World feels different with anxiety?

[Floods]

Does anyone else feel like this?

Since this whole anxiety debacle started, even when I'm not actively worrying about something, even when the world makes relative sense, the world seems really... different. Just off. Like I can't absorb it as well. Like I don't feel comfortable in it. I get memories of walking by places or being in similar situations when I wasn't feeling like this and I felt so involved and vivid.

It's like my mind is casting a sheen over everything.

I don't think this is derealisation / depersonalisation; I had those big time over summer, and I think they've just about gone. I feel real; the world feels real, it just feels unusual.

This is worrying me for a few reasons; firstly, it feeds back into my anxiety and I become obsessed with it. I feel "not okay", which scares me; I worry this isn't anxiety, which scares me; I worry that whilst the anxiety is reducing (no more DP is good evidence of that), this won't go away, which scares me. I worry the DP/DR is still there, and is a disorder, and will never go away, which scares me.

I don't seem to have any way of controlling or exerting any influence over this perception, but it certainly upsets me a lot more when I'm anxious. The only time I remember it 'fading' completely was after I saw my doctor a couple of weeks ago, broke down to them, and they asked me all about my symptoms, told me things would be okay, and that I would feel better in a few months. With that confidence, the next few hours felt very comfortable and 'there'

I'm hoping this is all just anxiety - spending so much time worrying over this and that I'm not going to be okay that the constant fight/flight position is dulling the outside world.

So.... does anyone else feel like this at all? That their world - their surroundings - feel weird?

Thanks......

[TheMusicGuy6]

Im with you on this!
Check out my post on DP/DR, I could use some tips from you :)

But I get what you say, it's almost as if its less relaxed, we're more on edge, we're almost anxious about being anxious.

And at the end of the day, it's about us being anxious, the worry is at the front of our head, rather than the back of our head.
Do you ever get caught up in something, or get into such a deep conversation, it's only until its over, you realise how unaxious you felt, and how real everything felt?

I've recently learned to not fight it, let it run through your body and your head, but remember you arent in danger.
Of course there will be times you won't be able to do that, and our anxieties get the better of us, but the more we learn how to deal with it, the more we can deal with it

[uru]

Like my mind casting a sheen over everything

Yeah...I feel you.

[jonno182]

I totally get you! That's exactly how I feel I hope it will just go it's such a hard thing to explain, but you have managed to describe it to a T. Would love to hear from people who have experienced this and have come through the other side.

[Movielife]

I've hit the 'worried I have anxiety' despite being told I'm physically well. Anxiety is much less of a problem than what some people physically suffer with...so what is my problem? Why do I worry about it?


It is there. It upsets me. It makes me more anxious. It makes physical feelings come and go.


Most of all, recently it has made me very upset....crying/tearful over the past before I had this...(only 6 months back!).


I've spoken to people who have beaten a year of anxiety and depression and they said it DOES lift, but take help...take meds that the GP recommends, take up CBT/help...whatever is available, take it.


I to feel that nothing is the same now. That is, I think, like a depressive symptom. I felt the same after a few very long relationships that ended....I felt doomed and forever alone...but I made it through after some time.


Good luck all.

[CoraB]

I totally get you! That's exactly how I feel I hope it will just go it's such a hard thing to explain, but you have managed to describe it to a T. Would love to hear from people who have experienced this and have come through the other side.

Yes, agree with jonno - when you said it feels like a sheen over everything it really hit home with me. I've never been sure before whether it is DR or not or if that is different?

Anyhow, know you are not alone and this seems to be a symptom of the anxiety. I have had it before and it lifted so I am sure it will again.

I don't know how others feel but sometimes I feel it lift when I push myself to be more outgoing - talking to strangers on the bus or making a phonecall i was putting off. Sometimes I feel like i pushed though it like that?

[jimsmrs]

Horrible that feeling, it's as though everything is carrying on around you at a faster pace and you're stuck, like your head's in a bubble.

I couldn't even read a newspaper or watch TV, nothing would compute. It does lift and CoraB is spot on, pushing yourself or even riding it out does help, it will and does pass.

[Floods]

I think I agree with TheMusicGuy6 and CoraB; when I am really putting my mind elsewhere - usually easiest in a social setting or really feeling the 'flow' of something which has my full attention, the sensation seems to fade, even when I immediately check upon it (anxiety is a strange thing; you feel relaxed for a moment and your mind goes to check whether your usual sensations are actually still there, which sometimes brings them on).

If it's any solace to any of you, I can say with some certainty that it's anxiety-related. There are a number of reasons: (1) as mentioned, when I had full confidence this was anxiety and that it would clear, it faded for some time; (2) it seems to get progressively worse the more I focus on it and get worried over it; an anxiety cycle; (3) on most days when I first wake up (especially when I have to get up for something and don't have time to idly ponder) I don't notice the feeling; it's only when I have a spare moment that things seem to get spacey;(4) you guys sharing your similar experiences with a common denominator of anxiety really helps; (5) the stories of those who have went through this saying that on the 'other side' that feeling goes, and I think even though at times this feels constant I've had some moments where it has dissipated!

I'm hoping that by viewing these things as anxiety symptoms I can stop fearing them, which hopefully will help to make the world feel a little more comfortable.

Thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only one stuck with this guys, we can do this!

[TheMusicGuy6]

Floods you are absolutely not alone on this!
We're all in it, and anxiety will lose the battle eventually!

What helped me even today, was remembering your post, remembering, that you feel so similar to how I feel, and it helped me to get through today.

So tomorrow, or whenever you feel really scared and anxious, try to think about this discussion.....

[Floods]

So this is starting to really upset me.

I had a really busy day today; too busy to worry about anything, too busy to panic, and in the odd instance I did start to feel a little anxiety or ruminate, I was able to tell myself that this is anxiety and I have confidence this will go away.

But almost literally as soon as I put my pen down and go outside, I notice my surroundings; they aren't vivid, they don't look how they used to, they just aren't *the same*

No rush of anxiety, no panics all day, no 'come down' from a panic attack - the calmest day I've had in a while. And yet, still, things don't look and feel as they should.

Really disheartened; even when I don't have anxious feelings I get this. Now that I've let it get to me, this is now causing me significant anxiety. Feel like I'll never "see" things the right way again.

[HCam123]

Well I'm currently experiencing this feeling. It does in fact feel like my heads in a bubble or like a sheen was casted over entire being. Today while I was working this feeling got the better good of me. It felt so overwhelming that I felt like really uncomfortable by the weird feeling. I felt like I was so gonna lose control and have a mental break down. I don't know why I've developed these anxiety issues but I do hope It passes. It's been about 2 weeks since I've been suffering from this issue. When I feel overwhelmed by this feeling I usually try to play games on my phone because that helps to keep my mind distracted in some aspect. However it's not always that you can use your phone so that's why I want to learn a new way to calm myself from the overwhelming feeling. The best way to describe the feeling for me is the feeling when your high. It's like you know your high and it makes the world look different but you feel so relaxed you don't pay notice to it. But with this however it's like you know everything feels different but you don't feel relaxed so we think about it and that causes the panic and the negative thoughts. Anyone know anything that helps?

---------- Post added at 00:18 ---------- Previous post was at 00:13 ----------

Well I'm currently experiencing this feeling. It does in fact feel like my heads in a bubble or like a sheen was casted over entire being. Today while I was working this feeling got the better good of me. It felt so overwhelming that I felt like really uncomfortable by the weird feeling. I felt like I was so gonna lose control and have a mental break down. I don't know why I've developed these anxiety issues but I do hope It passes. It's been about 2 weeks since I've been suffering from this issue. When I feel overwhelmed by this feeling I usually try to play games on my phone because that helps to keep my mind distracted in some aspect. However it's not always that you can use your phone so that's why I want to learn a new way to calm myself from the overwhelming feeling. The best way to describe the feeling for me is the feeling when your high. It's like you know your high and it makes the world look different but you feel so relaxed you don't pay notice to it. But with this however it's like you know everything feels different but you don't feel relaxed so we think about it and that causes the panic and the negative thoughts. Anyone know anything that helps?

[O_O]

I think I get where you're coming from.

I had a very extreme episode of health anxiety about six months ago. It was caused by a specific traumatic event and I ended up having a breakdown and became completely nonfunctional. I never thought I'd recover, but I'm doing much better now.

Many days, the world seems almost normal to me again. An arbitrary, but ultimately benign, universe, where people in my sort of position are statistically likely to lead good lives and die at a ripe old age.

But for a long time the world became an extremely dark and horrifying place. Sometimes, something will set off my anxiety, and I start to feel the same way again... though it's normally controllable now. It seemed to me that in a mysterious and ineffable way the universe was working to kill me, sort of like destiny, and no matter how many times I dodged death it would get me in the end. I felt completely trapped in an existence that was so different from my previous life. It was like a dark, bleak, utterly terrifying version of the beautiful world I'd known before. It felt that everything that came before had been a cruel trick to lull me into a false sense of security and that I was now living my true life - which was completely unbearable.

So, in conclusion, yes, anxiety can make you see things in a ****ed up way!

[mimijube]

Thanks for this post. I feel like this a lot. I've recently come close to a complete break down and find it's such a slow road to feeling anything but this. Anyway, if it's any consolation you aren't alone. Hang in there!