Depersonalisation

[Elvira_kate]

Hi everyone,

I like many have lived with anxiety my whole life but it is only on reflection that I realise this! I had my first panic attack 20 months ago and was thrown into anxieties spotlight! following the panic attack I had an intense 6 weeks of depersonalisation. Where I felt like I was watching myself through the lens of someone else! Since cbt, medication and lots of running I feel like I am making positive progress however i still experience mild depersonalition every afternoon until the sun goes down!

I am hoping To learn some new ways in which other people deal with this strange side effect of anxiety!

thanks!

[white knight]

Hi EK, welcome

Thanks for your post. It's a good move asking questions. It allows us to gain knowledge on topics rarely discussed.

The best way I can assist you is to ask you to do some reading. I wrote the following threads to do with this topic that I hope you will find beneficial. You only need to read the first post if you like.

Use google-

Topic: how I eliminated anxiety- beyondblue

Topic: the balance of your life- beyondblue

Topic: meltdown, back to basics- beyondblue

Topic: supermarket shelves- beyondblue

Topic: seeking the origin of anxiety- beyondblue

Topic: what life's like a the end of the tunnel- beyondblue

repost here or in those threads anytime

Tony WK

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Elvira kate,

Tony WK has given some great threads here, have you had a chance to check them out?

I'm sorry that you're struggling with depersonalisation; I know that it can be really difficult but it sounds like you're trying to take the best care of yourself with CBT, medication and running! So I do applaud you for that 🙂

Have you spoken to your therapist about how these episodes happen? Often when someone has depersonalisation that's usually priority number one and CBT can be priority number two - if you're not in your head it can be hard to check your thoughts! If you're aware of your thoughts though then it would definitely make sense.

One thing that I can really recommend is grounding - this is a way of trying to really 'be' in our body. There's a few different ways to do this but the most common one is the 5,4,3,2,1 -

- 5 things that you can see

- 4 things that you can feel

- 3 things that you can hear

- 2 things that you can smell

- 1 thing that you can taste (or that you like about yourself).

It's best to try these ones out when you are in your body so you can get used to the technique; and that way it will be easier when it actually starts to happen.

Here's some more info - http://www.peirsac.org/peirsacui/er/educational_resources10.pdf

Hope this helps somewhat! Would love to know how you're getting on anyway 🙂