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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 15:48:56
Is this a big issue for many of you, as it is for me? My first panic attack was attached to the dreaded feeling of derealization. There are plenty of sites now that discuss it and it's said to be the 3rd most common mental disorder. Strange then that no-one here seems to mention it. Perhaps it may warrant a section all to itself. Remember, if you get it, you're not going mad, it's just a feeling
Fred
Posted by Phillipa on May 9, 2007, at 15:51:50
In reply to depersonalization and derealization, posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 15:48:56
Fred can you explain a little better by what you mean as derealization? Thanks Phillipa
Posted by Declan on May 9, 2007, at 16:10:52
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization » FredPotter, posted by Phillipa on May 9, 2007, at 15:51:50
I've spent big sections of my life in a state of (what I call) depersonalisation. For me it is often tied up with engulfment.
By which I mean that I feel that I lose freedom of action, forget *me* really, and lapse into some automatic type state where all I want to do is please the other person.
The only way out of this state that came to mind was to try doing the opposite of what I felt in the hope that it might be more appropriate.
The subjective feeling was a bit like looking at myself from the outside, or being under water.
Posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 16:27:17
In reply to depersonalization and derealization, posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 15:48:56
> Is this a big issue for many of you, as it is for me? My first panic attack was attached to the dreaded feeling of derealization. There are plenty of sites now that discuss it and it's said to be the 3rd most common mental disorder. Strange then that no-one here seems to mention it. Perhaps it may warrant a section all to itself. Remember, if you get it, you're not going mad, it's just a feeling
> Fred
Maybe they're just archaic concepts. They still exist experientially in some psychoses. I always thought of them as types of anxiety or mixed anxiety/mania. I don't really know how to attach the word to the experience-- can't say i had them. I did have something else that's really weird before bp dx-- regression and synaesthesia. Those too are old concepts.Squiggles
Posted by Declan on May 9, 2007, at 18:11:26
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 16:27:17
Depersonalisation is nothing like anxiety for me.
Anxiety gnaws a pit in my stomach.
The best I can describe it is as abandoning myself in fantasy and taking up residence in someone else.
Words like psychosis don't describe the experience and reflect the cultural and spiritual impoverishment of the scientific world view.
Posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 19:28:25
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Declan on May 9, 2007, at 18:11:26
> Depersonalisation is nothing like anxiety for me.
> Anxiety gnaws a pit in my stomach.
> The best I can describe it is as abandoning myself in fantasy and taking up residence in someone else.
> Words like psychosis don't describe the experience and reflect the cultural and spiritual impoverishment of the scientific world view.It sounds severely painful-- and i also
get the impression that there is an effort
to escape that. Could that be the intentional
depersonalization? I have read of people who
in disaster situations or severe trauma, do
that.Squiggles
Posted by Declan on May 9, 2007, at 19:45:26
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 19:28:25
It *is* frightening, but I get it less than I used to.
Still often enough, and sometimes I am unaware of it.
My daughter, who like many teenagers is sensitive to embarrassment, will say of me 'Why was he doing his death stare?', which is an early sign of it.It could be related to past trauma, especially of the type that had you convinced there was nothing you could do.
Posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 20:07:18
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Declan on May 9, 2007, at 19:45:26
They are said to be caused by childhood emotional abuse, psychological trauma and recreational drugs especially cannabis
Posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 21:09:35
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 16:27:17
There's no point in everyone dipping in and having a go on this one. Either it rings a great big bell for you or it doesn't, in which case your opinions are without value. Don't wish it on yourself. Just thank the Lord you haven't got it. Archaic? If only . . .
Posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 21:18:33
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 21:09:35
> There's no point in everyone dipping in and having a go on this one. Either it rings a great big bell for you or it doesn't, in which case your opinions are without value. Don't wish it on yourself. Just thank the Lord you haven't got it. Archaic? If only . . .
Hmm, i don't like the "classic withdrawal symptom"
in the Wikipedia article. It has always bugged me, that there may just be a possibility that my bp was really a Valium and clonazepam withdrawal episode. Oh well, too late now.Here's the article:
Posted by Phillipa on May 9, 2007, at 21:41:34
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization, posted by Squiggles on May 9, 2007, at 21:18:33
Sqiggles that describes exactly the way all the SSRI's made me feel except luvox. Like a space cadet. Why? Love Phillipa
Posted by Intrepid on May 9, 2007, at 21:56:16
In reply to depersonalization and derealization, posted by FredPotter on May 9, 2007, at 15:48:56
> Is this a big issue for many of you, as it is for me? My first panic attack was attached to the dreaded feeling of derealization.
I experienced this to a huge degree during the time I was functionally sidelined with horrible panic attacks (like there are good ones?). The feelings, sensations and preceptions were very scary and confusing. It did indeed feel as if I was going over the abyss of sanity. As things improved for me and the panic frequency lessened, the intensity lessened to a milder freezing up feeling accompanied by feeling I wasn't "me". Very strange, very scary and very difficult to describe in a way that makes sense or is understandable to others.
Posted by chiron on May 9, 2007, at 22:32:41
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization » FredPotter, posted by Intrepid on May 9, 2007, at 21:56:16
I've had "in another zone" feelings for a few hours maybe once a month for a couple of years.
It just went to a whole new level. The first time was last week when I took 2 100mg of Neurontin. Holy scary sh**! I was driving and had weird sensations waving through my head and body, felt I was in another world, and my muscle control was lessened, including breathing and swallowing. I was afraid it was going to get worse and I would lose control of the car.
A couple of days ago I had the weird sensations & zoned-out for maybe half of the day.
Yesterday it started out with just some "weird sense of reality", then progressed throughout the day including the strange nerve chemical sensations throughout my head & body. Something was seriously wrong with me. I became more & more out of it. And luckily I was with a friend when it went overboard with overwhelming feelings I had never experienced and my hands were contracting with little control. I went to the ER, they took some blood, gave me an IV and some xanax, and told me to call my dr. to see if I should get an MRI.
Today I still feel really weird, I guess related to the depersonalization/derealization stuff.My pdoc said it sounds like a panic attack...?
- Does this sound like a panic attack, including the hands clamping? I haven't felt nervous about anything and anxiety has not really been my issue - just depression & agitation.
- These started when I first took the Neurontin. It has been a week since I took it, but could it have set something off in me?
- Would an MRI be of any value?
Posted by Squiggles on May 10, 2007, at 7:48:38
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization » Squiggles, posted by Phillipa on May 9, 2007, at 21:41:34
> Sqiggles that describes exactly the way all the SSRI's made me feel except luvox. Like a space cadet. Why? Love Phillipa
Which description Phillipa? Of the ones in the
Wikipedia article or those of the posters'? Sorry,
please elucidate.Tx
Squiggles
Posted by lcat10 on May 11, 2007, at 22:06:54
In reply to Re: depersonalization and derealization » FredPotter, posted by Phillipa on May 9, 2007, at 15:51:50
The concepts are in current use and related to dissociative symptoms and early or recent history of trauma and abuse--physical, mental/emotional, and/or sexual. Anyone who has severe abuse and/or trauma in their history knows what it is.
This is the end of the thread.
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