depersonalization and derealization
Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder
More than not feeling like yourself
Depersonalization is a feeling of being detached from your own body or feeling outside of your body. This may include experiences like feeling like you’re floating outside of your body, not recognizing yourself in the mirror, feeling like you’re standing next to yourself observing yourself, among other experiences which often feel confusing and difficult to explain. Individuals will often describe feeling floaty, spacy, or foggy.
Symptoms of depersonalization disorder include:
Feeling like you’re an outside observer of your thoughts, emotions, or body
Feeling like a machine you don’t have control over
Sensations like your limbs being different sizes or having something wrapped around your head
Physical or emotional numbness to to your senses and the outside world
A sense that your memories may not be your own, not feeling any emotions about your memories.
These feelings are scary, unfamiliar, and may cause you to constantly be worrying about whether you actually exist. Questioning your reality as a whole is another issue known a derealization.
Derealization is the feeling that the world is not real. People describe feeling as if they are looking at the world through a fog or from behind a glass wall. Individuals have described derealization in a range of ways, including the world looking like it’s made out of Legos, feeling as if they are in a cartoon, feeling as if they are looking through a camera or are watching a movie.
While these feelings and thoughts are challenging and troubling, they do not have to be your reality.
Psychotherapy for Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder
Counseling, sometimes called talk therapy or psychotherapy, is the main way you can overcome the symptoms of depersonalization-derealization disorder. Through a method known as cognitive behavioral therapy, your psychotherapist will help you understand the triggers for your symptoms of depersonalization. Once you’ve identified what makes you feel as though you’re not in your body or question your reality, you’ll also be able to create a plan based upon the feelings that bring you back to your body and reality.
Along with developing effective coping strategies, your dedicated psychotherapist will also help you address the past traumas, stress, anxiety, or depression that lies at the heart of your depersonalization-derealization disorder.
There is hope for you to feel more at home in your body. You can feel peace and understanding with your surroundings and live the life you want to live. Get started today with Nashville Center for Trauma and Psychotherapy.
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