Anxiety about all the 'big questions'

[starlight78]

Does anyone else struggle to put their anxiety/panic into words? I feel crazy sometimes with all the thoughts that go through my head when I'm anxious.

Yesterday, late at night I was driving and I started to feel on edge, scared vulnerable. Everything felt so scary and unfamiliar. I wonder if it might be depersonalisation? I started with all universe, big question thoughts. literally talked to myself out loud it the car!! Good luck it was late so there weren't people around to see it. I talked myself right out of the panic and felt really proud!

Bit wobbly this evening. I just wish I could make sense of all this! Xx

[Annie0904]

I know how you feel, I have been so tearful today. A friend called to see me and he was asking how I felt and it is so hard to explain, I said "it's like I'm here but I'm not..it just doesn't seem real" So hard to explain to someone who hasn't been there. xx

[cymraig_chris]

Hi!

Many people have a problem with Unreality/Derealisation

It is very very common.

The reason for this is it feels so 'alien'.

The truth is that it is perfectly normal, and indicative of a healthy mind.

The trick is to not be scared of these feelings. How do we remove fear? By understanding what is happening.

Unreality is merely the perceptual result of the correct response to anxiety.

It's all part and parcel of the fight-flight response. The brain is scanning at high speed all the surroundings, it is working at such a speed that not all the sensory information is 'used', only the information pertinent for survival is processed. this so called 'unreality' is the combination of a slight time lag in perception due to the brain trying to process so much at once and the 'missing' nice pieces of perceptual data. E.g. During relaxation: You are standing in your kitchen in front of a big freshly baked cake, your perception takes in the lovely smell, the warmth that the fresh cake is generating, the rumbles from your belly in anticipation of eating such a home made masterpiece.

During Anxiety: You stand in front of the same cake, you brain is analyzing for danger, the lovely smell of the cake is unnecessary, the anticipatory rumble of your belly is unnecessary, ie, you filter out all the nice bits. It feels bad because it's designed to be and you start looking for an exit. You believe that this strange feeling is a threat and your adrenaline is raised to compensate.

Add the fact that adrenaline is a natural pain killer, this seems to accentuate the sensation because we feel numb and thus our visual senses appear to become more prominent.

This is completely normal in every way.

Look at it as a simple equation:

Unreality = normal perception minus the nice bits.

Look at this from ancestral perspective. You are cooking your woolly mammoth steaks and getting the same lovely sensations (smell/belly rumbles etc), a tiger enters the camp. It would be detrimental if you were still preoccupied with the smell of the mammoth steaks when you need to be looking for a quick exit.

In anxiety 'disorder' you have to do the following, realize that all the nice bits are still there, they always have been, you just need to look for them. So you are standing in front of your cake looking for an exit, firstly realize that it's anxiety, then realize you can ALWAYS override any advice from the fight/flight-'circuits'. Then slowly 'smell the cake', slowly eat the cake, your fight/flight-'circuits' will (after initial trepidation) lower your anxiety levels once it observes you acting like all is well.

When this level is lowered the unreality will begin to dissipate. Once you have done it once it will give you the confidence to invite and accept the unreality as a new opportunity to accept it, challenge it and ignore it.

You are doing this already, this is fantastic.

Another way of looking at it is this:

This is certainly a strange feeling, and a very hard feeling to pinpoint and clarify, but a just a harmless and completely beneficial (honestly) feeling nonetheless.

What is it?, Why do we have it?, When do we have it?

It is a magnificent safety buffer, we have because it is actually the mind slowing down to remove the stress, it occurs when the mind races too fast ... it kicks in to slow us down.

Not only is it completely harmless, but it is also a very good thing.

I'll say that again ... It is a VERY good thing.

... again ... IT IS A VERY GOOD THING.

Additional: as time only moves in one direction, it means that just because you have panicked in the past, it does not mean you have to panic in the future, your past panics can NEVER EVER be repeated.

Panic can ONLY exist if we believe something that is completely wrong. Panic is merely us reacting because we have been duped into believing something that is completely impossible.

We have all been duped, but just because we have been duped before, it does not mean we have to be duped in future.

The arrow of time only moves forward, it is one of the fundamental constants of the entire universe, things you fear only exist because of things you remember from your past, therefore they can never ever be repeated.

People with DP/DR are not mad. They never have been, They never will be.

Well done on talking yourself out of it, you are creating your own beneficial dialog to unmask the panic.

:yesyes:

[starlight78]

Chris,
Thank you so much go your reply. It was so helpful and reassuring to read. Some really good advice there :)
Bless you. X

[cymraig_chris]

No problem. I am very happy to help.

:flowers:

[StarryBlueGal]

Starlight, now I realise how you feel.... you helped me and I now read your post. I feel like this but I am getting better - it was my fault that I came across conspiracy theories videos on Youtube!!! That what made my panic attacks came on two weeks ago! But I am getting better - but had a scare last weekend, when I was in bed, was coughing hard and saw something white and bright outside my blind, and got scared in case it was a UFO. I realised next day it was a helicopter... but could it be a UFO. But am never going near conspiracy theories videos... they scared me, but now I am getting a bit stronger.

StarryBlueGal xx