PDA

View Full Version : crazy non-specific emotion



qaz321
10-09-11, 04:31
I've been dealing with anxiety for a couple of years now, and I've been through it all, everything from running to the doctors, to feeling like I'm sick the the flu all the time, to having crazy depersonalization and derealization, to staying in my bed for days because I was too scared to get out.

Most of this is in the past, and only a few of my symptoms remain.
I still have a heart fear (about it stopping all of the sudden, but I do have rational reasons to believe that it could, although not very probably, because of an arrhythmia and other idiopathic symptoms), which gives me a little trouble falling asleep at times; a little bit of depersonalization (especially in showers for some reason); and the occasional panic attack with feelings of extreme unreality/disconnection when under a lot of stress.

I can say that I've progressed a lot, and I'm happy about that. I've started meditation, I'm practicing mindfulness and I've become a more conscious and (hopefully) better person overall.

However, there is this one symptom that I cannot cope with / have no idea as to what causes it / know nothing about it / can't even properly define it, and it drives me nuts, and it keeps my fears alive, and often revives my anxious side. I've searched everywhere and found nothing, and I hope someone will at least point me in the right direction..

So here is how it is: It happens most often when I concentrate on something like work, but it can happen at any time. I get this "negative feeling" and I know that sounds really vague, but it's an emotion (not a physical feeling) and it's toward something external, always, and it's usually in the past, or somehow linked to it. It's a very negative feeling, (feelings being positive, neutral or negative) and it's almost a burning kind of sensation in my head. It usually makes me paranoid / scared / frustrated / angry / feeling crazy, and then it spirals downward from there. It's like a generalized feeling of everything being dry, yellow, poisoned, hot, and crappy, and it makes me feel unsafe and almost nauseous / ill / icky. That's one of the ways it manifests, and other times it's just about one object, such as a song, or a thought, or a colour, but eventually it ends up spreading to everything. It can even happen when I'm apparently happy and calm.

Surprisingly this emotion is always negative, but it's never the same "colour". I perceive emotions to have colours, and usually it's dry yellow/orange, but it can switch.

I've tried to meditate on it, but what ends up happening is emotion -> intensified emotion -> questioning paranoia / what's happening? -> "abort mission" -> fear

Another thing that I wanted to mention is that I get a similar / identical emotion when looking at a picture, or thinking about how I feel about a song / picture / object. I'm not sure if it's the emotion that's causing it (spreading) or this emotion can be "summoned" by looking at something that I perceive as ugly / dry.

What is this thing? What causes it? How can I prevent it?

Looking over what I just wrote doesn't make much sense. I hope I can define it better if you ask me a direct question :p

Thanks in advance.

PanchoGoz
10-09-11, 09:59
Perceiving emotions as colours. Interesting.
My honest opinion - undercurrent of anxiety. When you have this "emotion" you are opening the little trapdoor in your mind and letting out a spurt of panic. I know that when I am getting better, I have unexplainable moments when I feel - oh no everythings bad the world will end I'm going to die, then my mind seems to rationalize over it and its gone leaving me feeling anxious and icky. Icky is a good word.
So summing up, they are glitches as you get better I reckon.
As for your meditation. Are you fully relaxing yourself long enough with breathing exercises? Are you properly letting go? Meditation is great but you need to work on it to bypass the conscious mind and get past you emotions, deeper in to your mind. Hope that helps!

mandshere2000
11-09-11, 17:10
Hiya Gaz and Pancho,
I only joined few days ago and what a brilliant, informative site this is i really do feel like ive struck gold:).......Gaz its interesting to read you are trying meditation cos ive thought about going to a local buddhist centre near me to try out meditation on a regular basis.

Ive suffered from depression/panic since i was 21 and i,m now 47 also ive been on/off prozac for most of this time, on prozac at present and i had my first feelings of depersonalisation/derealisation back in 2004 and i can honestly say ive never been so terrified in all my life, this also happened at the same time has having a underactive thyroid that could,nt be stabilised and also being taken of prozac and put onto citalopram also i had massive ammount of stress in my life caring for disabled son........i ended up having CBT group therapy this only helped a little and being put back onto prozac.

I feel ive been okish for last year until 3wks ago when the panic, depersonalisation came back and OMGGG i was not prepared for this monster raising its ugly head:ohmy: you just cannot describe the fear unless you,ve been there but i could,nt feel my body i was so terrified and in a panic that i ended up using a pin 2 jab into my hand over and over so badly that i was bleeding:scared10: this scared me so much that i had resorted to this.....now i realise it must be that i had not slept properly for mnths only having 3/4 hrs a night for mnths and huge ammounts of stress re: my disabled son and daughter who is not well also with mental health problems and caring for my small grandson on her bad days.......it makes me feel so much better to know i,m not on my own re: depersonalisation cos i really feel i,m going mad.........once told by a doctor that its the minds way of shutting down not sure how true this is.
What medication do you take and what helps you deal with the depersonalisation etc.
Sorry for the long post its just once i get typing i just want to get all my feeling out.
Thanks so much to who ever reads this.
Manda xx

PanchoGoz
11-09-11, 17:45
Hey Manda and welcome!
You are certainly in the right place. Depersonalization is definately the scariest symptom of anxiety as it leaves you feeling totally out of control and there is no exact reason it is there and no way to banish it. The doctor is kind of right, the mind blocks out some unneccessary information when you are very stressed which is why it makes you feel like that. It isn't shutting down like dying lol.
Medication could make it worse.
It's great you are trying to help yourself, keep it up!
Feel free to make your own thread manda, I'm sure Gaz will reply sooner or later...

qaz321
11-09-11, 22:37
PanchoGoz -

I'm trying to relax well enough, and I feel like I could do it more intensively. Thank you, and it does help, because you have confirmed that this could be a symptom of anxiety. I don't know, my anxiety seems to come and go in waves, but each time I become a little more experienced than before, and I hope that one day I will make peace with and completely understand this part of my mind.

Mand - I do not take any medications, (esp. commercial) because I am opposed to them due to my research and my personal beliefs. However, sometimes I take valerian and melatonin to fall asleep, and they do help. In my opinion the drugs can be a temporary relief, but it's important to learn to deal with your problems without them because essentially they're a crutch, and not a solution. Therefore, personally, I would not advise any kind of long-term medication.


Have you tried going to a therapist? They can really help to sort your thoughts, especially if you find a good one. And also, researching into buddhist psychology and other things of the nature really helped me understand everything, and myself so much better.

Depersonalization is the mind's way of 'forcing' you to disconnect from reality, and it is a shutting down, but not in a 'death' kind of way, but more of an 'I need a break' kind of way. It is completely normal, and it will go away as soon as you become less stressed, and give your mind a rest, especially about focusing on yourself. This has certainly been true for me.

mandshere2000
12-09-11, 00:47
Hiya Gaz,
Just wondering are you spanish or english living in spain, thanks so much for your advice, i will defo be going to the buddist centre.....and on the subject of melatonin ive considered taking this before cos of my sleep pattern being so erratic.....but been scared to......i,m a chicken when it comes to meds and despise having to take prozac but has you say its just a crutch and at moment i,m told by the doctor that i need this crutch cos of caring for my disabled son....its just so hard at the moment the doctor gave me diazopan also to take for only this past 2/3 weeks to help with this bad patch, ive stopped taking that now, i really don,t want to get to reliant on this......you say cos of your research you don,t take any meds....would it be ok for me to ask what this is.

Manda

qaz321
12-09-11, 02:01
Hi Manda, I'm neither of those actually. I have been moving all over the world ever since I was small, so I don't really have "a country", but at the moment I am living in Spain.

No problem :p. The internet is a great tool too! Mingyur Rinpoche is a good one to look up on youtube, I find his talks down to earth and quite calming :D

And melatonin does help! It's wonderful since you have no side effects, because it's the natural sleep hormone your body produces at night. It gives you the "late at night" groggy feeling, so you naturally fall asleep. Nothing scary. I would actually be much more afraid of Prozac haha.

Well, this is a blurry subject, but based on what I've learned and found, the meds are just a way for the pharmaceutical industries to get money, and they can be addicting, as well as the side effects not being pretty, and often times unknown in the long term. This is another manifestation of the greed nowadays. Although they can be helpful sometimes, usually they are given to mask symptoms, which doesn't really take care of the problem. Also, you are your best psychologist, and you have all the tools to change your mind.

Hope all is well! Best of luck :hugs: :)