Medical and mental health professionals generally agree that mindfulness is the best way to stop derealization. Mindfulness is the act of becoming more aware of your own body and the present moment.
Get enough sleep, exercise, eat a well-balanced diet, do not overwork yourself, take some time off, do the things that make you feel happy, and seek support. If you can't get away with stress, especially in the workplace, at least learn how to manage it to avoid episodes of depersonalization/derealization disorder.
Episodes of depersonalization-derealization disorder may last hours, days, weeks or even months at a time. In some people, these episodes turn into ongoing feelings of depersonalization or derealization that may periodically get better or worse.
Derealization can be triggered by stress, anxiety, PTSD flashbacks, or any strong emotional reaction.
Four stages of the formation of depersonalization were identified: vital, allopsychic, somatopsychis and autopsychic.
However, anxiety attacks are not the only cause of derealization. Other causes can include trauma, drug use, depression, dementia, schizophrenia, and depersonalization/derealization disorder.
Complete recovery is possible for many people. In some people, the disorder disappears on its own. Others recover by going to therapy and dealing with the triggers. Therapy helps resolve the underlying issues.
You Stop Overreacting To Good Days and Bad Days
Recovering from Derealization and Depersonalization means you're going to have good days and bad days. And that's ok! Why? Because recovery from ANY anxiety-based condition -- or ANY habit of thought -- means you're going to have good days and bad days.
Derealisation is where you feel the world around is unreal. People and things around you may seem "lifeless" or "foggy". You can have depersonalisation or derealisation, or both together.
This is a key distinction between derealization and other mental illnesses. Derealization can last for as long as the panic attack lasts, which can range in length from a few minutes to 20 or 30 minutes. In some cases, however, these sensations can persist for hours and even days or weeks.
Many people experience dissociation, or a lack of connection between their thoughts, memory, and sense of identity, during or after a traumatic experience. A specific type of dissociation—persistent derealization—may put individuals exposed to trauma at greater risk for mental illnesses and functional impairment.
Severe stress, anxiety, and depression are common triggers for DPDR. A lack of sleep or an overstimulating environment can also make DPDR symptoms worse.
Derealization is a mental state where you feel detached from your surroundings. People and objects around you may seem unreal. Even so, you're aware that this altered state isn't normal. More than half of all people may have this disconnection from reality once in their lifetime.
Depersonalization symptoms involve
People may also say they feel unreal or like an automaton, with no control over what they do or say. They may feel emotionally or physically numb. Such people may describe themselves as an outside observer of their own life or the “walking dead.”
While depersonalization-derealization disorder was once considered rare, lifetime experiences with it occur in about 1–2% of the general population. The chronic form of the disorder has a reported prevalence of 0.8 to 1.9%.
In BPD, stress-related dissociation is a core symptom, closely linked to other features of the disorder [1, 49]. Up to 80% of patients with BPD report transient dissociative symptoms, such as derealization, depersonalization, numbing, and analgesia [1, 50].
Depersonalization/derealization disorder involves a persistent or recurring feeling of being detached from one's body or mental processes, like an outside observer of one's life (depersonalization), and/or a feeling of being detached from one's surroundings (derealization).
It's a natural response to highly stressful situations. For other people these feelings may last much longer, be distressing and impact on daily life, and they may have depersonalisation- derealisation disorder. 1% of people have this disorder, which is the same percentage as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
This is Not Psychosis
People with schizophrenia or psychosis commonly experience hallucinations or delusions that are difficult to distinguish from reality. Individuals with DR may feel strange about themselves or their surroundings, but they do not typically experience hallucinations or delusions.
Can Depersonalization turn into Schizophrenia? No, it can't. They are completely different conditions. Depersonalization is an anxiety spectrum condition, while Schizophrenia is an organic brain disorder.
There is no depersonalization cure, but treatment can reduce distressing symptoms and even lead to full remission of the disorder. It's important for people experiencing depersonalization or derealization to talk to a professional about their symptoms so they can begin treatment and start feeling like themselves again.