[Victoria'smom]

I feel like I was cut out of my life and placed here. I'm listening to music but nothing feels real. T didn't want to talk about that she kept asking if I felt safe. Which I don't I feel like everyone's going to flip out any second because I'm not supposed to be here almost like I died or something last week. My t says listen to music, be on the computer, talk here, color, basically distract myself. But it feels weird to lay next my husband. She says I'm thinking a lot about negative coping mechanism. But I feel weird. Like I'm around strangers that are acting. I'm already in pain.

[Moose72]

I sometimes feel like everything around me in the world isn’t real and I’m no longer walking I’m floating along!

[Victoria'smom]

What do you do about it?

[Crazy Hitch]

I think your T has given you some usable coping strategies you could try in the meantime whilst you navigate through this difficult piece.

[Moose72]

Originally Posted by Victoria'smom

What do you do about it?

Nothing? It goes away eventually.

[MuddyBoots]

The thing about depersonalization/derealization is that they are coping mechanisms because our brains are overwhelmed with reality (whether it's our external or internal reality, that's a different question). I've learned to just accept that that is what my mind feels it needs to do to protect itself right now and try not to panic when it's happening, and sometimes that's all it takes to ground myself. Sometimes not, but it does alleviate a bit of the eerie/perturbed feeling.

But if you're recognizing it, that's half the battle, and that's huge.

[Blueberrybook]

I have it a lot, have had it since I was a girl. You just soldier through. The less I think about it and get my mind on other things, the less I panic about it. If you have a prn benzo, you can try that or low dose Seroquel. Chamomile tea, lavendar essential oil might help. Try grounding techniques, there are lots you can google. Cold temp works best for me, holding my hands under cold running water, closing my eyes focusing solely on the temp of the water or same with a glass of ice water, ice pack. But mostly you just have to know you will come out the other side eventually and it will go away. It is likely to recur, so you have to prepare for that. Since it's been happening to me since I was very young, maybe I'm more used to it than other people. But I still don't like it.

[Blue_Bird]

The Tipp your temperature DBT skill is good. I like the dive reflex one. You hold your breath and put your face in an ice cold big bowl of water for however long you can then come up. And repeat as necessary. It’s really shocking and helpful.

[MuddyBoots]

TIPP is great. It's cold enough lately in these parts you can just step outside for the "T" part. (I is for intense exercise, P for paced breathing, and P for progressive muscle relaxation).

My grandma had panic attacks and in winter she would just step outside for a minute and breathe (she did take Xanax too though, but that was for summer). My cousin thought she was having a heart attack and when she went outside she calmed down and that's when she realized it was her first panic attack because it was "treated" similarly to gram-ma-ma's.


Panic attacks are like the flip side of the same coin of dissociation (incl. depersonalization/derealization). It's just hyper vs hypoarousal and under stress you go towards one or the other (or both) and a lot of the same things can help with both.

I like taking a cold shower because it gives me personal space, privacy, and it has that cold temperature that activates the parasympathetic system. Another thing that for some reason helps with dp/dr and panic is taking a shot of vinegar (or in general having something sour like pickle juice or maybe if you like warheads (do they even still sell those?))

[Victoria'smom]

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I had a busy day yesterday. I've been running my hands under cold water, haven't stuck my face in cold water yet.

[Victoria'smom]

I use to keep sour candy around. I can't do that right now because I'm still healing for a couple of months. This has been hell. I've done TIPP individually not all at the same time.