Dissociation

[all_4_jesus84]

Hi, my name is Chrissy and I think I have finally begun to put my finger down on what is happening in my life. For the last year, I have been experiencing extreme levels of a dissociative symptom that I recently learned is known as derealization. I have extreme feelings of the external world being strange, or unreal. I feel separated from the outside world, like it's all a big sensory fog, lacking vividness and emotional depth. I find that familiar places seem alien and surreal at times.

I know this can be a symptom of anxiety, which I have been diagnosed with. I was on Celexa for a while, but I am coming off of it now, as it has done nothing to help with anxiety or depression. This derealization began last year when I was mildly assaulted by a drunk man in my church parking lot. I immediately sought counselling through my school for this, and I realize now that we never dealt with those issues. She immediately sought me out for anxiety disorders and dealt with those. Which I am grateful for, but we never did confront the underlying issues and I'm curious if this is part of why I'm experiencing these horrible feelings of derealization.

This is extremely scary, nothing feels real and I fear it's only going to get worse as more changes occur in my life (I'm going away to school in the fall). I just finished my four year BA in Psychology and am going on to get my Masters of Divinity. If there's any way you can help me, in terms of how to treat dissociative symptoms, or how to overcome them, I would be greatly appreciative.

Thank you

Chrissy
_________________
*Chrissy*

[Jennifer]

Hey,
First of all congrats on finishing your degre. Good for you. Sounds more like PTSD than any type of anxiety or depression. When you seperate yourself from a situaiton, it is your brain/body trying to help you deal with something that you are unable to face. Basically it is our unconscious taking and it protects us when we cannot deal with what we need to deal with. Somehow through help or by your own, you willl have to connect the disassociation with the actual even that happened and move forward with that. It is a protection, not a problem, but it can become a problem if you do not deal with what you need to deal with.

Jennifer