So...what does derealization mean to you?

Your view, your experience of it. How you cope.

whats derealization?

If you are talking about when things don't seem real, when I am somewhere and it feels like I am floating and not connected to my surroundings, like what is happening around me is unreal. That is what I think derealization is. It used to make me stop what ever it was that I was doing. It gave me a sick feeling in my stomach, I would begin to feel like I was on the outside looking in. If I was in a place where I had to be normal I would try to get out of there and away from people and the surroundings. If I was alone I would think I was a going insane. It still is a frightening experience. Recently though I was moving in-between parts and I stopped for a moment, all of a sudden everything seemed unreal, just for that moment. It makes me think that when I experience the feeling of floating and unreal that it might be because I am in-between parts, that both parts are occupying the same space at the same time. I think it might be that. But I am not sure.

omg I get that too! It is a sick feeling allright. s I imagine something horrible and think if it happens its just not real, as if life is'nt real Kind of like quantum mechanics or something,
It sure is a very scary thing. Its good to know I'm not the only one who experiences this, should I tell my Pdoc? I don't want to wind up in the hospital, I'm traumatized in hospital.

aha. Traffic. Good.

It started to hit me after a trauma I went through.....now when stress gets to high, it seems to hit where before the trauma I never experienced it. It's the same thing as depersonalization is what my Pdoc said.......the first time it hit I was in the hospital with my mother who was dying of cancer right after the home care person abused her, I caught her stealing her ID, writing checks & OD'ed my mom on morphine.....then the home care person had the nerve to call the police & tell them I was abusing my mother.....didn't know what she might do next.....it was like I was watching the life I was in like a movie & really couldn't function by that point.....couldn't eat, sleep.....it was horrible.

After my mother died & I ended up treated in the medical hospital for the anorexia that hit......I was back out at the ranch with my foal that had been born just before this all hit......I remember I was separating hay to feed the horses....someone said something to me & I answered but it was like I was looking down on myself from the top of the feed room. I had no idea what I said in reply.....the whole conversation was going on & I had no idea how I knew the answer.......I excused myself & headed off to take care of something else....but that feeling didn't go away for the rest of the day & H had to stop at the grocery store.....wierd wandering through the grocery isles in that state......it was like I was looking at the stuff in the store but it wasn't really me doing it.

Have had it hit quite a few times since I left there & left my H....but the new surroundings have helped a lot.

It hit one time at a political rally I went to with a friend. Couldn't stand the crowd & being indoors...had to excuse myself & leave. Stood in the open doorway for the rest of the time.

Sinse I began therapy I have learned about grounding. Something I was unaware of prior. I would always run to get out but now I know I can use something cold like ice or a can of soda that was in cold ice. I can't use food because not everyone of my parts eat. But I find that if I am in a social setting I will try to hold on to something cold. Like go outside and hold on to a metel railing. Or go into the bathroom and put my face in cold water It helps to ground me. Maybe that could work for you. I still feel cloudy in my head but not disconnected with my surroundings. Take care.

I get this a lot too. Like I'm not real, my body isn't mine, my voice isn't mine and the words are coming out but I don't know how I know them. I don't feel the world around me is real. It's too weird. Felt like this for a good 15 years and felt I'm going insane. I've even asked people before if I'm really walking because it doesn't feel as if I am. It's tough to explain.

For me it's like everything is foreign. Like I can SEE the entrances and exits of people in a play, and like I know what is going to happen next because it's scripted, but everything is calm and detached and even just walking down the street feels like floating across a stage. I relate it a lot to acting because I use to act, so that's where those metaphors come from.

I've never had the looking down on myself thing happen, but I know quite a few people who do.

For me also the sound of things changes. Almost like hearing everything perfectly, but underwater. Its muted and nothing feels real. I feel like I could stab my hand with a knife and it wouldn't hurt or it would go right though like I'm a ghost. Or like I'm dreaming and if I do something or say something to someone there won't be a concequence.

Sometimes it feels like I'm not real, and sometimes it feels like others aren't real. Sometimes both.

Though I think I depersonalize more than derealize but I don't know the technical terms. It's usually when I'm feeling stressed for a long time, not a specific trigger but a lot of little triggers.

I mosly have to realize I'm in that state first, because it sneaks up on me, but then I double check everything I do and remind myself there IS consequences, and it WILL hurt if I stab my hand, so I don't. And I start doing grounding or excuse myself from a conversation and run cold on my hands or play with playdough and feel what it's like on my fingers.

Switch, I can totally relate to what you've said.
I'm not glad that others experience these things, but I am grateful for this thread because it's good to know you're not alone in what you're feeling.

To Clarity, I tried the "cold" trick you said. I am new to this and I get a panic attack, because If you don't understand something, you tend to be afraid of it. This feeling kind of leads to a depressive episode, for me.

Sorry to hear that. There are many of us and sometimes someone will be out and having a bad experience. When I use the ice it enables one of the protectors to step in and calm everyone down. I don't have an original so we all take care of each other. Sometimes when some one is out and having a bad experience while out, they can not step aside to let someone help them. Using the ice sort of enables us to focus so someone who is calm can come out. Sometimes when something bad happens at home I don't remember grounding, I just get stuck in anxiety and fear. Than one of us will say get ice. We don't always know why we are getting ice but we do and the next thing I know we are feeling better and who ever was having a bad time is back in and safe. I am sorry it made you feel depressed. I hope you feel ok now.

I have had chronic depersonalization/derealization since early 2009. the depersonalization has remained in tact that entire time, the derealization comes in bouts.

when it happens to me, I am disconnected from the outside world and its like I am just looking at it and examining it. like if I were watching tv... I'm seeing it all... but I'm not experiencing it... because I'm not actually a part of it. and so my mind tries to make sense of things through shapes, patterns, colors... which is actually really annoying because it feels like I'm obsessing over a certain color or shape and drawing symbols from everything and everywhere but really its just my heads way of trying to stay grounded when it's completely disconnected from the outside world.

it's really freaking weird.

Feeling like nothing is real... Like you're dreaming... It happens to me a lot xP
Some ppl like to cut themselves when they derealizate bc they feel something, it's like hitting yourself in a dream to know if it's real or not lol
It just feels weird and is kinda difficult to explain, to me when it happens I start thinking a lot and I just am like lost and like to stop walking or anything until the feeling is gone because it's not funny
xx
Cali