Feeling unreal and dp/ds

[carrie84]

HI
im just wondering if anyone has any advise on how to deal with feeling unreal. Ive been feeling like this for 2 months now and cannot find any ways of escaping it, it is pretty much constant. My main feelings are;
Feeling like im not really here/nothing around me is actually here
Feeling shocked and panicked when i cant think 'normally'
Being physically able to do day to day things but in my mind its fake/strange
Having to constantly remind myself what im doing and seing even though deep down I know
Feeling trapped in this bubble of weirdness
The only rest I get from this is sleep.
I am curently taking citalopram 20mg but not sure if this is working - I dont feel any different.
If others have felt like this what are your ways of coping?
Thanks
Carrie

[clarabell]

Hi carriie,

This is my scariest thing at the moment, i dont know how to deal with it, like u it has been happening for about 2 months -

I feel -
So weird like im not here, the world seems all dark and shadowy.
I have a weird anxiety feeling in my chest and stomach
like u feel able to do things, but it just doesnt feel normal
like im in a bad dream.
when i look at my boyfriend or friends they dont look like them and it freaks me out.
my brain feels like it cant work properly, like no matter how hard i think, i cant seem to snap out of it
i feel like im tubling into a big hole of darkness

Its so strange and it makes me really panic badly, i think im about to lose my mind, go over the egde and never return

Send me a PM if you like, know exactly how u feel

Take care

x

[SickofIt]

The problem with this (at least in my experience) is that no matter what you read or what others tell you about it, that it is temporary (which it definitely IS) or that they also suffer with it, your particular bout with it always feels like it's the worst and that no one else could possibly understand. I've had several bouts of this and it is always caused by anxiety that I am not dealing with well. Every single time I have dealt with this, it always feels different because your mind makes more of it than it should.

Trust me, eventually when your anxiety subsides, this will too.

[honeybee3939]

Hi Carrie,

Here are a few posts that you can read, your not alone with you symptoms.
How long have you been taking Citalopram? Usually takes 4 to 8 weeks before you start to feel the benefit from them.


http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/lounge/topic.asp?topic_id=3636
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/lounge/topic.asp?topic_id=3777
http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/lounge/topic.asp?topic_id=368
Common Symptoms of Panic Attacks, Anxiety, Phobias and OCD. (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/NMPcms.php?nmppage=symptoms)

Love

Andrea
xxx

[nomorepanic]

Try these as well....

Depersonalization
D/Personalisation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2304)
derealisation/depersonlisation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2512)
Hi new member mom w/ panic and dp/dr (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1239)
Disassociation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2732)
when will this feeling leave? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2971)
FEELING SPACED! (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4079)
?Derealisation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4682)
My mind and depersonalisation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5345)
Derealization (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5523)
Surreal, Unreal, Spaced-Out, Derealization etc (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5569)
Weird Feelings in Mind (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5622)
Feel Weird and Confused (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5833)
Is this Depersonlization or something worse? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6009)
Anyone got any positive feedback on DP/DR? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6044)
PMT, tiredness, and feeling of unreality (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6670)
[Link removed as post deleted]
Derealization (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7230)
Terrifying Depersonalization/Derealization (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7436)

Advice if you suffer from feeling unreal,detached
Advice if you suffer from feeling unreal,detached (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9396)

You are not alone - very scarey feeling

People will forget what you said
People will forget what you did
But people will never forget how you made them feel

Nicola

[carrie84]

Sorry, I should have put DR instead of DS at the top of the thread. Thanks for posting some of your experiences and advice, at a time when I feel like im constantly going mad its good to know other people feel like this too. Its such a frightening thing to experience especially as for me its constant and never goes away, I just want a break from it! Its like im constantly questioning myself about what im doing, are my surroundings real, am i real etc, its like a nasty circle. sometimes I think i'm imagining everything. Ive been on the citalopram for three and a half weeks now, I thought I might have some difference by now. Not sure what other meds people have tried for this? or whether people recommend counselling or therapy? x

[expecto patronum]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">when i look at my boyfriend or friends they dont look like them and it freaks me out.
<div align="right">Originally posted by clarabell - 25 October 2006 : 15:27:54</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

I get this, where people's faces don't look 'right'. I had a really scary experience with it where my bf was talking to me, but his features looked like they weren't somehow in the right order, his mouth seemed like it was the wrong way up or something (!?) That was scary.

[feels_like_home]

Hi Carrie,

I experience the same feelings you do. It is hard to explain to people that don't have it so not too many people understand how I feel. I try to distract myself when I start to feel this way. Last night I watched the movie "Click" and I started to feel like nothing was real and really strange. I stopped watching it and called a friend so I would be too busy to think about it. It worked, but then this morning I felt it again. I hope you are feeling better.

Michelle

[carrie84]

hi michelle, it is horrible isn't it, like you feel you cant break away from these feelings and you arent in control of them. I know for some people the feeling in unreality comes and goes, but for me it has been constant, ive basically felt totally alien for the past 2 months. it feel like a transparant barrier between me and the real world. thank goodness for a site like this where other people suffer from this too, I was beginning to think I was the only one, or that I was just going mad.
I hope you've found stuff you can relate to and gained some more insight into this, I know it wont cure the symptom but at least we can share some common ground which for me has been really useful x

[feels_like_home]

Hi Carrie,

I think you and I have very similar symptoms. My DP/DR is pretty constant too. They only time I do not feel it is when I am sleeping and if I keep myself really really really busy. I have been feeling pretty bad the last few days. I find it is hard to work like this, but I try to keep going. If you ever need to talk you can PM me.

Take care,

Michelle

[Allie]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">[quote]when i look at my boyfriend or friends they dont look like them and it freaks me out.
<div align="right">Originally posted by clarabell - 25 October 2006 : 15:27:54</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

This happens to me occasionally. For eaxmple a fortnight ago me and my sister were talking and I just looked at her and she looked unreal, I can't adequately describe what it was like, but it soon passed.
It also happened in the summer and my mom just seemed to look weird for a split second, her hair and eyes darker than usual!

I am comming off meds (diazepam to be exact and I've read that these sorts of things can happen with benzodiazepine tranx) as well as in usual anxiety states.

Last night I was working at the computer and I felt so spaced and unreal. Itv was like I was floating and a veil had come between me and the real world. Paradoxically, sometimes it's like all my senses have become ultra aware and the world seems too real!

I know deep down that i'm not truely out of it as I was able to continue reading/writing and make sense!

Sometimes I have difficulty with thinking. It's almost like someone has pressed the pause button on a remote control attached to my barin. Then I think I'm going crazy, which leads to more unreality and so the cycle continues.

Claire Weekes advocates acceptance of your symptoms and letting enough time pass for your symptoms to go away without adding fear to fear. Thats really all it takes to allow your head to clear.
I find the best thing to do isd get up, distract yourself, get some fresh air, do something else and don't focus on the way you feel so much, becasue listening in on your symptoms all of the time makes things worse as you become too self aware!

THE VOICE INSIDE YOUR HEAD IS NOT THE VOICE OF GOD. IT JUST SOUNDS LIKE IT THINKS IT IS! Cheri Huber

[feels_like_home]

Hi Allie,

I think that is great advice. I try to use disraction too when I feel like that. Do you recommend Claire Weekes? I am looking for a new book to read?

Thanks,

Michelle

[Fly2Freedom]

Hi,I was trying to describe this to the doctors a few months ago.
Feeling like nothing is real and although I can hear people talking,I dont feel here.
Its like being in a cave and peoples faces zoom in and out.
Had this since July and it is not getting any better.
Its weird and I completely understand.
Hope we feel better soon.

Love xFlyx

[beadbabe]

Hi there
I have had this depersonalisation thing which is very scarey and tends to happen when my anxiety is peaking. Having said that it can go on for ages ie. days. but it has gone away... unlike other symptoms that are now just as scarey.
To reassure you, I also had the thing where certain people's faces seemed really scarey or even looking at something as simple as an object out of place on the ground outside would really start to make me feel strange. Now when that was happening I really thought I was going mad. Of course it is your brain playing tricks on you - when your brain is flooded with adrenaline which it is all the time with anxiety I am sure it hunts out danger and sees the danger in everything even when no
danger exists.
You might feel as if you are going crackers, but you are not. I think when you are feeling spaced out, your brain is actually trying to protectyou from acute fear. If you look at it that way, you might feel better about it, as your brain is for once on your side and trying at least to make you feel bettre.
I hope it helps to know that I have felt this and it has gone away and not been back for months, even though I still suffer every day from anxiety and panic attacks.
Best of luck, we're all in the same boat

[kristay1988]

I'm so glad other people feel this way too! i mean it sucks but I thought i was going crazy. I find myself thinking about the world, and "am i really here, are they really here"? i even look at my bf and just start crying because he doesnt seem real. I havent felt this for about a year till now, i weaned off my meds over a month ago, i hope it's not because of that, but that it will go away. I've only had it for about a week now, I am making an apointment for my counselor today, hope it works. This post helped me out soooooo greatly!

[soilsoil]

Hi, I know that it is the most scary feeling possible... and right now you feel like you won't be able to go on, but it WILL go away. When I had these feelings I was going insane! I couldn't calm myself down for one second. I eventually distracted myself and went with the flow. What I learned is that if you ignore it, and try to be happy and ride with it, before you know it, it will be gone! That's what I learned. And try to stay positive. If you don't let these feelings come back, they won't!:)

Good luck!

[kristay1988]

i know, this just really sucks tho. I have had it before, and it only went away by meds. I went off them about a month and a half ago, and was doing great, until like 2 weeks ago. Distraction does help, but it's just always there. I can't keep going like this for much longer it's just making me go crazy. I go to the doc next week, maybe i can try less meds for a little while then go off again. I really want to get off them, especially for if i have kids i will have to. I'm trying soooooo hard!

[Catwoman]

I have a similar thing, I wondered what it was at first, thought I was going bonkers. I can be right as rain, 100% OK watching a film, making dinner and than BAM its like I suddenly start feeling 'odd'. I feel nervous and strange, unreal, panicky. I usually then feel like that for the rest of the day, and it can last up to two days.
It usually comes on at times of bad stress. It is hard to describe, even for me and I am a writer! It feels really odd! I want to curl up in a ball, and the feeling does scare me.
I feel better knowing I am not the only one who feels like this. But you are not alone.

[want to feel real]

Is this feeling of not being real part of anxiety I am so scared I have never had this happen so often as it had been in the last few weeks ....... i feel like i am in a dream .............I was on ciprallex feo 8 days and stopped because i got horrible side efeects I no I no i should have rided them out but was scared to

[SickofIt]

The first time this happens, it can definitely freak you out. The one coping method that helped me was to not give it any attention. Just go about your life, as usual, and (this is important) continue to work on your anxiety or panic issues, which are the underlying cause of the dp/ds in the first place.

It does eventually get better. Distraction and ignore. :bighug1: