Wow, thanks for the responses all!

Bud and RidingRollerCoaster, thanks for sharing your experiences with depersonalization (if we are calling it that). I am glad that you are no longer suffering from dp in such severity. RRC -- Yes, I do experience extreme difficulties with my vision...my eyes seem to be "seeing" everything 20/20 but not processing it and I often get visually disoriented to the point of being lost in familiar places. I also get dizzy when trying to focus on something too close to my face -- does this sound like something to be treated with vision therapy?

And thanks for the suggestions about rebalancing neurotransmitters, mrsD. I'm sure that that is part of the picture.

Mark, I know you mentioned, perhaps in another post, that anxiety can greatly amplify existing symptoms such as depersonalization/derealization, and I will say that I think you are somewhat correct. However, I think your theory about lack of cognitive overload resulting from impaired processing abilities hits at the true heart of the matter.

It seems to make most sense from a physiological point of view...if the brain's normal processing pathways, whether visual, auditory, etc., are not working correctly and information either cannot be processed or is processed incompletely and slowly, then one comes away feeling distinctly dazed. In my experience, with PCS the brain seems to be very good at knowing that it is not working as it is meant to, and thus we feel very out of sync. I'm fascinated that your qEEG was able to pick up on processing issues. How does one go about getting a qEEG?

I am often thinking (and forgive me if this is more philosophical than scientific) that much as we like to think of our cognitive "selves" as independent of our bodies, that "cognitive self" is actually directly predicated upon a particular brain. Once our brain changes, structurally and chemically, we are actually different. Perhaps this is particularly true if one has multiple concussions or diffuse damage like mine where there is not a focal problem but multiple areas which are dysfunctional.

Another question is about recovery of cognitive functions. I know many have said that some of the headaches and dizziness go away, but has anyone had extreme difficulty with basic cognitive skills like reading and comprehending/synthesizing information? I find that reading or listening to someone explain something beyond the complexity of "today I went to the store" is like running a mental marathon...processing the information, trying to store it and comprehend it, and then trying to put all the pieces of information together = impossible. It seems to be a combination of slowed processing speed, problems with working memory, and actual inability to synthesize and comprehend information.

Finally, I just wanted to say thanks again and send supportive wishes towards everyone here on NT. I'm finding the holidays particularly hard given the expectations and memories, and hope that others, if experiencing similar difficulties, stay strong.