How can I tell I have derealisation and not psycosis?

[hannah26]

Hello,

Last night in bed I felt detached from myself, I wasn't scared and didn't really panic which was weird!
I'm worried now that I have psycosis or some other mind altering mental illness instead of derealisation!! How can I tell?

[Mark13]

You can tell by the very fact you're asking the question.

With true psychosis, to the best of my knowledge, you wouldn't know you had it because your version of reality would be all consuming, so you wouldn't know what you were experiencing was strange.

What you appear to be experiencing is derealisation and depersonalisation.

You may not be stressed by either experience purely because you know what it is.

[PanchoGoz]

Hannah...when will you realise that if you stop giving all your attention to derealization, it will go?
You have been posting about it on an anxiety forum, because you have anxiety. For a long time! Which means it has never got any worse has it? You haven't been carted off to an instituion.
There are hundreds of people on this forum with the same problem with you. You need to let it go! You need to accept that it feels weird and the only thing you can do is live with it and you know full well the more research you do and the more attention you give it, the more you will notice it and the worse you will feel.
After all this time, you should by now know that nothing you do is making you any worse or better. The amount of energy you are putting into sorting this out is directly equal to the potency of the symptom. The best thing you can do...is nothing. Just let it be.

Just think, you might come back on this forum in years' time when you have finally recovered and you will wonder why you were fussing over this one symptom so much. Keep that day in mind.

[nomorepanic]

People with psychosis don't know they have it - that is the whole point. They don't post asking if they have it!

What help are you getting at the moment?