Feeling Detached from reality and not myself

[ScaredBetty]

Hi there

I just wanted to know if anyone else has ever experienced the same thing as I am experiencing now.

Im 18, and over the past few weeks I have been having moments in the day (usually afternoon) where I begin to feel strange in my head, I feel dizzy and light headed and I start feeling like Im losing my perception on things around me. I have felt for these past few weeks like I am not myself, I have felt sometimes that I am losing control of myself and losing my grip on reality.

Some background knowledge to know is that for majority of this time I have been sick with a cold, and for the past few days my head has been very congested. I am not sure if this feeling is coming from the sickness, I am not even sure if you can be sick for so many weeks like I have been. I am on anti depressant and anti anxiety medication and have increased the dose now because of how I have been feeling lately. I cant pinpoint the exact time these feelings started, I remember waking up one night and feeling like it wasnt me, I looked in the mirror and I felt completely seperate to myself and like I couldnt tell what was real. It is such a hard feeling to describe but Ive tried my best.

Also may help to know I did smoke weed for a week or two on a daily basis, and I dont know if that has messed with my head and made me start feeling like this. I suppose my main worry is that these feelings will never go away and I will never feel normal again.

[startingnew]

HI there

welcome to the forums

hmm i think my best advice i can really give is to get to your gp and tell them whats going on as well.

they can perform tests as well to see if its a medical condition casuing these symptoms and they can also perform a mental health assessment.

i wish you all the best too

please let us know how you go with everything 🙂

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi ScaredBetty,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for your post.

I'm sorry that these things are happening; I can imagine you must be feeling pretty overwhelmed right now.

I agree that the best first step would be to talk to your GP. There are a number of things that could be going on, and given that you've been sick for so many weeks I'm guessing this isn't helping!

Sometimes that feeling of being separate to ourself is associated with dissociation. It can happen standalone - like without any other symptoms, as part of anxiety or in it's own disorder. A GP will be able to tell you more about this; but I'm telling you this now so that there's a name for what you're experiencing!

If there was a disorder or it was happening frequently, it's important to know that these feelings will go away and you will feel normal, but it may take time. There are many different techniques to help people with this sensation, so that first they lower in intensity and then they get shorter and shorter.

Maybe you could post back after you see the GP and let us know how you get on.