What is Derealization
Derealization is a mental condition in which you feel disconnected from your environment. People and things around you might seem surreal. Even so, you know that this modified state is not natural. More than half of all people could be separated from reality once in their lifetime. So, this article contains the symptoms and treatment methods.
In situations where anxiety is severe, the person may feel insane. One may begin to think that something in his life is far from reality and that the world around him is beginning to crack. In some cases, this may make the person feel that the whole world is “unreal” as if something around him is unreal. This is defined as derealization, and this is a rather frightening experience among the symptoms of anxiety. This is also a purely subjective situation; it is tough for those who do not experience this situation.
What is Derealization?
Derealization is a symptom of anxiety that causes the sufferer to feel disconnected from their surroundings. It can be difficult for others to understand this disorder, but it’s an incredibly debilitating condition that makes everyday tasks seem impossible or overwhelming.
How Does Derealization Work?
Causes of Transition from Anxiety to Derealization
Derealization is surprisingly complex. It has such a complex structure, it is still not known exactly what kind of a situation occurs in the brain that distracts people from reality. It is believed to be one of the body’s natural defense mechanisms. When experiencing very intense anxiety, the mind essentially suspends its relationship with the real world to cope with the situation that arises.
However, since the mind is still active during this suspension, the place where the person is located seems to be unreal. Almost always – although with a few exceptions – this occurs at the peak of anxiety, along with other characteristic symptoms of anxiety disorder.
How to Understand Derealization?
The best way to understand derealization is to think that you have been transported to a place that you do not know at all, but that you cannot make sense of at all. A place where you can’t see what’s going on or get information about the world around you. It is not likely that this place will be familiar; because those perceived by the 5 senses cannot be processed by the mind and placed within a frame.
It is an undeniable fact that this situation is quite unusual and frightening. The person who experiences this situation may often think that he or she is not in the environment he/she perceives or that the world he/she perceives is not real; he may feel as if he is in the midst of a dream – perhaps a nightmare that he is unable to escape at that moment. In some cases, derealization may occur with depersonalization (as if it were watching itself).
Other anxiety symptoms may exacerbate the sense of derealization. During the episode of anxiety, the pupils may dilate, which may strengthen the sense of derealization from an unusual angle of view. Anxiety may also lead to muscle weakness, which may lead to a weakness in the patient. There are numerous ways in which anxiety symptoms can interact.
How to Stop Derealization?
The feeling of this disorder caused by anxiety is generally not considered dangerous. Often, this condition spontaneously disappears and reappears only during very intense anxiety. Even at this time, some people learn to deal with this situation and derealization does not repeat. If your sense of derealization is stubborn enough to affect your perception of reality or persists for a long time after it starts, you may need to consult a doctor immediately.
Doctors and psychologists generally agree that “awareness is the best way to stop derealization. Awareness can be achieved in different ways, but the easiest way is to do as much work as you can, which can give you a sense of reality again.
For example:
- Touch something cold or hot and focus on the temperature difference.
- Pinch yourself and see how real you are.
- Focus on a very simple object and list what it is, what you know about it.
- Start counting something in the room. Try to define these things.
- Try to use your senses in any way possible.
Remember, derealization is a symptom of anxiety. That doesn’t mean you’re a psychopath or something’s wrong with your mind. Part of overcoming the sense of derealization; waiting for it to go away, and then leaning over other anxiety symptoms, thus preventing such an intense anxiety from occurring again.
Last Updated on December 10, 2022 by Lucas Berg
