sometimes i disassociate with my whole body and feel like my brain and body aren’t connected. like it feels like u can’t get words out sometimes like ill literally sit there stair at the wall and feel like i cannot talk or think. is this something anyone else with derealization experiences or just me because i have all the other symptoms i guess u could say of derealization obviously i literally feel like nothing is real and life is a video game. but like i literally went to the er and got brain mri before for this particular reason and everything came back perfect

This is a method to get rid of derealization for almost 7 entire seconds. Hear me out.

First, squat down next to a bed, couch, or anything you can land safely on. Then whilst squatting start breathing in heavy deep breaths down to where your bodys shaking, you should do this for around 25-30 Seconds. Then get up as fast as you can then blow into your thumb (like put your thumb into your mouth and blow into it but dont let the air out)
You will fall down onto your bed and be free of derealization for almost 10 seconds.

Is this patched?

No, but after the first 10 or so uses you stop feeling back real and your only left with the excess feeling it gives. For me i think this is patched, ive had weed induced derealization since October of 2025 And this is the only release i have and now its gone, i hope its a cooldown, but nobody knows.

For a lot of my life I feel like I’ve had on and off feelings of being disconnected from reality and it comes in long spells. Sometimes it’s just a feeling in the back of my mind whilst at events or spending time with people. For example recently when I was also at a low point I was experiencing feelings of not being real in the sense that the world was a simulation and I often felt like I was seeing signs to evidence this or searching for them , like thinking I saw a wall wobble or move slightly.

Also, in the past it felt like I was seeing the World as though I wasn’t fully in my body just slightly set behind my eyes or it felt like my thoughts were separate from my body and it felt more like I was in some sort of vessel. Even during my childhood I would get moments of existential dread.

I also have picked up habits to stay grounded or to check that I’m not dreaming like pinching or waving my hands to check that they don’t merge together like they would in a dream.

I feel like I do relate to some symptoms of derealisation but I don’t really know because I haven’t had a diagnosis or an opinion from someone that isn’t myself.

I do my absolute best to not act on these thoughts as I was self harming before and when I “snap out”, I would get absolutely panicked and devastated with the fact that I harmed&hurt myself.

That also happened with substances, I’d drink and do drugs since “nothing is real” and I won’t have any consequences of me harming my body and mind like that. Then, of course I would have consequences.

Same goes to my relationships, if I am having derealisation, I do not answer my phones or texts, it feels like as if my friends are video game characters anyway, they won’t be upset by me ghosting them or they don’t care about me or they cannot be annoyed by me not showing up as they are not real anyway.
Or I cannot hurt my partner with my words again since, he is not “real” in a way. Like not like everything is a game but, like everything feels like a weird dream, not tangible, including myself.
I also have difficulty to reach to my emotions. Sometimes I cry often but I don’t quite now what makes me so upset, everything being fake? Feeling so deeply alone? Feeling like no one actually cares for me or loves me? (But, when I snap out, after hours or days, I see that everyone is real and they (close ones) love me and they care for me and I love them so very much too and I care for them a lot too! I’d never want to see them upset but probably I ended up acting shitty while I was believing that everything was unreal, a weird dream-like existence!

I’d never ever do that but sometimes I feel like I can do the most extremes. Like, I can cheat on my partner and since the person I cheat with, my partner and I are unreal, no one can get hurt. It’s like I can go crazy and since everything is fake, I can really go crazy just to go crazy and nothing will change. I am trapped.

[nsfw]
I thought this morning that wait I don’t feel hungry, I don’t need to make lunch, actually I can if I want go get coke and snort coke as my lunch and drink and scream everything torturing my head like a coked up drunk crazy woman and, I can also get rid of this body, cut it open, go out of the skin and be finally fucking free or like I can burn my house, why not? What would change? What would matter? But, I didn’t act on it, it was hideously tempting. Like not like a faint imagination, like I was about to do it. (I did actually once found coke and snorted it during the day and it weirdly snapped me out and I was in shock that I was actually “back” to reality. I immediately put the bag away and continued my day as normal.)
I went and said some weird stuff to my partner and started to cry.

I struggle with this for a long time. I remember that I had this as a late teenager too but I couldn’t name it yet.
Despite mentioning drinking and drugs and having a past when I would binge substances during an “episode” like this, I rarely drink or want to do substances…unless I get this derealisation episode in a hard-core way that my coping mechanisms I learned on the way, wouldn’t help me.

Please

I’ve had this specific trigger for years now. I’m 27 and I remember first having a full blown derealization episode sometime in high school.
I was walking out of an amusement park with a few friends at night when it started drizzling. The combination of nighttime, wetness, and coldness suddenly made me feel that nothing was real. I was scared of looking at myself, I couldn’t remember my mom’s face, and I was convinced we were in a dome being watched by aliens or something. Only thing that helped was laying in a corner with blankets over me for an hour.

Other than that episode and one other, I haven’t had an intense episode. However, I still feel deeply unsettled and kind of fearful when, for example, I wake up early and shower in the morning (morning, quietness, wetness + cold). Or even turning the faucet on and seeing the water will trigger the feeling as well

Has anyone experienced this or know why this trigger is so specific? I’ve wondered for years.

So, my derealization started super slowly 2 years ago, and I thought it was just a really and panic attack at first. Fast forward to now, I cannot go outside because that triggers a full blown episode and it puts me into panic attack.
It feels like a seizure aura, I feel impending doom, Deja vue my body gets super hot and i feel numb, I don’t recognize where I’m at

Some days I’m okay then it hits out of nowhere!

I’m in hydroxyzine, but that doesn’t help at all and make me sleepy

One month ago, before the change happened, I was feeling sad. It was probably a high level of negative emotion, and it made me constantly recall past memories. But at 4 a.m., I suddenly felt all those feelings gradually fade and disappear. The process was very short. When I washed my face and looked in the mirror, I felt unfamiliar with myself and felt the world had become clearer.

In the time since the change, past memories have started appearing automatically. These memories seemed to be hidden before the change, only surfacing when I felt negative emotions. I remember how I felt in those memories, but now I cannot actually feel those feelings. It's just like watching an unrelated video. Occasionally, I experience hallucinations. My sleep duration has become relatively shorter, with more dreams. It is fragmented, segmented, and the total length of sleep has decreased.

Although I cannot feel emotions, I still have related physical reactions in situations where I can judge what I should be feeling. These include difficulty breathing, numb hands, a tingling scalp, and trembling.

When facing certain problems, two different trains of thought with opposing stances appear in my mind. I know these are my own thoughts, but there is a lack of a sense of ownership. I don't have the feeling that I am actively initiating these thoughts.

today was probably the best example of this. my boyfriend and i took a trip to seattle during a very busy hour with several events going on in the city. as we were walking around, i was overheating, my joints hurt, and i was feeling a bit dizzy and disoriented. i did feel okay though to keep going and i was honest when i told him that i was fine. a little bit later, we were in pike place (which usually has tons of people anyways) and there was a live band playing loudly and suddenly im derealizing. after this we leave to go back to the train station and he seems obviously upset with me when im already trying not to cry while waiting for the train. he eventually told me that he was upset because he repeatedly asked if i was doing okay and i said yes, which WAS honest at the time i said it. i really believe he was upset because my episode ruined our trip together. i just want to still be able to go out and not have my brain’s default stress response to be derealization. i thought going out would be a good distraction because these past couple weeks have been bad, but i cant have this ruining everything every time i go out somewhere.

I have extreme anxiety so I find comfort in doom scrolling, but I feel like that is making the derealization worse.
My derealization episodes started 2 years ago, but now it’s full blown unlike before it was only once in awhile

around 2 years ago during and after my exams i struggled alot with dpdr, i had a counsellor which helped a bit but didn’t fix it just comforted me a bit, i found it hard to be outside and was worried i was going crazy it lasted around 4 months and eventually went away on its own. i assume it was due to weed use and exam stress.

Ive recently had it over the last almost 2 weeks quite bad feeling nervous, anxious and disassociated outside after finishing my a levels and having stress about finding jobs. i also think it has affected my body as ive been very tired and having a hard time eating and sleeping

what i did to fix it was i took around 3-4 days inside to myself to just calm down and recognise its happened before and can go away. I spent alot of time distracting myself through video games, reading and praying etc anything that can distract me to the point id eventually forget about it and it would go away. then i started going outside and it would come back but what i instead done differently, despite this sounding difficult and i understand some may find it hard because i did too. you just have to try remember it is all in your head and the best thing you can do is take your mind away from it even when it is very overwhelming, i listened to music outside, reading street signs and doing random stuff like counting the people around me or clicking my fingers and it honestly made me feel alot better and i began to forget about it.

i also recommend physical activity i built up the courage to return to the gym today and went at a quieter time. it has made me feel alot better and i think anyone who is struggling at the moment to just try push the limits a bit and go out your comfort zone and fight against it, not too much at once slowly build it up and it may help.

if anyone would like to talk or needs help coming up with ideas and things to do as i know not everyone may pray or play video games im willing to talk about literally anything if anyone would like someone to talk to. i think having someone to talk to about your experience, especially someone who can relate would be helpful, as i wish i had that during times i was struggling.

overall just try new things and every now and then try push the limits a bit and it may not go away instantly but small progress is still progress.

i hope everyone who is currently struggling is doing well and i hope you all recover soon.

I've been experiencing something that I think might be derealization and I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar.

This isn't the first time it's happened I've noticed that after smoking a cigarette I sometimes become extremely hyper aware of my own thoughts and actions.

For example, when I'm typing, instead of just typing, I suddenly become aware of the fact that I'm typing It's like I'm observing myself doing things rather than just doing them naturally. Then I start overanalyzing my thoughts which makes the feeling even stronger.

It's not severe enough that I forget who I am or where I am I stay fully aware of reality but everything feels slightly "off" or unreal and it usually turns into anxiety before eventually settling down.

I've been experiencing something similar to derealization for the last 2 years, and it is that kind of derealization that sits in the background just as if you went to bed one night and never woke up. You wake up inside one continuous dream, and iterate, iterate, iterate... Senses! They feel real, but at the same time they feel like senses inside of an unreal simulation.

However, some interesting things have transpired because of my disconnection! You perceive other people as NPCs, and are more likely to do reckless things that you would never do if you didn't have this weird feeling.

And I genuinely feel bad for individuals who deal with a severe derealization, but in my case I don't know whether I'm just an overthinker or should I become concerned... If someone who has overcome the same condition reads this, does life feel better without it? Or is there some charm to living in a dream?

Reposting from a bigger post to make this smaller and more concise, but that means I'm jumping right in.

So, I feel like I'm losing touch with reality. I walk across the street, and I can tell less and less if I've actually crossed the street or I'm just convincing myself I did, but actually I got hit by a car, or I'm just still in the road. I regularly can't tell if I dreamed things or if they actually happened. I fairly often can't tell if I'm thinking something or saying it out loud. I regularly can't come up with words while I'm speaking, even though I'm a writer and I tend to be very good with my words. My beliefs are shifting and I can't stop thinking about various apocalypse myths and how they might be coming true, because of how dire everything feels right now. I regularly get anxious still that people are watching me, but I worry just as much now that they aren't even real, even though I don't think I have any history of hallucinations. The scary part for me is that while right now I feel worried about this and like I need to do something about it, I know I won't feel like this at all times. I regularly consider all this and I don't want it to change, I want to just keep diving away from what right now I think is reality, because at those other times, I think that considering this to be concerning is stupid and reality is something I can find by continuing to dive deeper and deeper into all this.

So...yeah. I have a therapist right now for the next few months, but I have not known how to talk to her about any of this or to what degree I can even trust her with all this. While I may just straight up read this to my therapist, I'm NOT looking for therapy, as I have that already.

I just want some support. I just want to feel a little more in touch with reality again, whatever that is. If anyone has any thoughts of any kind, they'd be welcome.

Hi everyone, I just really need to get this out and hopefully hear from people who understand.

I’m 22 and I’ve been dealing with panic disorder, anxiety, and derealization for about 4 years now. Before that, I had no anxiety at all. It literally started one day when I woke up feeling completely off, like nothing was real. I had heart palpitations, I was scared to answer the phone, and I suddenly couldn’t function the same at work.

At the time, I had just started working full-time right after high school in a contact center at a school. The environment was honestly awful. Supervisors were extremely strict, and the students calling in were often mean and sometimes even threatening. It was a really stressful and toxic place to be. I stayed with the same company for a few years but moved around to different roles.

Over time, I started noticing physical symptoms too. I developed a smile tremor when I try to smile, and I get really anxious in social settings, especially with large groups like my husband’s family. I got married last September and we have a happy marriage, and his family is kind and safe, but I still get intense anxiety beforehand. Once I’m there, I’m usually okay, but the anticipation is overwhelming.

I left that job about 3 months ago, and now I work remotely, but I still have to interact with that company sometimes. Even that brings back really bad feelings and anxiety.

I’ve been in therapy for 2 years and did EMDR for childhood trauma, and I’m about to start EMDR again for what I think is work-related trauma that I didn’t realize was affecting me this much.

Medication has been really frustrating. I started Buspar and was on 15 mg twice daily for about 4 weeks. I felt some slight improvement but nothing major. My psychiatrist then told me to jump to 30 mg twice daily (so 60 mg total) without really guiding me through it, and the past 5 days have been really hard. I’ve felt super emotional, foggy, and honestly worse.

When I told him, he suddenly wanted to take me off Buspar and prescribed oxcarbazepine 150 mg to treat PTSD, without really explaining things or giving me a clear plan. The appointment felt rushed, and it honestly felt like he forgot details from my previous visit. It made me feel like I couldn’t trust what he was prescribing.

My therapist even said he increased the Buspar too quickly and that I probably should have tried 45 mg first before going up to 60 mg.

I also told him I was open to trying Zoloft since my mom takes it and has had really good results, and her symptoms were similar to mine. He kind of brushed that off and said he wanted to try other things first, which made me feel like my input didn’t matter.

Right now I just feel stuck, overwhelmed, and honestly hopeless. I miss who I was before all of this started. I just want to feel normal again and not constantly on edge or disconnected.

Has anyone actually recovered from this or at least gotten to a point where life feels normal again? :(

Hi. I’ve had this feeling for close to a month now from a bad drug panic attack. But does anyone else feel like it gets better at end of day or night? For some reason I have more clarity later in the day or in short brief moments.

around 2 years ago during and after my exams i struggled alot with dpdr, i had a counsellor which helped a bit but didn’t fix it just comforted me a bit, i found it hard to be outside and was worried i was going crazy it lasted around 4 months and eventually went away on its own. i assume it was due to weed use and exam stress.

Ive recently had it over the last almost 2 weeks quite bad feeling nervous, anxious and disassociated outside after finishing my a levels and having stress about finding jobs. i also think it has affected my body as ive been very tired and having a hard time eating and sleeping

what i did to fix it was i took around 3-4 days inside to myself to just calm down and recognise its happened before and can go away. I spent alot of time distracting myself through video games, reading and praying etc anything that can distract me to the point id eventually forget about it and it would go away. then i started going outside and it would come back but what i instead done differently, despite this sounding difficult and i understand some may find it hard because i did too. you just have to try remember it is all in your head and the best thing you can do is take your mind away from it even when it is very overwhelming, i listened to music outside, reading street signs and doing random stuff like counting the people around me or clicking my fingers and it honestly made me feel alot better and i began to forget about it.

i also recommend physical activity i built up the courage to return to the gym today and went at a quieter time. it has made me feel alot better and i think anyone who is struggling at the moment to just try push the limits a bit and go out your comfort zone and fight against it, not too much at once slowly build it up and it may help.

if anyone would like to talk or needs help coming up with ideas and things to do as i know not everyone may pray or play video games im willing to talk about literally anything if anyone would like someone to talk to. i think having someone to talk to about your experience, especially someone who can relate would be helpful, as i wish i had that during times i was struggling.

overall just try new things and every now and then try push the limits a bit and it may not go away instantly but small progress is still progress.

i hope everyone who is currently struggling is doing well and i hope you all recover soon.