does anyone else experience this?

tsyndra · 02-17-2003, 12:09 AM

okay this will be hard to explain w/o sounding crazy, but...

i'm 26 yr's old. for the past 6-7 yr's or so, i've had these weird episodes of feeling unreal--i'm not "real", ppl around me aren't "real", etc. it'll happen from anywhere between 1-5 mins @a time, and @least once (tho usually several times) a day. it's hard to describe...the closest thing i can think of is that it feels like i'm a robot or something. if i'm engaged in conversation when it happens, the other person suddenly sounds like the adults in charlie brown...it's like a wave washes over me and everything is surreal...and it's not a hearing difficulty, cos if i force myself to focus on what they're saying i can make out the words perfectly. it's just that i'm too busy being in a weird trance and thinking "this person isn't real". i feel absolutely alienated.
i should mention that i do not use drugs and that these episodes happen frequently when i'm stressed out or interacting w/ ppl. although, they can also occur when i'm by myself and feeling relatively stress-free. i've been to a few different therapists and they attribute it to anxiety...but i'd been diagnosed w/ anxiety yr's before this started happening...and this definitely feels different from your run-of-the-mill anxiety. anyway, i'd appreciate someone else's opinion on the matter.

thank you for your time,
tsy

spotty · 02-17-2003, 12:58 AM

This has happened to me also. It is called derealization or depersonalization. I used to have it really bad when I would go shopping and sometimes driving and just being around other people where its noisy and crowded. I think it is caused by social anxiety. It happens to alot of people with anxiety/panic. It finally went away when I started taking propranolol (Inderal LA). I hope this helps some and I hope you feel better soon.

Bubba73 · 02-17-2003, 01:57 PM

I hear ya sport. I get the same thing, usually in stressful interactions, but I also feel spaced out all the time. My symptoms started about two years ago with dizziness/vertigo issues. Just got back today from an EEG. Might be stress, might be ears, blood probs? My new doc just prescribed Trileptal (to slow brain impulses). Anyone have any ideas?

tsyndra · 02-21-2003, 09:54 PM

<<spotty
I used to have it really bad when I would go shopping and sometimes driving and just being around other people where its noisy and crowded. I think it is caused by social anxiety. It happens to alot of people with anxiety/panic. It finally went away when I started taking propranolol (Inderal LA). I hope this helps some and I hope you feel better soon.>>

same here...all it takes is a trip to the mall to trance my mind out. i can see how social anxiety can help cause this...but do you think being depersonalized, in turn, can cause one to feel paranoid and so make the problem of social anxiety worse? cos i'm never quite sure how i come across to ppl since i'm usually so hung up on the basics (acknowledging their existence, etc) that i probably don't react appropriately sometimes (blank stare, taking a long time to react to what they're saying, etc). thank you for the Rx recommendation. have a pleasant day.

<<Bubba73
I get the same thing, usually in stressful interactions, but I also feel spaced out all the time. My symptoms started about two years ago with dizziness/vertigo issues. Just got back today from an EEG. Might be stress, might be ears, blood probs? My new doc just prescribed Trileptal (to slow brain impulses). Anyone have any ideas?>>

don't know anything about Trileptal. however, i too have problems w/ dizziness which began when this whole depersonalization thing started...sometimes my ears ring, though the prob isn't bad enough to affect my hearing overall--and i've never paid attn to if the ringing coincides w/ my spacing out. but that's all food for thought...i should probably visit a medical doctor, and not just a therapist. thank you kindly for yer response.

spotty · 02-23-2003, 11:38 PM

You know I never thought about that. It probably does make the social anxiety worse or causes it altogether. I was always thinking "do I seeem weird to this person or what are they thinking about me?" I also tend to space out when someone is talking to me and not even hear what they are saying at all. Especially if I am particualy nervous around someone. The medicine has helped with it all some but today has been pretty bad. I just wish this would all go away.