Anyone else suffer from Depersonalization/Derealization? If so, what is it like for you?

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Not sure how I clicked "not sure". For me, it's a sense almost like being stuck behind a window, looking at my experiences and emotions... I can see what's going on, and a lot of the time I know how I "should" feel, or have an idea of how people would normally react in the situation, but I just don't feel engaged.

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It feels like I'm operating my body from a control room most of the time. Other times it's like I'm existing at an angle to the rest of the world, if that makes any sense at all? And when it's really bad I can't recognize myself in the mirror.

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I do, it's very scary to me. I feel like I'm in a fog, everything is fuzzy and bright. I've been with my boyfriend for 2 years, and being around him when I'm like that makes me nervous and uncomfortable. Almost like I don't know him. Like I'm in a bad dream. There's been times where I was sitting at work and start feeling myself go into an episode, and felt like my foot wasn't mine. Like nothing I could do would make it feel normal on my body, and I'd become panicked. I'd struggle to recognize my surroundings also. I have an episode probably once or twice a month, some worse than others.

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I've never heard of that

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I haven't had an episode in almost 4 years, but it absolutely ruined my life. Even though the dp/dr seemed to be constant, I had one episode that lasted 9 months straight, I don't remember anything at all from that time span. I couldn't see, my eyes physically wouldn't recognize when I was looking through glass or a mirror. Everything in general looked so overwhelmingly bright and felt like I was in some kind of dream land. On the rare occasions I glanced into a mirror and saw my reflection, it felt like I was seeing a dead person, a robot, something not real. No one around me felt real. There was no perception of time or space. One second seemed to last a lifetime. My entire life for years on end were nothing but a monotonous haze. I had probably 10+ panic attacks a day.

I am so thankful every single day that I don't have to live in that terrifying existence anymore.

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I get it occasionally but I'm always able to kind of knock myself out of it after a while. I just place my hands on something flat (a wall, a table, the floor; whatever is close by) & focus on all my senses, mainly touch to ground myself. I focus on my breathing, the texture of what I'm touching, what I can hear, what I can smell & even taste. Sometimes I'll just put my hand on a table a tap my fingers against it & count. Works like a charm.

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Mine always feel like I'm watching my movements/actions through a screen. Like I'm a dream-like movie. I'll look down and feel like my hands are so much farther than they actually are; I look at them and they don't feel like my own. I feel like I'm drifting on top of my head and viewing at a downward angle. I tend to avoid looking down at my arms/hands because that's when it's triggered the most. I hate if it happens when I'm driving because I get panicked, so if it does happen I'll roll down window and put free arm out of the window and focus on how the wind feels on my hand/arm. It happens mostly with my arms but it's scary... especially if I'm holding sharp objects I get scared I might hurt myself so if I feel really uncomfortable I'll put down the sharp object and breath.
Being honest, I've been dealing with a lot of it today and now I'm dealing with dizziness and it still but I just want to fall asleep and get some rest. Hope your experiences don't put too much of a toll on you ladies! Take care ❤️✝️

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posting kinda late on this. But I get this feeling after panic attacks and assumed everyone else did too! I just learned about it actually. I feel like my body isn't my body. like every breath I take or every time I move a part of my body it's different than it was before. nothing feels, smells or sounds right. and I kind of get a visual haze, like around the edges of my vision.

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I get it often, I just didn't know what it was until a while ago. It happens while I'm driving (which is horrifying) and while I'm at work too. I'll think people around me are talking about me, saying what a horrible person I am and how I should be shot. I also hear voices that tell me I'm worthless and awful. sometimes i will look into a mirror and not recognize myself. or I will think, "Jesus that woman looks so sad" and not realize that it's me.

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YES! When I was in labor I felt like I was watching the delivery room from outside my body, like a tv show. And when I spoke I thought my words were coming out like gibberish, but I was afraid to ask anyone if it was.

Anyone else suffer from Depersonalization/Derealization? If so, what is it like for you?

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