PDA

View Full Version : derealization causing agrophobia?



Lawton86
20-04-09, 11:22
Hi guys,

i have been suffering with constant de-realization for 3 weeks now, i think its slowly starting to lift or i am just getting used to it, one or the other. My main problem is that when i go outside the derealization seems 10x worse, like because the world is so big and overwhelming it all looks soo weird to me.

My question is, anyone who has sufferd with this de-realization feeling, found that once it has subsided going outside and everything is as easy as it was before? im not scared of going outside or anything like that, but i do feel more panicy when i put myself in a situation that i know i cant just run back home to.

its just this de-realization like alot of people seems to be triggering my panic attacks and general downess all the time, just wondering if it can cause short term agrophobia too?

Dazo
20-04-09, 11:29
I have same feeling as you do, the derealisation grows bigger as soon as i am out doing things. Like going for restaurant, football.

Dont know if it can cause short term agrophobia but for sure its not as easy as it use to be going outside.

PoppyC
20-04-09, 11:33
Hi again Lawton!
As you know I suffered quite a lot in the past with derealization and depersonalisation and Yes definitely being outdoors made it much worse and once inside everything felt ok again. I can still get like that now and I know for a fact that contributes to my agoraphobia. Its like the outdoors is too big - too much space - and the sky - too overwhelming - that sounds mad I know but its how I feel. I live in the countryside with lots of open spaces so that doesnt always help!
Try not to end up like me though and dont start avoiding going out because of how you feel. The more we face it the less effect it has on us. I am finding that getting out every day now even if it is not very far on my own is making my agoraphobia not seem quite so bad.

Lawton86
20-04-09, 11:35
yeh the other day i could only handle 40 mins in a resturant with my family and then my bro had to bring me home. felt like the carpets where moving and like people where talking but i wasnt really their. it feels to me like im looking through sum1 elses eyes when it hits bad if that makes sense too? cant stand bright lights at moment with it either.......atleast we knoe its somthing that passes in time....just need to get through the worst of anxiety nd then it will go, ive only been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks for nearly 4 weeks, but im lready slowly feeling the derealization lift i think, not much but abit. sooo hopefully on the road to recovery. but i do still have better days and alot worse days.

CJH86
20-04-09, 15:31
I suffer from derealisation from time to time when my anxiety fares up, the last time i had it was after xmas and lasted well over a month.

Im susceptible to agrophobia associated with my PD and derealisation i'd say is part of the problem - and i still do evade situations because of it - most of the time however bad things may seem i still force myself out of my comfort zone as i know i end up housebound if i dont.

My derealisation is strange in the sense that when i had it and i was standing somewhere in a large open space outside with little or no people it was managable:shrug: but in busier places it was horrible. I now dont get it 95% of the time, but i still have problems with feeling it in supermarkets and restaurants. i find that many noises in an area i.e. people talking in a restaurant/bar triggers mine........saying that the derealisation rarely triggers a panic attack for me nowadays and im able to compose myself quickly. Maybe others will agree, but in my case im very familar with derealisation (i first had it when i was 11) and i guess as its not a new symptom for me i dont physically react to it as much nowadays.

When it feels like its lifting it is a good sign that is normally the case x