Depersonalization and derealization

stevow7

stevow7

Well known member
Hi! Anyone else experience this? I think this is mostly due to anxiety?
What's happening is, I feel like inside a bubble. I see human as not... human and can't describe it. I feel like I'm not alive, but I know I'm.
I want to stop thinking about this by trying to focus in the present moment and avoid thinking of symptoms, but I get derailed to the symptoms. :/
It's weird.

Something I'm reading which seems to be a good source of knowing about this is,
https://anxietynomore.co.uk/depersonalisation_and_derealisation/ (Help with Depersonalisation and Derealisation | Anxietynomore)

btw, is there a way to delete threads?
 
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stevow7 said:
Something I'm reading which seems to be a good source of knowing about this is,
https://anxietynomore.co.uk/depersonalisation_and_derealisation/ (Help with Depersonalisation and Derealisation | Anxietynomore)
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Wow, what an excellent resource this is! I started to copy something that I thought was particularly relevant and useful, and then I realised that the next paragraph was just as good, and then the next, and the next and so on - basically the entire web page is extremely informative, and offers great advice for breaking out of the obsessive habits which result in this symptom of depersonalization.

Try this exercise: First, print out sections of the web page in smaller chunks, using a big font. Re-read just one section every day, and then try writing about whatever comes into your mind after reading it. Try to focus on honest emotions, not on anxiety and fear, which are NOT emotions. These are the shallow symptoms covering up your emotions. Fear and anxiety are the distractions! They exist because your fearful brain really does not want you to experience true emotions.

Write about how it feels to be cut off from the rest of the world when you experience this depersonalization, and write about how it would feel to be connected.

Ultimately, you want to make the connection between depersonalization now, and how you had to protect yourself as a child by disconnecting your emotions from your experiences. See where that takes you.

This is not going to be easy for the super-OCD brain, @stevow7, which is why I'm suggesting that you break it down into much smaller tasks. I know you've been suffering for a long time, but I can see that you've been doing much better this last year!
 
JanAtheCPA said:
Wow, what an excellent resource this is! I started to copy something that I thought was particularly relevant and useful, and then I realised that the next paragraph was just as good, and then the next, and the next and so on - basically the entire web page is extremely informative, and offers great advice for breaking out of the obsessive habits which result in this symptom of depersonalization.

Try this exercise: First, print out sections of the web page in smaller chunks, using a big font. Re-read just one section every day, and then try writing about whatever comes into your mind after reading it. Try to focus on honest emotions, not on anxiety and fear, which are NOT emotions. These are the shallow symptoms covering up your emotions. Fear and anxiety are the distractions! They exist because your fearful brain really does not want you to experience true emotions.

Write about how it feels to be cut off from the rest of the world when you experience this depersonalization, and write about how it would feel to be connected.

Ultimately, you want to make the connection between depersonalization now, and how you had to protect yourself as a child by disconnecting your emotions from your experiences. See where that takes you.

This is not going to be easy for the super-OCD brain, @stevow7, which is why I'm suggesting that you break it down into much smaller tasks. I know you've been suffering for a long time, but I can see that you've been doing much better this last year!
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Ayooo thanks so much Jan! Yeah I went through a lot of therapy and I'm doing WAY better, but I still got some ahead of me. I got this. I hope you and everyone are doing fantastic!!! Glad I stumbled upon you guys. I will be working on getting connected.
 
You reminded me of a brief moment when I went through depersonalization and derealization when I was 17. It was so frightening and I didn’t want to tell my mom out of fear of her not being able to help me and not soothe me properly. For me it came on quickly because something scared me. Luckily I was able to Google my symptoms. The advice given was to simply move forward, accept that maybe I’ll be stuck feeling like this forever, and discontinue checking if I felt normal again upon waking in the morning. Once I was able to accept it, the feeling dissipated.

At the time, of course, I didn’t know anything about TMS. I had no idea I was applying the same tools mentioned on this forum, like acceptance.

But it was all anxiety and fear. Once my body calmed down, it all went away, and it will go away for you too.
 
HealingMe said:
You reminded me of a brief moment when I went through depersonalization and derealization when I was 17. It was so frightening and I didn’t want to tell my mom out of fear of her not being able to help me and not soothe me properly. For me it came on quickly because something scared me. Luckily I was able to Google my symptoms. The advice given was to simply move forward, accept that maybe I’ll be stuck feeling like this forever, and discontinue checking if I felt normal again upon waking in the morning. Once I was able to accept it, the feeling dissipated.

At the time, of course, I didn’t know anything about TMS. I had no idea I was applying the same tools mentioned on this forum, like acceptance.

But it was all anxiety and fear. Once my body calmed down, it all went away, and it will go away for you too.
Click to expand...

Hi! I'm glad that it went away for you! I'm working in getting better for sure! :) Hope you and everyone are doing well!
 
stevow7 said:
Anyone else experience this? I think this is mostly due to anxiety?
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Hi, yes I have had this all throughout my life on and off, but I never knew it was a symptom of anxiety until this past year when I read Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. This is an amazingly helpful and comforting book that describes anxiety (nervous illness); how you get it and how you can make it go away. I can’t recommend this book enough! Even now, I still have moments when I feel this—and it’s always because something new has triggered me or scared me. I just recognize it for what it is, now—just a big fat wave of anxiety, and I let time pass. It usually goes away within days, or less. Learn all you can about anxiety (this article you attached is great!). The more you know, the more you can help yourself heal. Try to find what’s scaring you right get now. It can even be a scary thought you are repeating to yourself.
 
Diana-M said:
Hi, yes I have had this all throughout my life on and off, but I never knew it was a symptom of anxiety until this past year when I read Hope and Help for Your Nerves, by Claire Weekes. This is an amazingly helpful and comforting book that describes anxiety (nervous illness); how you get it and how you can make it go away. I can’t recommend this book enough! Even now, I still have moments when I feel this—and it’s always because something new has triggered me or scared me. I just recognize it for what it is, now—just a big fat wave of anxiety, and I let time pass. It usually goes away within days, or less. Learn all you can about anxiety (this article you attached is great!). The more you know, the more you can help yourself heal. Try to find what’s scaring you right get now. It can even be a scary thought you are repeating to yourself.
Click to expand...

Hi!! I'm thinking of re reading it again. I read it. Good book. What do you do when you find out what you're scared off tho?
 
I personally had severe DP/DR in 2019, the symptoms are so scary its very hard to not get obsessed about them. Every human has the ~DP/DR mechanism in their brains, its a defense mechanism. A healthy person will have these symptoms on extreme situations like accidents, or extreme danger situations.I think the most important thing to overcoming this is realizing and believing its a harmless condition, and when the symptoms subside you will have no residual damage or "scar". For me accepting this was the thing that helped me the most, as 90% of my anxiety was symptom related. I'm totaly dp free for 6 years now.

I think this is very relatable to TMS. Prior to getting DPDR, I was semi-disabled for 8 months with crippling eye pain when reading anything (TMS), I went to 999 doctors made 999 exams and didnt find any structural damage, after I got the DpDr attack the eye pain symptoms subsided, and shortly after I recovered from DPDR I got RSI (TMS) in both arms that I have for 5 years now. This experience makes me wonder if dpdr isnt part of TMS.


Btw im working on Sarno method for 4 days and feeling 70% better already. (typing all of this with keyboard, 6 days ago I was using voice recog and just bought headmouse because the pain was too much)

I don't know exactly if DPDR fits into TMS, but with my experience with the the mechanism of this "disorder", is extremely similar. The fear of the symptoms make the disorder to perpetuate, if i were back into DP day one, I think with the Sarno's book together with the psychotherapy my symptoms would have subsided way quicker.
 
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