I've just been doing some research out of curiosity about this. I felt a bit of derealization for a few days when returning to work after my son's TBI, it just felt so strange and surreal to be back and getting used to thinking about work again. I was under such severe stress I could easily imagine that I'd had a "stress induced TBI". Horrible anxiety! And ongoing, I might say...

So, I can also easily imagine that much of what my son is going through is this derealization... this is why he so much needs his familiar, dark, safe room. This could why he reacted so badly to being in that motel room and tried to "escape" it with alcohol. This derealization is also a part of why he gets sooo easily overwhelmed and can only process small chunks of information at a time and needs lots of time to settle ideas in his mind in his process of "thinking things through". It also, along with slower processing times, could be why he hangs back and follows me sometimes when we are in an unfamiliar place.

It must be a terribly panicky feeling to find you can't even remember things like washing your hands, and have to relearn everything. So OF COURSE he's overly sensitive about being reminded of things -- he just feels sooo mortifyingly stupid and is desperate for people to NOT think he's stupid. So therefore he has a short temper. Depersonalization must be a component, also, goes along with it. It all really affects his "affect" so much.

I have taken note of small moments when he would admit to these feelings, also of brain fog and dizziness, which I'm sure is much of what derealization feels like. Kinda like looking out of a fishbowl from the inside. And yet feeling like a fish out of water!

I realized he felt this embarrassment months ago and his therapists and I have managed to let him know that we know he is very intelligent. That seems to have calmed him some.

Anyway just to say that it does seem to me that this derealization must really exacerbate a lot of other TBI symptoms. Food for thought... now to figure out ways to help relieve these symptoms... for instance one thing I think would help is to think about getting the car's suspension / shock system repaired to smooth out long trips. That ought to help decrease the anxiety and "road rage" and maybe not have to spend so much time recovering in bed afterwards. Big dollar fix, yikes... will have to wait on that, I'm afraid...

... anybody else got some more ideas? Anything that comforts and reduces the stress and anxiety of this crazy "new" life of his ...
BTW this dang%&$ house deconstruction chaos has NOT helped the situation either!!