Depersonalization. How do you get rid of it??

[Oasis_Fan]

I have been suffering from depersonalization and it is starting to drive me insane. I had it now every single day for about a month. I was waiting for it to subside but so far it did not. I just started my second year of college this week and my courses take a lot of concentration and alertness. I don't want to be like this anymore. I'm sick of feeling like my life is passing me by and I'm not even fully 'awake' to see it.

 

I have anxiety problems and I'm thinking that's what it is, but I'm not sure. I haven't drunk alcohol in forever and I haven't smoked weed since a couple weeks ago. I don't know what to do. I hate this feeling. I feel so weird and I don't always know what I'm saying to people and I feel so exhausted from this. Everything is a dream. I tried to explain it to my boyfriend, but he had no idea what I was talking about. I'm trying to act normal in front of all my classmates, but it's so hard to even concentrate on my courses like this. What should I do.....

[Philos]

Get therapy, it can be relatively cheap if you have insurance ($500 for a full 17 visit program).

 

That'll really help with your anxiety.

[christina2006]

listen..i'm not sure what you have or that I can really relate.

But if it is what you say it is, then please seek help by seeing a doctor (the right kind) and stop smoking weed.

 

I am saying this b/c my best friend became "depersonalized" and we found out later he had mental issues. By the way he is no longer alive today.

 

He moved away out of state during his 2nd year of college to go somewhere else. He met new friends and started smoking weed. (of course he told no one back home about it, except me a couple of years later). Anyways, he got into med school and it was starting to get to him. The pressures of student loans, and not knowing a ton of people. He was previously diagnosed in high school as having ADD. Anyways, while he was away, I called him to talk, but he acted very distant and wasn't very coherent. We found out later he had developed a mental issue, schitzophrenia (sp?).

 

Apparently, he knew something was wrong with him and felt extreme anxiety all the time. He came back home to see a doctor who diagnosed him with like adult ADD and prescribed him meds. (the diagnosis we found out later was wrong). He was smoking weed with the meds, which screwed him up more in the head. Anyways, like I said earlier I lost one of my best friends.

 

If you are really feeling as though you are not feeling "right" or there is something different about you, the best advice is to go seek medical help. Your bf doesn't understand b/c he hasn't been through it. I NEVER understood my best friend when he was acting so different and off. I seriously thought it was just the weed or something. Now I regret it b/c he was breaking down mentally.

The best thing to do is to go see a doctor so they can tell you if it's nothing or if it is something. Also doing drugs while on meds (if you are prescribed any) will make you worse and lead to harmful results. I hope this helps.

[Oasis_Fan]

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. I haven't smoked weed since a month ago. And every since I've been feeling like this, I won't touch it. I don't do it very often anyway so that's not my issue.

 

I have seen a doctor and he is referring me to a counseller. I actually told me depersonalization can be common with anxiety, so he made me feel a bit more normal. I was just hoping to find someone who found a way out of depersonalization. It's like there's no way out ...I'm having a lot of trouble with it. I wish I could just snap out of it.

[Wonderment]

Depersonalization IS a common anxiety symptom. The sucky thing is that you have to get rid of your anxiety to get rid of it. In short, "You're freaking yourself out" Nothing more, nothing less. You're not developing schizophrenia, you're not going mental, you're not going to black out and not remember things you did ( all things I worried about lol) What helps is relaxation and letting your mind rest. Anxiety feeds off itself. and then you start worrying about the depersonalization and that makes it continue. You could try an antidepressant, that helps almost always. You can try exercise and B vitamins. They key though, is knowing that this is just a symptom and you WILL feel normal again one day. Its like, if you continue thinking "I dont want to feel this way" you're focusing on it and THAT causes it to continue. It doesnt go away in a day or two.. it can take a while. But if you allow yourself to feel like, "Okay, today was a drop in the bucket better" and blow it off... you'll eventually get over it.

 

When I experienced it years ago I would wake up.. take a look around and see that I still felt it and feel defeated. I'd feel like, "F*ck! Im not even ANXIOUS today, why the heck do I still feel it?" and it would continue. You have to force yourself to feel like, 'Meh. Who cares. It will go away." and then it will.

[Oasis_Fan]

Hey. I know this thread is super old but I don't think I read your reply because I haven't been online in so long.

 

I am still experiencing it and I have been trying to ignore it and not care about it but I do admit that I do get stressed with college and I've noticed that it reeeally sets in when I am writing an exam, which makes it difficult for me to concentrate sometimes. But I am experiencing it everyday. I am thinking about going to a doctor again soon because he told me to come back if it continues.

 

I was wondering how long you have experienced this? And how long was it before it went away?