Depersonalization from anxiety

I was wondering if anyone has Depersonalization where things look unreal and you feel like you're outside your body. It starts with an ongoing and severe anxiety and worrying. I've had it since 14 and I was always full of anxiety.

All the time sweety. Depersonalization and derealism goes hand in hand, even though through our DID we live in it...but Dp is much more on a personal level that is just so freaky...it’s like body parts become non mine....it might as well be a tree limb.

How does yours feel hon?

after being i developed a different dissociative disorder, dissociative amnesia. my mind detaches and i just go blank and dont remember the event. i feel like the depersonalization you describe is pretty common. ive met a lot of kids in treatment who developed that due to childhood trauma.

I first entered the frightening world of DP at 14 and have had it 24/7 for thirty years. I also don't see why it's often titled depersonalization/derealisation when I can tell you from living with it, it's one thing. It's usually caused by constant or ongoing anxiety from some sort of stressor or by a trauma endured. I'm seeing a therapist now who deals with this using EMDR. I was interested in finding others who had this.

its just a formality thing. usually when a person has a dissociative disorder the two disorders sometimes goes together...

example a person who feels like they their self is numb and just watching what is going on can also feel like everyone and everything around them is not connected to them, feeling not real...

when I am having my depersonalization symptoms of feeling numb and a bit on the spaced out side of things it sometimes feels like that picture over there is not real, I know its real and I know its on my wall but it feels like the picture has no connection to me.

so instead of saying I have both depersonalization disorder and I have derealization disorder my treatment providers can write one number on the insurance forms (the number for depersonalization/ derealization disorder is 300.6) and the insurance will automatically cover treatment for both.

see what I mean its just a formality thing that allows a person to have 2 disorders but labeled only one disorder name that covers both.

america has many mental disorders that are now combined into one or more diagnosis names. makes it more individualized so that more people can get more treatment options and insurance will still pay for it.

that was how i felt before i was diagnosed as a teenager with anxiety.

When that happens, I keep saying "I am here" as sort of a grounding thing.

I wonder if not recognizing oneself in childhood photos has to do with dissociation??

I was just reading about the different types of dissociative disorders. Yours sounds frightening. Are you scared when it happens? Actually I was told mine is unusual because I have it continuously for 30 years. It's there 24/7 and it's kept me from being who I'd like. I have severe insomnia, anxiety, and have been hospitalized for depression. When I have severe clinical depression the anxiety and depersonalization is off the charts. It's been only recently that therapists know what they can do. Most never mention it.

I so often feel like I'm losing my mind. I get panic attacks and pace the floor. Do you have a lot of anxiety?

t's been awful and frightening because I've had insomnia for 4 years and when I don't sleep the DP is so much worse. That's when I'm super anxious.
Since my mother died and we live in her house I had no life afterward. I felt very lost. Depersonalization started by worrying about whether some friends hated me. I kept ruminating over and over about it and then the unreality began. I was petrified at how things looked.

My self esteem is horrible and I was not spoken to much because of my father's alcoholism. It taught me something was wrong with me and I didn't fit in...so I assumed.

I’ve become a drifter of sorts....state to state, town to town....always had a car job and clothes, but drifting.

Getting away from the ties that binds you helps....but then you still have this weird mind thing going on...I think just getting away from the horrific triggers is a start. Anything from your tortured past that you physically dwell in is a dark dungeon of chains. Get away, get help, get real. Living in the past as present is not healing...at least for me it isn’t. Hugggs.

I developed it this past year because of the mountain of stress and anxiety that eventually crushed me.

For me, things feel surreal, almost foggy, and I am completely detached from my emotions -- I function purely on logic. My mind goes completely blank and if I talk, I do so without thinking (I have no idea how I can even put a sentence together but apparently I can). Every part of my body feels numb and it takes a lot of energy to even move a finger. My response time to things is much slower than it typically is. Usually it's gone the next morning (assuming I slept overnight) but I'll only remember bits and pieces of what happened while I was disassociating.

Sometimes I can feel it coming on and I'll try to stop it but I inevitably fail.


From what I've read, the only way to "snap out of it" (poor wording but since I'm out of it right now that's all I can think of) is to ground yourself to reality. The only ways I can find to do that are by using your senses.... Unfortunately for me, my senses don't work so well so it's been a slow process finding creative ways to get around my poor senses. (Example: My sense of taste is extremely limited so sometimes I'll shock my system by taking 'shots' of balsamic vinegar. It sounds gross but it usually helps after a couple of shots.)

Since having therapy for it and reading a book regarding DP there's no way to think your way out of it. The more you think about it or try to tell yourself something it makes it worse. I'm seeing someone trying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT.

((Hugs)) Have had this sensation for as long as I can remember... There are various levels of it. I recall a friend mentioning feeling that way after smoking marijuana as a teenager and I was confused that she described it like it was weird for her because I had just assumed everyone else had that feeling quite often just like I did! (without drug use).

Anxiety and stress is a huge trigger for us....and also when a part momentarily takes over (just because they do). I practice grounding techniques which I guess sounds like relaxing and focusing techniques to quell the anxiety it’s self, like controlled breathing, distraction, focusing on an object noting details going into my little bubble until I calm a bit.

It seems the more prominent the dp/dr feeling is, the more anxious I become as if it is self feeding. Hmm, never thought of it that way.

Anyhow, I believe that you can learn to control your anxiety to a point by talking yourself down and using grounding techniques.

Have you a therapist? If not....they can help teach you techniques or help find out why you get anxious. GP’s or Pdoc’s can prescribe medication to keep one calm.

Good luck, gotta go.

Is anyone on this topic anymore. I'm having a hard time with DP and depression. I need some help

((((tikobird)))) I'm sorry you're struggling. Please, feel free to vent here.

I found that wouldn't get rid of my Anxiety no matter how often I said it. I've had Generalized Anxiety Disorder almost my entire life. It's rather intense and not easily taken care of. Now with help and more information on how to control it and not fear anxiety, I'm beginning to handle it better. It's quite overwhelming and it takes much more than one simple phrase. Do you have some serious GAD?