Derealization & macropsia

Derealization, experiencing the external world as strange or unreal.
Macropsia or micropsia, an alteration in the perception of object size or shape.
A sense that other people seem unfamiliar or mechanical.

I've had these! Lately I've felt really tall or like everything else got really short!

Is this a migraine thing or a bipolar thing or both? Anybody?

Well i dont suffer with Migraines at all, but have the derealisation thing.
Sometimes everything seems brighter than usual, or really hot when its actually freezing, like i havent had sleep!

Yes- the derealization has happened to me too. Seems like a dream

This is an interesting thread. My 5yr old son is exhibiting these symptoms of Micropsia. I'm feeling a little bit worried for him. He has anxiety and mental illness runs in my family. He always tells us when he's feeling small or big or when things are going really fast (in addition to seeing spots). Anxiety and schizophrenia run in my family so I'm worried for his well being. Is any of this linked together?

I was just reading about another type of hallucination that might mimic a seizure. Happened to me. My dr counts it as bp psychosis though

derealization and macropsia: yes are an alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems strange or unreal. But they are not stand alone diagnosis. Macro/Micropsia can be a "result" of seizure activity but there are several other symptoms that go with it, It's not a stand alone symptom of a sz. They are a byproduct of sleep deprevation, stress and psychosis.

Have you been getting enough sleep? I see your posts are all over the times, I cant imagine your getting any sort of REGULAR sleep. Did you get your lithium levels checked? I hope you followed up with your pdoc or T by now.

Macropsia/Micropsia used to happen to me all the time when I was unmedicated! It was really disconcerting. I hated it.

I chatted with my T today about my son and I chatted with my sons pdoc.
My son has anxiety that we are going to try and treat via talk therapy with my T who happens to also work with children. As for the micopsia we are going to try and get my son to a Neurologist to see if there's anything seizure related. My husband has seizures so perhaps my son could be having them too?

I didn't know these things had names, it happens to me a lot, today I had to leave the store because the colors and perspective of everything kept changing and everything looked huge.

I need to mention this to my pdoc on Monday. And the seizure with my hallucinations.

Derealization, experiencing the external world as strange or unreal.

I have this one often. Briefly sometimes... but it happens a lot.

We found that my sons symptoms are related to anxiety. Since his anxiety has calmed a bit he has become much better and the symptoms have almost completely gone away.

Derealisation - happens to me very often! And I thought it was just me being weird! Or my imagination overtaking my brain or something. I have never mentioned it to any doctors though. And I've thought about people not being real (always thought of it as a remnant of having had imaginary friends as a kid) but never experienced macropsia or micropsia.

SadRobot
I also experience so much of this sense of things being surreal or like we're looking in on a pre-recorded movie clip that we can't interact with directly. And when we do we feel surprised to see our bodies entering the scene.

I briefly discussed a fit I had with my first psychiatrist, and he thought it was probably a kind of seizure, but I have kept the derealisation experiences from all pdocs. Partly because I'm tired of being hurt by them fobbing me off on other matters I am concerned about, and I certainly don't want to risk them sending me off to a locked ward or putting me on antipsychotics (big phobias of mine). I'd rather just live with my weird experiences and keep them to myself.

I certainly sympathise with that. Actually the mother of a friend of mine (diagnosed with bipolar and been treated for it for almost 30 years) told me from personal experience to be very very careful what I say to pdocs as complete honesty and trust put in just any pdoc can do much damage. And I have felt some of that myself. I have the same phobia about antipsychotics - I have tried about 5 of them and none agreed with me, and I firmly believe my biology simply rejects them as a type of medication and trying another 5 wouldn't change anything.
And my other fear is gaining the additional label of a personality disorder, which a pdoc had at some point convinced me I had before discharging me from his care. I have nothing against that particular disorder, apart from the fact that I don't have it!! Therapists I have seen don't think I do, and a psychiatrist I saw at home is certain that I don't, and from my own reading I know I don't. And no matter what my problems are, fooling myself about these things is not one of them. But it took me a while to shake off what the doctor had instilled in me and stop accusing myself for episodes under thoughts such as 'you just need to reprogramme your brain'.
The way pdocs sometimes reduce bipolar symptoms to a single list that can fit on one piece of paper and anything outside it be thrown on the pile of 'personality issues' makes me feel sick. And how ready they are to throw you on zyprexa and the likes just to keep you sedated enough not to be a 'threat', without even having established if you are a threat or what exactly is wrong with you. I apologise for how this turned into a rant....I guess I really hate my previous pdoc

Bottom line - if derealisation doesn't get in the way of functioning there is no reason to tell.

Bottom line - if derealisation doesn't get in the way of functioning there is no reason to tell.

Oh, definitelly. I believe one can learn to live with various "symptoms". If I had told anybody everything that goes in my head... I'd be probably locked up forever.

I think there is a tendency to label everything outside of the average as some sort of abnormality or disorder, when it really isn't. There are no clear cut lines between reality and psychosis. I welcome the sort of perceptual distortions from time to time, I've learned a lot about myself, they are warning signs that I'm getting too stressed out, that I need to ground myself and simplify things. I also get an isight into the bigger picture at times too.

I didn't know perceiving something as smaller or bigger than they really are had a name other than derealization or depersonalization (depending on if its part of you like a body part, or part of the environment). Sometimes when I dissociate, i look down at my hands and they appear way small. and sometimes they look too huge. it freaks me out when i dont remind myself its just dissociation and stuff.

I disagree with this one... although a particular symptom may not interfere with daily functioning, it is important that your therapist and doctor know all the symptoms you are having. Being a symptom means something is causing that. Like someone else on here said, when they have these symptoms, it makes them realize they are too stressed and take appropriate actions to ground themselves. Revealing such a symptom could help the client and therapist discuss what the root issue is, and therefore create a better treatment plan.

If you can trust your pdoc or T, then yes, it could be helpful. To me, they are all on the same team of conspirators who want to lock me in the clink. The ones I've seen don't care about the details. They want you out of the consulting room as soon as possible so they can improve their turnover. I'll tell them as much as I deem necessary to get the help I need.

I agree with Yagalada that some of the more ethereal or strange experiences we have can be useful to us, and need not be medicated away.

Few years ago we had a ghost in our house. Few people confirmed it (two of them without being told. My mom's friend from yoga came "you know you have ghost here, right?") and were able to locate it.

Imagine I told me doctor. Yeah, that would so help...

If more than one person sees or hears the same hing, I'd say it's not a hallucnation.

but would a doctor believe me at first? Probably not.

Just because they don't believe in ghosts. You should decide if you do.