Anxiety Depersonalization is often a condition that is little-understood. A person suffering from this disorder seems to feel detached from life and be emotionally numb most of the time. In fact, anxiety depersonalization can be considered a symptom of another disorder such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder or depression. Or else, the symptom can appear as a result of an illness like epilepsy or a migraine. The condition can appear on its own accord or as a side effect of certain drugs. This article provides a comprehensive overview of depersonalization disorder.
Severe cases of depersonalization disorder occur in people who suffer from other emotional and psychological conditions such as social anxiety, OCD, depression, agoraphobia or excessive worrying. The sensations of depersonalization are common in people who have panic attacks. The sensations can occur soon after an individual has gone through a traumatic experience such as a natural disaster or a road accident. The other situations that trigger the condition can include bereavement, tiredness, use of hallucinogenic drugs, stress, and jet lag. There are also a group of patients who appear to have the symptoms of depersonalization without a specific psychiatric cause. Up until the late 1990s, the understanding of this condition had changed only a very little since the 1950s. But over the last decade or so, there have been major advancements in understanding the condition and treatments for it. Psychiatrists have begun to understand the condition much better during the past 3-4 years. They believe the condition to be quite common such as schizophrenia.
The symptoms of depersonalization can affect patients on five levels such as:
- Emotional – People with the condition experience an alteration to how they perceive themselves. Sufferers claim that they feel robotic as they seem to observe their body and mind from outside. Their voice sounds unfamiliar to them as well as the thoughts, actions, and speech no longer feels spontaneous. They don’t feel any emotion even to people close to them.
- Cognitive – These people spend hours and hours worrying about metaphysical or hypochondriacal issues such as concepts of space and time and how other people experience the world etc. They may have problems remembering day to day things. They may struggle to take in new experiences.
- Physical – Many people feel that their body has become weightless, the head has become large and numb, and some have lost their sense of smell, touch, and taste. They have problems with shapes, colors, and the three-dimensional nature of things.
- Behavioral – Sufferers of this condition may employ avoidance tactics. They may go to great lengths to avoid seeing their reflexions in the mirror.
- Environmental – The effects described above can have a negative impact on the sufferer’s environmental experience.
This is why it is important that you immediately consult a professional psychiatrist if you have any of the above symptoms. This article provides a comprehensive overview of Depersonalization disorder and feelings of unreality or DPAFU.