.

Dr assume I'm pretending when I do go to see one for an issue because I tend to use words that are of a medical nature like the words derealization and depersonalization.

I am a little nieave(might be the right word) about how a person finally comes to conclusion they have health anxiety and not real health issues. Is it because they see there dr about what they fear or what they research. Is it because the symptoms just seem to start happening after they research. I'm really very confused specially since comeing to this site as people are foreva telling people it's anxiety alot not matter what section the thread in posted in.

I mean I know anxiety can produce some negative feelings and symptoms but I'm still very unsure of how it possablly truly mimic a more serious illness. I've suffered from GAD and OCD since I was about 8y and have always loved reading medical books. I use to look at the symptom of schizophrena almost every day when I a younger to make sure I had not develop a new symptom. I had fear that I was crazy and needed to be locked up a padded cell right up till I was 27 when I finally started opening up to my Dr. But I've never done this with a phyiscal illness I often research to make sure I know everything about my family or friends illnesses. I feel the need to know about illness JUST INCASE I need the info but I dont take on the illness. I get the thought "what if" some time" but I've always had the abilty to know that it was highly unlikly because...............................................what ever the reason was.

Since actually getting really sick a lot over the past 2 years and finally discovering that I had daily tachycardia not related to anxiety(Dr's tryed for 6mth to blame my weight and anxiety) I could not possable be scared of standing, which is when my highest HR would happen 185 walking slowly. or drinking(135 in hospital) and eating(120 in hospital) or changing postion etc. It did not matter what I did my HR would go funcky and would stay around that number till I sat down and rested long enough for my HR to recover. I just dont know why my HR is doing it and I dont want to health anxiety issues and I want recognise health anxiety before it get out of control if that where my frustration over why this happened to me ends up going.

So how do you know its health anxiety???????
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650416 tn?1274711495
i can so relate to you jake!!!  the internet is so not good to google everything...but i do....knowing i shouldnt...i read about a young person this am..37...a former mlb player dying of cardiac arrest..and i had anxiety this am about it! so i google it....ugh..i hate the way my mind works sometimes!!!!
hymynameisbreett....i would love to hear more ways to deal with this!!!
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Avatar universal
The best way to over come depersonalization or anxiety in general is to bring your self back to the real world. Look at whats around you talk to you self about the object around you the tree's the car's the TV what ever is around you just take notice of them and avoid whats going on in your head. The better you can do this the more the quicker the feeling will pass and it can work for anxiety in general. It called "grounding".

I use to suffer from derealization mainly tunnel vission but other issues as well. I still some time get the tunnel vision but I just start focusing on whats around me like and dont allow my self let the tunnel vission take over any more. Dont get me wrong it took a while to learn I started treatment when i was 27 and had a set back at 29y(home invasion) I'm now 32. Even just now as I wrote that the tunnel vision tryed to take over. I just reminded my self I'm typing and I'm fine and I'm also reminding my self what is around me and not letting my thoughts focus on what causes the tunnel vision.

Take it easy. Are you an anti D to help with anxiety?
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Avatar universal
Oow yea that's how I sometimes use to feel. I use to Google every lil symptom and that would make me get more Paniky and I was just making myself go crazy.
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1272523 tn?1318913352
DP is only a symptom of anxiety, there is nothing wrong with you. I experienced DP while i was going though my anxiety, which now i have cured. DP was one of the most horrific things i have ever gone though. I myself found it to be one of the worst symptoms. What i need you to do is trust me 100 percent on this i have cured my anxiety and you can too. What you need to do is ignore these symptoms, it is all in your head. I know its going to be hard at first, but it gets easier the more you do it. You need to stop looking for how you felt before you started experiencing these symptoms. This was a big deal for me, i constantly would compare how i was feeling to how i felt before i had anxiety and all it did was just created more anxiety! hopes this helps if you need anything else just let me know i would be glad to help!
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