Derealization..
 

i absolutely HATE this symptom...no matter what i do to get my mind off of it, right after im finished it hits me. Things seem so unreal sometimes.

Occasionally there will be times that it will lighten up and sometimes it will worsen. Lately i have had the energy to do more around the house, wash clothes clean up a bit and play on the computer more.
But right after im done i feel like nothings real..like nothing matters anymore.

Normally when i wake up it doesn't hit me right away but later during the day i find myself looking around my room, and it just feels awful...its hard to explain but i think most of you know what i mean.

Is there anything i can do to get rid of this symptom? Honestly i'd rather have dizziness for the rest of my life than have Derealization...IT SUCKS :(

Other than that my symptoms have been pretty well clearing up, no panic attacks for almost 3 weeks now, im not as easily frightened by various things..

I know people say to just ignore any anxiety symptoms but its just so hard for me when it comes to derealization...im also still having heart palpitations everynow and then

And also to Mark, i now have a blood pressure cuff and my blood pressure always averages out to about 108 over 68. Sometimes higher when my heart rate goes up to 90+.

My heart rate normally goes from 64 when i wake up to in the 70's during the day and then sometimes it just goes up to 94+ and stays that way for a couple hours when im not really doing anything. My blood pressure stays the same and everything.

I get that sometimes too, but I cannot imagine dealing with it all the time... I don't really have any advice, but just wanted to give you a bit of support and understanding.... With any luck, this too will fade over time as your recovery progresses.

Just try to remember that derealization is a coping mechanism - it's a psychological survival mechanism. When I experienced this for weeks or months after the injury I sustained, it didn't bother me because I didn't even realize it was happening. I was kind of "la-di-da", "I'm going to be better someday"... I think it didn't bother me as much because I tend to be a very optimistic person... so that's kind of where I was. I didn't realize the severity of the situation for too long.

Since i've been having derealization on and off the past couple of weeks now, is that bad? I'm trying to find things to do to ignore it but it really is hard to do =/

I'm not sure you can ignore it since it's bothering you. Good luck with that though!

I would advise NOT putting a negative label on it, like it's a "bad" thing. I would think it's a good thing, if anything at all, because it's a survival mechanism and surviving is "good".

I think it might be best if you could just say, "ok, this is happening now" and accept it without trying to change it and see if that reduces your anxiety about it. Try to remember that it's going to go away.

I dealt with a lot of derealization during the first 6 months of my recovery. I found that paying attention to it and doing research or posting about it makes it so much worse. Its very, very disturbing...believe me, I know. But, it will get better. I still experience brief moments of derealization and I'm at 10 months post-injury now.

The best thing to keep your mind off of it or stop it from happening is to interact with the world. Go for walks, have conversations with people, watch a little TV or do house work. You get the idea. Its gotten to the point where I hardly notice when it happens...and when it does happen, its for a short period of time and I kinda just laugh it off. It usually goes away after I ignore it and keep pushing along.

Don't spend too much time thinking/worrying about it. I'm not saying you are, that's what *I* did, and it drove me crazy with all the thinking and research about it.

Good luck, it will get better. I've never heard of anyone having it forever.

Nick

PlasticMonkey,

When you have these bouts of derealization, try finding something simple to focus on and/or do. It can be something as simple as washing the dishes. Just find something that you know how to do and have done routinely or can do without cognitive effort. Take a shower, shave, do some laundry, etc. there are plenty of household tasks you can do to get your mind off this sensation.

I find that when I have these feelings, I am usually being sort of lazy in my thinking. If I stay focused on it, the feeling may stay but my functions may return to normal. Once I realize I am functioning normally, I realize the feeling needs to be forgotten.

Nick,

I am glad to hear you have learned so much, especially about your feelings of derealization. You would get so wrapped up in these feelings that it was hard to break through. You have the right perspective now. Sounds like NCEP is working good for you.

My best to you both

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!!

That sounds familiar to me. I find if I go somewhere like Walmart now, I can't even navigate my way around, I have to follow my mother. I think the derealization has a lot to do with being overstimulated. I find it dulls my senses a bit like hearing and thinking and even smells and stuff are kinda blocked out. It's a freaky feeling! The fishbowl analogy is great, it is quite similar to that, minus the warped vision! (for me anyways).

It's also great to hear that you're so understanding about how he feels stupid sometimes because of memory issues. It helps sometimes to try to remember things (even if you can't) to feel a little more normal. Thanks for the post! :)

I have nothing to add but I thank you for giving me more insight to my wife's condition