feel look weird. I'm trying not to freak out here but major panic over how my own house feels.... unfamiliar and talking to my hubby and son even feels weird. Am I really loosing it??????
I feel so disconnected..... I need to feel real and for them to feel real to me!
Help Please!!

monobr, i never did have this symtom. if i did i don't remember it. but there are many people on here who do have it. seems it is very common.the onr i remember most vividly is the constant panic,i still fear the panic.i haven't had a panic attack since 92, but i still worry about having one.i'm sure you will get some encouraging advice.hope you are better soon anita

Hello Monabr, I understand how you feel, deralization has to be one of the scariest symptoms of anxiety, I hate it! Its so hard to get ahold on our thoughts and feelings when nothing seems real, it doesnt make any sense.

I have learned that when it hits me, I just go with it now , I tell myself OK no big deal I can still function and go about my day feeling like this . I dont like it, but it makes things easier . thinking about it only serves to make you focus on it more , which brings on the paniky feelings. When it hits me there is really nothing I can do about it to make it go away , so I just go with it.

I get it less and less now , before it was huge for me, so it does get better when you can just accept it as just another part of anxiety.

Just Float , and go with it .

Take Care Jackie

I get depersonalization when I am anxious, it can be pretty freaky! I do what Jackie said and just go with it. I'm finding more and more that when I just stop caring about symptoms they start fading away. Of course that's easier said than done, I'm working on it though!

Hi there, I feel like this a lot. Are you happy at home? Not to pry or anything, I was just curious. I think I get so bombarded with things that I start feeling that way. My fiance hasn't had a job for a whole year now. I am fed up so I feel that he contributes to it. BUT back to you!! When I start feeling weird like that I get my tape that I am on right now and listen to it. I just sit close my eyes and listen to the session that I am on. If you don't have the program then get out of the house, go to a store that makes you focus on something else. Watching TV is worse for me. Or I get a notebook write down how I feel then make a list of my goals and what makes me happy.
This is just a couple things. I hope this helps!
Do anything to get your mind off of it. If I talk to someone about how I feel in the middle of it I think it makes it worse! But that is just me.
Good Luck. Kristie

monabr,

That unreality feeling is "overstress" mode.
I have felt this myself and it's a scary feeling; however, you must remind yourself that it's merely "distressing NOT dangerous"..

The more aggitated you become of this symptom, the worse it will become. So give yourself a break and just FLOAT with it and ACCEPT it as part of anxiety and nothing more.

A person who really "loses it" isn't aware they are "losing it". Problem is you are TOO AWARE of it - so you couldn't go crazy even if you wanted to !

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sunset34,

Wow, I totally know where you're coming from. This is my worst, most annoying, nerve-racking symptom of this condition. I think a lot of us feel this, but some may interpret it as constant light-headedness, spaciness, foggyness or detachment. Sometimes it feels like you're in a bubble or a dream and you just want to desperately snap out of it! The weird thing for me is, I know it has become a bad habit, an obsessive thought, because I can feel it even when I dont feel particularly stressed. It almost feels like a fading away or loss of conciousness sort of feeling like you're going to pass out and it never fails to scare the crap out of me! Like others above mentioned I have learned some tips and skills to deal with it, but I still have a ways to go because my mind loves to cling onto this scary sensation and think about it a lot. I do feel it more acutely when I'm in a crowd or in any situation that is outside of my comfort zone. My doctor did prescribe me xanax to calm me down and it has helped in those moments where I want to jump out of my skin, but that's totally a personal choice as you can become dependent. I choose the dependency for now b/c my life just got too hard and I needed to function. On a positive note, I know in my gut that it can be conquered. I have experienced moments of clarity and distraction when I dont feel it or think about it and that tells me that we can shake it loose. Like mentioned above, it's a mtter of not letting it scare us, but trying to accept it and just float with it. So much easier said than done, but that is the key. No matter how scary or strange it feels, it wont hurt us and we can still function. My problem is I have panic disorder and since my mind can be triggered into panic attacks right now, if I let the dp/dr get to me I can have a panic attack which just makes it all worse. I'm trying very hard to break the cycle. I am working on all that, but it's a slow gradual process. anyways, all that being said, haha, there is light at the end of the tunnel, this is all due to anxiety and constant introspection and we can break the cycle! Just keep telling yourself there is nothing wrong with me, it's just my mind feeling exhausted and the anxiety messing with me, there is no need to be fearful, I'll get through this.
Hang in there, stay strong, you're going to be fine!
Jocelyn

Hi,
I am so sorry you have this symptom. It is also the main symptom that I have that bothers me. When I pass on information, I just want to say that I probably got it from the helpful people on this board. Claire Weekes writes books on anxiety, and her interpretation has helped me with dp/dr. I am not cured, but she does help. There really is something in your life that is stressing you out, and your brain is really just protecting itself by producing a chemical that makes you feel high. I really had the worst time with dp for me after I was close to an f-4 tornado, and my son got diagnosed with autism. I was determined not to let these things bother me, but it was too much stress. For me personally, xanax made me worse, and I ended up having withdrawal symptoms on a very low dose. I am not saying not to take xanax, I am just saying for me it made me worse. After I got through the withdrawal symptoms, I pretty much stayed dp/dr for several months. But you know, I did somethings during that time that I don't do now that are positive so as much as I hated it, it was like my brain was taking care of itself. Ways that helped me with this were, Lucinda Bassett's explanation about the symptom and how just to go with it it won't kill you. Just don't add the second wave of panic, and it will go away eventually. A therapist asked me a simple question, "Have you ever lost yourself and not come back?" No. Noone's ever floated away or lost themselves and not come back. You will come back, just tell yourself that over and over. Also, look on the internet on grounding techniques. A lot of survivors of child abuse have dp/dr because they used this as a defense mechanism as children. Then it was needed to survive the abuse. If you are an adult survivor of abuse, you have this defense mechanism when things remind you of the abuse, but you don't really need it anymore. There are a number of websites that offer information on this subject with grounding techniques which are self-soothing, comforting techniques. Examples are taking bubble baths, listening to your favorite music, etc. There's also a book called something like Stranger in the Mirror Dissociation the Hidden Epidemic. This is mainly for abuse survivors, but some of the information is still good. Also, trauma books on PTSD have information on how to treat this symptom. It won't kill you, and you are not alone. I really do have this symptom almost every day, and knowing how to talk to myself and letting it pass really do help me.
God Bless You,
luvpiggy

Thank you all so much!
I just feel SO overwhelemed and depressed by this!
did you ever feel you just couldn't cope or stand to be in your own skin?
I would type more but I have been staying w/ my grandma so she can help me w/ my son. I'm due in 15 days so I can't take anything like a xanax.
I'm so convinced in my head that i'm SO far gone that i'm truly on the edge of insanity and i'll "lose" myself.
UGH!

Oh goodness, you are 9 months pregnant? No wonder your symptoms are out of control, your hormones are out of control. After you deliver you should see a lessening of the symptoms, if not talk to your doctor and get on meds. Good luck with the new little one!

Oh my goodness, I didn't realize you were nine months pregnant either. You still are not going to lose yourself and never come back. It's never happened to anyone who had dp/dr. You are about to have a baby and your body is doing all kinds of things. It just seems like since you are pregnant that you should be able to share how uncomfortable this symptom is with your ob-gyn. Maybe the ob-gyn will have some advice or options of things you can do to make yourself feel better that will not hurt your baby. Please do the comforting things as much as possible, and get lots of rest. I really do dp/dr when I am tired, and your body is probably very tired right now. God bless you.
luvpiggy

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i'm just scared I won't be me again ever that I won't be alble to take care of this baby!
I feel SO out of control and disconnected even to my 4 yr old
I NEVER stay alone w/ him or myself, what if I never can?
What if I loose my 'safe' people?
I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO scared!

Monabr, I understand where you are coming from but..you are what- ifing , what- if this what- if that . If you continue all you will do is keep yourself anxious. you wont lose your safe person , you are your safe person. comfort yourself with the truth. You wont lose control you wont go crazy , I promise you . I have been there so many times and none of those things has happened . Just look around this site no one has ever loSt who they are . Its just anxiety .

you have an aweful lot going on in your life and with your hormones right now . take it easy on yourself and allow yourself to have some stress. Having a four year old and another on the way is very stressfull .

I understand you are scared , I have felt that way, feeling so hopeless , feeling like you will never be you again , feeling as though you are hanging on to your sanity by your fingernails , I have been there. Monabr , every time I come through it , everytime I think what was I doing , I dont have to anxious and afraid , I dont have to think what is the worst thing that could possibly happen , I can take it day by day minute by minute if I have to and do the best I can and that is all I can do .
The fear cause by anxiety can be overwhelming , just keep telling yourself it will pass , breath deep and say its just anxiety . Its uncomfortable and scary but its just anxiety, tell yourself these things because they are the truth. keep yourself focused on the truth, keep your body relaxed the best you can , and breath , your going to be OK!

You are in my prayers Jackie.