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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 22 of 22. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
It has been such a long time since I had experienced derealization, and now it's happening as I type this. I utterly detest the feeling. Has anyone ever had this completely go away?
Elle
Posted by Miss Honeychurch on November 26, 2003, at 7:36:01
In reply to Derealization, posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
Elle, I haven't felt it in over a year now. HOw long had it been for you?
Posted by crushedout on November 26, 2003, at 8:55:27
In reply to Derealization, posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
> It has been such a long time since I had experienced derealization, and now it's happening as I type this. I utterly detest the feeling. Has anyone ever had this completely go away?
> Ellewhat the heck is derealization?
:)
Posted by Speaker on November 26, 2003, at 9:14:23
In reply to Derealization, posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
I am not up on all of this terminology...can you explain derealization
Posted by Miss Honeychurch on November 26, 2003, at 10:57:23
In reply to Re: Derealization/question, posted by Speaker on November 26, 2003, at 9:14:23
Derealization is hard to explain. Basically, it is a feeling where nothing feels real. I experience it in times of great stress and I always feel like people who are 3 feet away from me are actually 15 feet away from me. Or I just don't feel present in the moment. It's as if you are watching yourself have a conversation instead of actually BEING in the conversation. It's vague, I know, but the best I can do.
Posted by Eddie Sylvano on November 26, 2003, at 11:56:09
In reply to Re: Derealization/question, posted by Miss Honeychurch on November 26, 2003, at 10:57:23
> Derealization is hard to explain.
-------Is it ever. I used to get it quite a bit, but it seems to have gone away.
The only way I can describe it is to say that things lose their immediacy. Ordinarily, you don't have to give any thought to sensing things, you're just enmeshed in your environment. When derealized, though, everything seems distant and washed out. It takes effort to interpret the environment. It's like your mind is drawn way down inside yourself, in some other place. You hear yourself with the same seperation as you hear other people. Your senses are out of focus with your "self", and hence seem dreamlike. It's very disconcerting.
Posted by judy1 on November 26, 2003, at 12:02:28
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by crushedout on November 26, 2003, at 8:55:27
http://www.panic-anxiety.com/depersonalization_derealization.htm
this is a good site to explain it.
Posted by sadmom on November 26, 2003, at 12:02:37
In reply to Re: Derealization/question, posted by Eddie Sylvano on November 26, 2003, at 11:56:09
According to my pdoc it is caused by anxiety. If I start feeling like "I'm not there" I might take a Xanax.
Posted by judy1 on November 26, 2003, at 12:03:46
In reply to Derealization, posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
It waxes and wanes for me. If I'm under a great deal of stress, then I feel it more. Are things particularly stressful for you now?
take care, judy
Posted by Camille Dumont on November 26, 2003, at 13:42:30
In reply to Re: Derealization » Elle2021, posted by judy1 on November 26, 2003, at 12:03:46
I've had the problem for years although its more depersonalization in the sense that its more me thats not me rather than the world around me thats not real. It makes me fells as if I'm about a foot behind myself ... a little higher as well and I'm watching an automaton go about ... rather than crontrolling it.
Seroquel killed it but it also made me a zombie so I stopped taking it. What seems to help me is when an episode is about to start or if I feel as though its about to start I just grab something : a ball, a pen, a book, my desk, whatever ... and I squeeze it really hard ... until the muscles in my hand hurt. The pain sort of keeps me there and its not as dangerous as SI,
Posted by Dinah on November 26, 2003, at 15:59:16
In reply to Derealization, posted by Elle2021 on November 26, 2003, at 6:03:24
I get it a fair amount, but often I don't mind. If I'm going somewhere crowded and noisy, it sometimes looks like I'm viewing the scene through one of those weird lenses, fisheye or whatever. But that touch of unreality is sort of protective. If I don't panic at it, it makes the ordeal easier to bear, as if it were happening to someone else. I almost welcome it at those times.
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:36:54
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by Miss Honeychurch on November 26, 2003, at 7:36:01
> Elle, I haven't felt it in over a year now. HOw long had it been for you?
Probably about 6-8 months with no major episodes of it, just those times when you "feel" it coming on and try quickly to stop it. I guess last night when I wrote that post I was kinda upset. Now that I think about it, it was more depersonalization than derealization. Either one is scary as all get out, but I seem to be able to deal with the depersonalization better than the latter.
Elle
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:38:01
In reply to Re: Derealization/question, posted by Miss Honeychurch on November 26, 2003, at 10:57:23
That's an excellent explanation, way better than anything I could have came up with! :)
Elle> Derealization is hard to explain. Basically, it is a feeling where nothing feels real. I experience it in times of great stress and I always feel like people who are 3 feet away from me are actually 15 feet away from me. Or I just don't feel present in the moment. It's as if you are watching yourself have a conversation instead of actually BEING in the conversation. It's vague, I know, but the best I can do.
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:39:52
In reply to Re: Derealization/question, posted by sadmom on November 26, 2003, at 12:02:37
I was told the same thing, except replace Xanax with Ativan... In fact I just took one because I can't sleep, it's 4:45 am here and I haven't slept for more than an hour and a half all night. I'm feel ultra-weepy and stressed and not sure why.
Elle> According to my pdoc it is caused by anxiety. If I start feeling like "I'm not there" I might take a Xanax.
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:42:29
In reply to Re: Derealization » Elle2021, posted by judy1 on November 26, 2003, at 12:03:46
Waxes and wanes for me also. Yes, I am under stress right now. And for some reason I feel extremely weepy at the moment and have been like this for about two days. My sleeping schedule is all off too. I haven't slept peacefully for over two weeks. When I do sleep I am plagued by nightmares that seem very real until they finally scare me awake. I feel really awful right now, and to make matters worse I'm coming down with a cold, probably due to lack of sleep. Sorry to be such a complainer. I'm not usually like this.
Elle> It waxes and wanes for me. If I'm under a great deal of stress, then I feel it more. Are things particularly stressful for you now?
> take care, judy
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:44:10
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by Camille Dumont on November 26, 2003, at 13:42:30
Thats good advice. This usually happens to me when I am driving and stopped at a stoplight. I try to grab the steering wheel as tightly as possible and try my best to listen to the passenger talking so I can stay in the moment. It's hard though.
Elle> I've had the problem for years although its more depersonalization in the sense that its more me thats not me rather than the world around me thats not real. It makes me fells as if I'm about a foot behind myself ... a little higher as well and I'm watching an automaton go about ... rather than crontrolling it.
>
> Seroquel killed it but it also made me a zombie so I stopped taking it. What seems to help me is when an episode is about to start or if I feel as though its about to start I just grab something : a ball, a pen, a book, my desk, whatever ... and I squeeze it really hard ... until the muscles in my hand hurt. The pain sort of keeps me there and its not as dangerous as SI,
Posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:45:07
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by Dinah on November 26, 2003, at 15:59:16
> I get it a fair amount, but often I don't mind.
Lucky you, it bothers me terribly.
Elle
Posted by judy1 on November 27, 2003, at 10:54:16
In reply to Re: Derealization » judy1, posted by Elle2021 on November 27, 2003, at 6:42:29
Sleeping is such a huge component of my mental health that I would look at trying to take care of that first. There's a type of nightmare called hypnagogic hallucination where the person is conciously awake but the brain is still dreaming. It's closely linked with panic and anxiety disorders. Do you think you culd possibly be suffering from that? Missing sleep screws up hormones and affective states and just slides down from there. No wonder you're feeling so bad. I don't know what your med regime is like or if you try to keep some kind of sleep hygeine, but for me getting sleep helps all my other symptoms. Just 7.5mg of remeron will put me to sleep, have you ever tried that? Holidays are stressful all by themselves, I hope you feel better so you can enjoy them- judy
Posted by crushedout on November 27, 2003, at 11:04:19
In reply to Re: Derealization » crushedout, posted by judy1 on November 26, 2003, at 12:02:28
> http://www.panic-anxiety.com/depersonalization_derealization.htm
> this is a good site to explain it.thanks, judy. that was helpful. i never realized there was a name for this, or that other people experienced it. i've never even been able to describe it to anyone before.
crushed
Posted by crushedout on November 27, 2003, at 11:07:40
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by crushedout on November 27, 2003, at 11:04:19
maybe this is more depersonalization than derealization, but for me, the experience is like i hear my own (dumb, slow, distant) voice echoing in my head, and i can't turn it off.does that make sense to anyone?
> > http://www.panic-anxiety.com/depersonalization_derealization.htm
> > this is a good site to explain it.
>
> thanks, judy. that was helpful. i never realized there was a name for this, or that other people experienced it. i've never even been able to describe it to anyone before.
>
> crushed
Posted by Elle2021 on November 28, 2003, at 1:17:56
In reply to Re: Derealization, posted by crushedout on November 27, 2003, at 11:07:40
>
> maybe this is more depersonalization than derealization, but for me, the experience is like i hear my own (dumb, slow, distant) voice echoing in my head, and i can't turn it off.
>
> does that make sense to anyone?Yes it makes sense to me. I'm not sure whether it has anything to do with depersonalization or derealization, but I do believe it has everything to do with anxiety disorders. When I feel a panic attack coming on, that happens to me. Not any fun is it?
Elle
Posted by Joslynn on December 1, 2003, at 22:10:16
In reply to Re: Derealization » crushedout, posted by Elle2021 on November 28, 2003, at 1:17:56
Oh my gosh, I have felt derealization but never knew it had a name! Thanks everyone for the info and web sites. On that web site Judy1 posted, one of the symptoms was that people feel like they are under glass, and I feel like that when I am in a major depression. I felt like I was in between two planes of glass.
Also, ordinary objects looked odd and foreign in a very strange and frightening way. I knew what they were and what they were for, yet they seemed like displaced artifacts from some other time or planet. I would stare at something like a faucet and it would look so foreign.
When I was depressed I also felt like either I was on an alien planet or like I was on a familiar planet but everyone else was an alien. I didn't literally believe I was an alien, but that's how I felt.
Wow, I didn't know there was a word for that feeling. It went away for me when the depression started to lift, thank God.
But I feel better knowing that the feeling (or lack thereof) has a name and others have experienced it.
This is the end of the thread.
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