View Full Version : Surreal, Unreal, Spaced-Out, Derealization etc
OK, I am not sure if I am posting in the correct section, but, I will try here anyway because this is a symptom, I feel very alone where I am because nobody will help me or take what I am saying seriously, I just get, "Probably just stress!!" I wont go into details, but basically this is my biggest symptom.
When I look at the world around me, my keyboard, my TV, my monitor, my room, the road, cars, ANYTHING, its like I am very VERY detached from it, everything looks really surreal, like I have had 3 triple vodkas! the Stand by light on my TV is fuzzy, well its not blurred, its just like, ODD, so hard to describe, but it is like I am LESS CONSCIOUS, or in a dream, or not living my own reality, it is very upsetting and really unpleasant, now unlike Panic Anxiety, I don't get this when i panic, in fact I don't ever really panic, it seemed to come on after a stressful period, and STAY, and I mean STAY, not come on when I get stressed or upset, just came, AND STAYED this was weeks ago, now this did not help my stress, because I then developed Anxiety as a result of having a symptom that nobody could tell me what it was, so I started worrying I was dying/going mad, Brain Tumor etc, SOMETHING MUST be wrong to cause such a REAL symptom, sure then I got a load of symptoms all associated with Anxiety, so I keep getting dismissed by doctors opticians Neurologist, BUT what these idiots don't seem to understand is I never had Anxiety until AFTER I got this symptom, only since then has my life gotten turned upside down, please help or advise me, it would be so much appreciated to here some advice or just to hear from anybody who knows, or understands this problem, especially people who have this Surreal state of mind all the time, not just on occasion.
I am awaiting a CT scan just to be sure I am OK, but I have had blood tests which came back OK, 2 opticians have checked my eyes, and the neurologist says he has never heard anybody describe this sort of vision before.
PS I have never done drugs and I dont smoke, and have no more than 2 cups of coffee per day + I excercise and eat well, however I do like to party with some beers at weekends with my friends, well, I DID.
hope I have given enough information.
thank you very much for.. well, ANYTHING!
Am I Awake? Or Still Dreaming?
Oops I almost forgot, my age, I am 30, and for 30 years I have seen the world the same way, and this is definately NOT right.
Am I Awake? Or Still Dreaming?
meatybuddy
29-09-05, 19:52
hi fen
are you on any medication for high blood pressure? because that can cause vision disturbances.
also untreated high blood pressure can cause blurred vision but im not trying to frighten you but thats the symtoms that i got before i was diagnosed with high b.p .
please dont worry or frett its just a thought i had when i read ur post
all the best
darren
There is light at the end of the tunnel its just fiding it thats the hard part
Hi meatybuddy and thanks for your reply, now the high BP think is interesting, because I am told if I had high BP it would be high all the time, not just when I am stressed, you see one evening I got really worried about the pressure in my head which I am told is "tension type" headache, I mean really worried like I was in serious trouble, so you could say a sort of prolonged panic, and when the doctor took my blood pressure it was 162/82!!! which was not good, and he said I have high bp and wanted to give me Beta blockers or something, now I was really stressed at that time, and this just upset me so much as i am only 30 and train weights and exercise and am athletic, no athlete wants to be told they have high BP, so because my mother is a nurse, she said let me monitor it over the next few days, several times a day, and see what it is like when I am not so stressed, so the readings varied from 110/60 - 140/80 and average was about 120/70 I am told this is not high BP, maybe it, I HOPE very much, it is not high BP that has caused these symptoms, or a stroke or something, what do you think?
I hope very much that the stress did nto cause my blood pressure to shoot up and damage my Brain.
Am I Awake? Or Still Dreaming?
Hi Fen,
This is exactly what happened to me and it is the way your anxiety manifests itself.
You may feel that you didnt have an anxiety problem before...let me try to explain.
When under stress for a period of time, you dont realise what this is doing to your mind and body. The stress levels build, and so does the stress hormone levels in your blood.
Then all of a sudden, your brain says whoa...iv had enough. It then decides to shut out any more stress. This makes us feel detached, unreal, spaced out and very confused....just like an anaesthetic would do.
We then concentrate on this feeling and it scares us because we dont understand what is happening to us. Our brain then distances us more. We get more scared...more stress...more anxiety...more detachment.
In the end we think that the detachment is causing the anxiety. WRONG.
The anxiety came first. Just the same as the physical symptoms.
Yes I have experienced all of your symptoms and yes they are with me most of the time and yes they upset me and scare me enormously. BUT they are only temporary and, although hard to bear, will fade over time.
If you need to talk, please dont hesitate to pm me and take a look at mu previous posts on depersonalisation....the 'official' name for this symptom.
Hope this helps. I know how bad it can be but take heart, you are not alone.
Jude x
Be gentle with yourself....you just need some time to heal.
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)
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?
Hi Fen
I have the same problem, I suffer with depersonalisation/ derealisation which is unfortunately very common with anxiety, the way you describe it is very much how I feel too.
I too feel detached from reality, I feel rather empty, like a nobody-no soul, I bet when you look in the mirror, you CAN see yourself, but cant really FEEL it huh.
"Less conscious" , now thats a good way of describing it, I used to describe it with " Fading from existence" , tried to explain to many people before without being understood.
It's true that it can STAY with you for quite a while, I ve seen myself with this for months and months before getting better, its a 24/7 thing.
I don't have many advices for this, but what works for me best is keeping busy, working which helps being absorbed by reality and normality.
I am pretty sure your CT scan will be ok.
Just want you to know that you're not alone with this, and here you can have support and help.
Take care.
Florence.
*He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses much more, He who loses faith, loses all.*
Hi Fen (and Florence!)
It is a really difficult feeling to deal with....i feel as though i've been that way for at least a year. I can't really offer any help, just as your anxiety goes down so will this feeling.
But just to let you know you are not alone.
First Anxiety...then panic attacks...now GAD and depression...now working on a better future!
**and average was about 120/70 **
Text book perfect.
Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com
Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?
Boy, can I totally relate to your symptoms. And, yes, anxiety can make your bp go up. When I first started all of this, that was my main symptom. Like you, I was scared to death as I was 30 at the time, athletic, etc. I was reassured by my doctor that I need not worry about the periodic jumps in my bp--damage to your brain, etc.. occurs after prolonged untreated high bp.
I can certainly relate to the feelings of not being yourself. I often feel like I am walking around in a dream---even wonder if I am really still here sometimes. I have had days when I felt so spaced out that I didn't know if I should really be driving because the world looked so weird to me. Does this make sense to you? It is a very hard symptom to describe, but it is almost like you are inside a 3D movie.....
Brandy
Thank you all so very much for your replies, I really do appreciate it ALLOT.
going to see the neurologist tomorrow, and I feel More spaced out than usual, I think maybe I am worrying subconsciously, in fact I think I have forgot ton what feeling relaxed is actually like, I think maybe i have gotten so used to feeling stressed/worried I live like it 24/7 and think its normal.
I am going to take a couple of herbal sleep aids and try and have a decent sleep, I am tired and think tiredness may make the way I feel worse.
my herbal sleep aids contain some hops, valerian and passion flower (I think) mild but they take the edge of my worry I find, and although they don't make me drowsy at all, I think because they help me relax it is easier to sleep, allot of my problem is that I am actually stressed/worried WHILE I am asleep you see, I have bad dreams etc, clenching teeth in sleep etc.
Am I Awake? Or Still Dreaming?
I've had it, also. It is just a symptom of anxiety, like everyone else said. Tiredness definitely makes it worse, as most here will attest. Get a handle on the anxiety and you will feel better.
Jude - how are you doing?
Starlet_24
07-10-05, 20:27
Hi, I am going through this right now actually. been struggling with it for a couple of weeks. It's a weirdness that I have NEVER before been aware of. It just feels like I am floating and I have to JOG my mind to say U ARE A REAL PERSON AND THE TV IS REAL IN FRONT OF YOU. It feels very upsetting and scary. In fact, at this point in my journey with anxiety and it's related symptoms...I am getting ANGRY at it. I mean, I want to be normal like everyone else . I think refocusing your attention can help....stop worrying about what it means to feel this way (for me it's to stop worrying that it's a sign I am heading into complete insanity).
Listening to music helps, talking with people, and most of ALL DON'T STOP LIVING YOUR LIFE. Gradually, over time you will feeel better atleast this is what I tell myself. I think it's true that it is the way the mind somewhat takes a break if you will because we are constantly processing and analyzing and sorting stimuli. I think the brain just says ENOUGH ALREADY and the effect is the blankness and emptiness and detached FEELINGS.
Tell me what u think.
Starlet_24
yeah, i completely agree with you. i get the same feelings. but ive been getting better right after i realized that it is normal, and the feeling of being normal came right afterwards especially seeing a lot of people on this board go through the same thing.
it used to be that i would feel out of it all day, and have periods of normality...but now i feel normal most of the day, and have periods of spaciness...i think thats a good step forward.
point is, dont let it scare you, it goes away once you agree with it, the more you fight it the more your brain doesnt want to hear it and the more spaced out you are, but as soon as you stop worrying about it, your brain wont have to deal with your extra anxiousness....
stan
RobyBaggio18
08-10-05, 00:57
[When I look at the world around me, my keyboard, my TV, my monitor, my room, the road, cars, ANYTHING, its like I am very VERY detached from it, everything looks really surreal, like I have had 3 triple vodkas! the Stand by light on my TV is fuzzy, well its not blurred, its just like, ODD,
<div align="right">Originally posted by Fen - 29 September 2005 : 18:57:07</div id="right">
[/quote]
I get this all the time, its just part of anxiety and does fade as anxiety loses its grip. It feels like theres a plate glass window between me and the rest of the world, my eyesight is always fuzzy and have difficulty reading.
I felt like it tonight as we were moving house, my mates were talking to me and I felt like it couldnt take anything in.
Best to just go with it, accept it as part of anxiety and it will go. When people have got something on their mind it generally feels like ur in a world of ur own.
ronostommo
08-10-05, 10:35
hi
i suffered with a very similar thing for a long while. i started off getting panic attacks from drinking too much although i didnt realise this at the time and eventually it turned into this 24/7 feeling of unrealness. i could only describe it as my eyes felt very weird like looking through a fog. this lasted about 5 months but as i kept myself busy it eventually disappeared. after about 3 months of being totally fine my feeling of light headedness and spaced out has slowly crept back in and is now here constantly again. i dont no why but it must be due to some anxiety about something. i know how you feel cos its not like youre having panic attacks but instead its like being trapped in a constant state of anxiety without the panic attacks. ive got rid of it once and hopefully we can all get rid of it again.
good luck.
I felt in a car the other day that things were whizzing past too fast for me to cope with...
First Anxiety...then panic attacks...now GAD and depression...now working on a better future!
Has anyone ever had this feeling like hours after an anxiety-provoking situation? I had some panic yesterday morning and I have had kind of a rough week. I was feeling OK for awhile, then I had to make some difficult phone calls to a friend, then about 2 hours afterward, I started to have some depersonalization feelings. I just thought it was strange to have that happen hours afterward.
RobyBaggio18
11-10-05, 09:29
<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">I felt in a car the other day that things were whizzing past too fast for me to cope with...
First Anxiety...then panic attacks...now GAD and depression...now working on a better future!
<div align="right">Originally posted by desperate - 08 October 2005 : 12:53:53</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">
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