[Clflooring]

Hi everyone, I’ll try to keep short as not to bore anyone, I’m just trying to figure out if I have dp/dr.. had anxiety since I was young used to have extreme panic attacks that normally ended up in the hospital, but they went and fast forward 20 years due to life changes and stress the anxiety has been back the last 4 years on and off, now the last couple months I’ve been going through a break up and have gradually started to feel spaced out at points throughout each day, I know I’m real and don’t have most of the symptoms I’ve seen mentioned, no eye issues or objects looking different, it’s more just really not feeling myself and getting spaced out sometimes, I do have a fear of having dp/dr and know how powerful the brain can be with making you feel things that aren’t actually happening. I’ve been stressed for months and not sleeping well like 4 hours a night and not eating well as not much appetite, sorry if I shouldn’t be here was hoping for some guidance on what could be going on thanks Carl

 

[AnnaGiulia]

Hi Carl, welcome to the forum.
The way you described it, you may have some symptoms of depersonalization, that is part of our coping mechanism against overwhelming stress, but you still do not have to have a dx of Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder. And for that matter, DP seems to have different manifestations for different people, and it can go along many other things, as you mentioned anxiety and panic attacks, so basically you need to listen to yourself, understand where it comes from, and perhaps seek some professional help, as not sleeping and eating well for a while can put an additional stress on you.
I hope you'll get here the advice that you look for,
Best,
A.

 

[Clflooring]

Hi Anna thanks for your response, the thing I’m unsure about is... I had never had any problems with it before, but I went to a anxiety retreat and met a guy there that had it for several years through taking drugs, and I developed a bit of a fear of it and went away Googling constantly and kinda made myself feel like I had symptoms, then I got on with life and forgot about it and was pretty much ok, but going through a break up anxiety has returned and so has my fixation on dp/dr, as when I’m not thinking about it or engaged in other things I don’t feel it at all I just feel normal, In your opinion would you think it’s more my focus on it and anxiety rather than having the disorder itself, thanks again for reply

 

[AnnaGiulia]

Hey Carl, I guess there is no way for me to know that, but it is possible that anxiety and also obsessing about a certain thing such as DP can actually make you more DPd. On the other hand, you should trust yourself, as to how you feel, and if you feel you are experiencing DP, you probably are.

A.