Derealization/Depersonalization

[elvis]

Hi there, as anyone here ever experienced derealisation or depersonalization, it's when you think your in a film and everything seems unreal, I think it's a feature of anxiety, it can be quite scary, mixed with depression and panic attacks. I used to have it, but it's now gone, without meds, also my panic attacks have gone, but I still feel as though I've had a breakdown and think I'll never be the same again, feel tearful most of the time but don't cry and also find it difficult to remember things, very strange.

[Grace]

Hello elvis!!
Have you been able to describe your feelings with a doctor or better still, a specialist? Medication is there to help get through .... I mean it's not some kind of victory over ourseves if we manged not to use them .... the most important thing is that we feel well!!
Welcome among us!
Grace

[elvis]

Hi Grace, thanks for your kind words.  The feelings of derealisation have gone, the panic attacks have gone, I feel depressed and anxious most of the time, but the main point I'm trying to get over is when this happened about 2-3 years ago, I felt as though I was going mad, and ever since then I don't feel the same person as I did, going to the doctors is a no no, as I don't think they can do anything for me, except medication which I don't want to do, just wondering if anyone else feels this way.

[Grace]

You're right Elvis, maybe medications alone won't do the trick .....are you eligible to get some kind of psychological support? I do have my ups and downs, but I'm closely followed by an empathic psychiatrist and I NEVER RESIGN MYSELF to depression!! It's true this is a sickness but it has to be treated as such and there is always something to be done!
GRace

[elvis]

Hi Grace, thank you for your advice, but do psychiatrist's really help with depression/anxiety because you read about people who even after medical help, they still feel depressed/anxious, they may give advice on how to cope, but I would think I was wasting their time and my time, people just don't know how to express these strange feelings to other people, do other people feel like this?

[Grace]

This is what psychiatrists are there for. I really hope you mange to find the right person, but they are trained to listen to these kind of things and find a way, through psychotherapy and/or medication to make feel better. I'm not writing from England so I don't really know the kind of free care you may be able to get, but it's worth trying!

Grace

[timdiesel]

Hi elvis. I have had 4 breakdowns now over the years. I've had the panic attacks and the sense of not feeling myself. I have had counciling and cbt and have been on antidepressants. I would say it does help to have counciling and cbt. They don't completely fix you but it does help. I don't think I would have done aswell without antidepressants. I would recommend them. Would you say your depression is situational jobs, friends, life or just not feeling right in yourself to enjoy life?

[Greys0n]

it's better to describe your feeling to GP

[SteveW]

I have experienced depersonalization and derealization many times, but then I have had psychiatrists considering schizophrenia as a diagnosis. Often my experience of derealization is simple. I may feel like I am in a bubble or behind a pane of glass. The outside world isn't neccessarily distorted wildly. Sometimes it just seems like the outside side world has been washed out in terms of colour. Sometimes I feel like the world has been drained of meaning, I'd really struggle to explain what that feels like. The most unpleasant aspect is jamais vu which gets translated as never seen. I can be somewhere I have been thousands of time yet it seems completely new and unfamiliar to me. That happened to me in the middle of a big city and I became really disorientated.

I have experienced depersonalization but not as much. I can sometimes feel like I am outside myself looking in. I have had a couple of out of the body experiences. I am not sure this is typical. I suffer from Epilepsy and psychiatrists tend to put things down to seizure like events. This stuff is I think not rare in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

I share your scepticism about psychiatrists, generally but most definitely in depersonalization and derealization. I think there is a tendency not to regard derealization and depersonalization as distinctive disorders.

Because my episodes have never lasted long I have never been treated for them. Maybe someone else could tell you about that.