Altered state of reality "nothing feeling real and like a dream"- causing panic attacks….?
I am now 20, and My family has a history of depression…
But when I was 15.. out of the blue one day I got this wierd thought. Nothing around me felt real… like I was living in a dream.. long story short it was suffocating because nothing.. life.. didnt feel real and I ended up having some panic attacks from the feeling of needing to "get out".
I went to doctors and they looked at me wierd. I was eating right, and sleeping well (sleep was my only escape) so they said I would grow out of it which distressed me a great deal. After the panic attacks left I ended up on a couple rounds of prozac for depression, which seemed to help me alot. But when acquiring these never mentioned the who reality thing….and only occasionally and fleetingly did I get the sensation of loss of reality. It is increasingly getting worse again, but I was wondering. Is this completely nuts? Or do other people experience it? and is there an official name or is it a symptom of something in particular?
Depersonalization
Depersonalization Disorder is a Dissociative Disorder and it’s characterized by a profound sense of detachment that makes you feel as though you’re going through the motions of life, but not really living the experience. People describe it as feeling like they are in a fog, or almost as though they are in a dream and there’s often a sense of unreality about things, although you consciously know what’s real, it just doesn’t feel that way.
Depersonalization can exist alone or as part of another disorder, most notably Panic Disorder and PTSD, but it may also be connected with depression, especially in milder form where people describe feeling numb or like their emotions are blunted or flat lined. However, actual depersonalization is usually more extreme and represents a significant sense of detachment from oneself more than just the chronic numbness that often accompanies depression.
It is also has a relationship to “trance” and can be brought on by significant periods of sleep deprivation or other “trance-inducing” activities that require extreme and prolonged focus and concentration, like addicting computer games or monotonous and routine activity, both of which I believe are related. “Trance-inducing activity” leads to an altered state where there is reduced sensitivity to your surroundings. (Just think of "highway hypnosis"-this is pretty common and normal, but lasts briefly, though it shares many of the same features)
There’s a good chance that Depersonalization will resolve on its own without intervention, particularly if it’s brief and hasn’t become habitual. However, a longer duration suggests that treatment aimed at helping you reconnect with yourself may be beneficial. Often times, depersonalization becomes a chronic way of coping with overwhelmingly uncomfortable or painful feelings and disconnecting from the experience of them, hence its frequent occurrence in response to trauma. Depersonalization is a frequent and common symptom associated with PTSD and also extreme anxiety and functions as a defense against the intense feelings people experience during abuse, life-threatening circumstances and extreme anxiety and panic and protects a person from becoming completely overwhelmed. People often "trance out" when under stress, and it functions to decrease their awareness of and sensitivity to distressing experiences, like the "freeze" response seen in trauma victims. (Just think of the teenager who "tunes out" when a parent or other person is berating them with criticism-they hear it, but don’t really react to it). Therapy can be especially helpful if there is a history of emotional abuse that depersonalization helps you escape as it can become a familiar and almost automatic process that gets triggered by emotional arousal. In that way, it becomes a disorder as it serves to keep a person detached from their own experiences and disconnected from their sense of self. Therapy aims at making this a less automatic process and helping people reconnect to their emotions, their body and their sense of self and learning other ways to cope and self-soothe so that dissociation is no longer a “knee-jerk” reaction to emotional triggers.
Hope this helps.
Comments
Comment from karmawise
Time October 7, 2009 at 12:33 am
I’m 39 and started suffering from a similar "state of mind" 6 years ago. It was a time of moderate stress in my life, and it was very real. What you describe as dreamlike, I would tell my wife that it felt like I was leaving my body through my head and could view everything from above…very surreal. The first time this happened, I really freaked out and called her (she’s a doctor). She immediately asked me if I had a feeling of impending doom. I said "oh yeah", and she told me I was having a panic attack. It took me about three years to get control of the situation (never saw my personal doctor…stubborn), and did so by just being aware of what it was when it happened. When I had that "feeling", instead of being afraid or freaking out, I just labeled it and would concentrate on breathing and usually drank some bottled water. It’s funny, I used to always keep bottled water in my car…my "panic waters" as I jokingly called them. The more you recognize and accept the feeling, the less it seems to happen. Today I maybe have an attack once every 3-4 months and it’s always mild. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the first two years I was having these attacks, my wife’s friend prescribed me zanex which I used only when I was having a severe attack. I still have pills left over from the original prescription. Tobacco and lack of sleep seem to encourage my attacks. Good luck!
References :
Comment from Shari H
Time October 7, 2009 at 12:45 am
Your symptoms are similar to what I experienced years ago.
I finally took the advice of a friend,and went to her doctor.
After a discussion of my symptoms, I was given a time to
come back and take a glucose tolerance test. I did that, and
was told I had Hypoglycemia. For a couple of weeks, I worked
on a high protein diet plan and finally started to pull out of the
funk I was in. The depression, anxiety, and light headiness
finally left and I started to feel good about things again. In reading about this condition at length, I learned that it is often connected to many problems associated with mental illness.There is an imbalance in the blood that has to be corrected. And this is achieved with a high protein low -
carbohydrate diet.
I would talk to your primary doctor, and ask about being
tested for Hypoglycemia. And if this is your problem, the
sooner you are on the diet plan, the better you will feel soon.
It’s mainly a sensible diet, with portions in moderation.
I hope that I have been of some help, and that you soon will
find the help you need. I know how scarey your symptoms
must be, and the sooner you find help, the sooner you’ll feel
well.
References :
Comment from nocturnalfaerie
Time October 7, 2009 at 12:59 am
Sounds like it could be disociation- a disorder on its own but generally a symptom of depression and/ or a few other mental health disorders. Its basically a sign that your not coping and your mind needs a break for a few minutes/ hours. It can be in its milder forms just a feeling that the world around you is not real, accompanied by anxiety or not- thats how it started out and still happens sometimes for me but it can get a whole lot worse to the point that you cant control your actions while experiencing it and have no memory of that period of time. there are no drugs that can stop you disociating but drugs and especially therapy can treat the underlying causes and there is always an underlying cause whether you can identify it or not. Whether it be past abuse (which is common) an existential crisis thats overwhelming you, or just because of the depression/ anxiety. It is some people bodys way of dealing with very distressing feelings/ experiences, you may not even be aware of what these feelings are or that your even distressed. Is also a way of getting a break from the problem. Go and see a therapist, a good one and get some help
References :
Comment from Opester
Time October 7, 2009 at 1:48 am
Depersonalization
Depersonalization Disorder is a Dissociative Disorder and it’s characterized by a profound sense of detachment that makes you feel as though you’re going through the motions of life, but not really living the experience. People describe it as feeling like they are in a fog, or almost as though they are in a dream and there’s often a sense of unreality about things, although you consciously know what’s real, it just doesn’t feel that way.
Depersonalization can exist alone or as part of another disorder, most notably Panic Disorder and PTSD, but it may also be connected with depression, especially in milder form where people describe feeling numb or like their emotions are blunted or flat lined. However, actual depersonalization is usually more extreme and represents a significant sense of detachment from oneself more than just the chronic numbness that often accompanies depression.
It is also has a relationship to “trance” and can be brought on by significant periods of sleep deprivation or other “trance-inducing” activities that require extreme and prolonged focus and concentration, like addicting computer games or monotonous and routine activity, both of which I believe are related. “Trance-inducing activity” leads to an altered state where there is reduced sensitivity to your surroundings. (Just think of "highway hypnosis"-this is pretty common and normal, but lasts briefly, though it shares many of the same features)
There’s a good chance that Depersonalization will resolve on its own without intervention, particularly if it’s brief and hasn’t become habitual. However, a longer duration suggests that treatment aimed at helping you reconnect with yourself may be beneficial. Often times, depersonalization becomes a chronic way of coping with overwhelmingly uncomfortable or painful feelings and disconnecting from the experience of them, hence its frequent occurrence in response to trauma. Depersonalization is a frequent and common symptom associated with PTSD and also extreme anxiety and functions as a defense against the intense feelings people experience during abuse, life-threatening circumstances and extreme anxiety and panic and protects a person from becoming completely overwhelmed. People often "trance out" when under stress, and it functions to decrease their awareness of and sensitivity to distressing experiences, like the "freeze" response seen in trauma victims. (Just think of the teenager who "tunes out" when a parent or other person is berating them with criticism-they hear it, but don’t really react to it). Therapy can be especially helpful if there is a history of emotional abuse that depersonalization helps you escape as it can become a familiar and almost automatic process that gets triggered by emotional arousal. In that way, it becomes a disorder as it serves to keep a person detached from their own experiences and disconnected from their sense of self. Therapy aims at making this a less automatic process and helping people reconnect to their emotions, their body and their sense of self and learning other ways to cope and self-soothe so that dissociation is no longer a “knee-jerk” reaction to emotional triggers.
Hope this helps.
References :
20 years as a psychotherapist with specialization in dissociative disorders
Comment from aattura
Time October 6, 2009 at 11:46 pm
I can’t answer much of your questions other than to say– are you eating too much sugar? To much sugar plays havoc with emoitions and perceptions. Junk food does not nourish your brain cells.
I send you my very best wishes and hope that you encounter a CARING UNDERSTANDING doctor who can find out more about your physical condition and help you get better.
References :