Those terms and the fissury phenoms attached are vague enough that I almost feel a need to clarify before I answer, but I think I'll take a risk and share from the psychotherapy experience I have had under those labels.

Weird as it may sound, my professionally guided breakthroughs on depersonalization was minding my pronouns, most especially third person plural.. Girl howdy, I was a master of the They Rant. An argument with a soon-to-be-ex could escalate into a conspiracy of They before I could finish dumping the chump. In my personal psychoses(pl), minding my pronouns to keep ^it^ personal goes a long way in keeping ^it^ real and focused.

I agree with Arfie on this one.

Hi, maree.

I experienced it mostly as a child, so I taught myself to make it interesting by believing in phantom playmates, of which each had a different name and unique personalities. I learned to love and admire each one of them, because (with my own imagination) I could see them as my family and friends. It was all then for fun and a kiddish laugh, nothing serious made life easy and sensible to me. I'm grounded because of it all.

However, in all honesty, I live daily to enjoy feeling or experiencing strangeness as an adult. And this is because I have to stay action-oriented to effectively deal with the unvarnished truth of a matter and order-up positive changes. You see, depersonalization is a social problem and closely related to how others can rob us of our true feelings. It's like we each like live in this world of a bunch of raggedy mental and emotional garbage shoved in our faces by nameless people (faceless when necessary too). And people deal with patterns of change constantly. And I don't have to accept that what I feel, think, or how to behave is strange to them. If not breaking the law, I'm fine!

So the best tip I can offer is to learn and accept an escape from the traps of others' choices or opinions about who you are and how you perceive yourself as a person. Don't let others devalue you and then you don't have to feel strange and not in the moment of your thoughts and feelings. You don't have to defend against what is right for you. Thus there's no need to recoil and give up your space in life. We each have the right to earn our own identity, good or bad. We deal with it because we are all in training to be/become civilized human beings. Not emotionally caged animals.

Best always.

I actually deal with this topic everyday. Sometimes it goes on for hours with amnesia so it’s like waking up not knowing what you have done for several hours or how you even got to where you are at. Other times it’s like being in a daydream. You can hear what’s going on around you but can’t respond. The main thing is to learn grounding techniques and how to stay present. Do you journal? It’s important to journal when these episodes happen. Then you can identify what triggers you. By knowing your triggers you can be prepared to ground yourself if you can’t avoid the trigger. See the attached link for different grounding techniques, Also do you see a therapist? They can help guide you and give you skills. Best wishes.

https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/grounding-techniques.pdf

Maree, have you been diagnosed with depersonalization?

I ask because when I am feeling anxious or panicky, I feel surreal and off, but I do not have any depersonalization diagnosis. I just feel weird. And it's "just" anxiety. "Regular" anxiety can feel like you are not connected and you can feel a little spacey, off, etc. but then it gets better and you feel better. Until the next time you get anxious.

Just asking.... Sometimes self diagnosis alone can heighten anxiety. Best to leave that to the professionals.

Best wishes.

Maree,
I agree with Arfie too.

A job.
A daily exercise routine like running.