Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
I've been trying to remember psychotherapy conversations from the 90s attached to the term, "Outsider Syndrome" in conjunction with my social anxiety. I'm pretty sure I am remembering the term correctly because there seems to be plenty about it on the internet and I do plan to read some of it, but scholarly articles are not the same thing as remembering conversations.
Anybody heard of it?
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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First, I hope everyone is doing well, and continuing to fight that good fight! Keep up the great work on yourselves; I'm rooting for all of you!So, I started doing therapy at the beginning of the year, when I was in my most depressed state, but with my therapist, I made big changes and steps in the right direction. But, over a month ago, she couldn't take my insurance anymore, and I had to stop...
"Feeling emotionally disconnected from people you care about, as if you were separated by a glass wall" is a symptom I struggle with daily.
More so today as I learned of a friends passing from flu like symptoms. She was only 58.
derealization
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depersonalization-derealization-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20352911
My damaged memory functions have turned much of my decades of psychotherapy into a bowl of alphabet soup. Sorting one acronym for another is all the more challenging for being multi-lingual. Are we studying DNA or ADN (Spanish for DNA)? Add in all the pro/academic acronyms and. . . !Me duele la cabeza!
The body of memories which seem to be emerging today, I am wondering if "Outsider Syndrome" was a 90s pop psychology darling. It might not be in the DSM. Dare I look? I'm confused enough, already.
I couldn't find "Scottyb." I confess I didn't look very hard.
Do You Feel Like a Stranger to Yourself?
An introduction to Depersonalization Disorder and its symptoms.
Posted Jul 21, 2011
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I am often asked, even by colleagues in the mental health field, "What is Depersonalization Disorder?" For doctors and patients alike, Depersonalization Disorder, or DPD, is somewhat mysterious and difficult to define. And yet, some researchers consider it to be the third most common mental disorder, after depression and anxiety. Several research studies indicate that more than half of college students have experienced elements of depersonalization at one time or another. And many creative people, such as Poe or Sartre, have suffered from it. Deuce Bigelow director Harris Goldberg explored his experiences of depersonalization in the movie Numb.
Depersonalization may happen when you first wake up, or while flying on an airplane. You may link it to acute trauma or years of chronic stress, or to nothing at all. Sometimes it happens after smoking marijuana or using "club drugs."
The first signs are often felt as a "mental break." Suddenly, inexplicably, something changes --- common objects and familiar situations seem strange or foreign, as if you've found yourself in an unfamiliar world. And at the same time you feel unreal, "not yourself." You close your eyes and turn inward, but the very thoughts running through your head seem different. Patients feel as if they have no self that formerly enabled them to deal with the world around them, and with their inner world.
The most clinically true and psychologically sharp descriptions of depersonalization are those given by people with DPD. In his excellent book, Stranger to Myself, medical journalist and DPD survivor Jeffrey Abugel summarizes eight symptoms a person with DPD may experience:
Feeling panic. When a person first experiences DPD, he often feels as if he is going mad. Patients report feeling panic stricken, trapped "inside oneself" or thrown into an unfamiliar world they can't escape.
Lack of emotion. People with DPD describe feeling inhuman, like a robot or a rock. They experience a loss of spirit, "absence" of emotions, and no mood changes.
Feeling detached. People with DPD feel distant from others and themselves. Many describe the feeling of watching themselves, as if from above. Once-familiar objects seem strange.
Fixation/obsession. People with DPD repeatedly check their sanity. They sometimes fixate on the strangeness or foreignness of a single thought or object.
Abstract ruminating. People with DPD often dwell on the ideas of eternity and infinity. They think over and over about the nature of existence or the void and the dark mysteries of life.
Lifestyle changes. People with DPD are sometimes afraid to leave their houses or engage in activities that might trigger panic attacks. They stop traveling, talking to others, watching TV, even going to doctors.
Feeling possessed. People with DPD in some cases report feeling as if an evil entity has taken up residence inside their head, watching them and making negative comments.
Acting "as if." People with DPD suffer from not feeling that they are acting, but instead they have a strange feeling of "as-if acting." They feel that they "imitate" moods and expressions, as if trying to "act normal" around others. But they continue to feel like outsiders who aren't part of ordinary life.
Like many psychopathological signs, depersonalization can linger for years, go away, and then return. Some people with depersonalization sometimes suffer devastating consequences in their personal and professional lives, while others can continue to function fairly well while they seek treatment.
If you think you may have depersonalization, it is crucial to seek out a physician you feel attuned to, preferably one who has experience treating depersonalization, and in whom you have confidence. There are also good informational sites on the web where you can share your stories and get support from other DPD survivors. One of my favorites is an online community at www.depersonalization.info, hosted by the aforementioned author Jeffrey Abugel.
Depersonalization-derealization disorder
Symptoms & causes
Diagnosis & treatment
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Overview
Depersonalization-derealization disorder occurs when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.
Many people have a passing experience of depersonalization or derealization at some point. But when these feelings keep occurring or never completely go away and interfere with your ability to function, it's considered depersonalization-derealization disorder. This disorder is more common in people who've had traumatic experiences.
Depersonalization-derealization disorder can be severe and may interfere with relationships, work and other daily activities. The main treatment for depersonalization-derealization disorder is talk therapy (psychotherapy), although sometimes medications also are used.
Symptoms
Persistent and recurrent episodes of depersonalization or derealization or both cause distress and problems functioning at work or school or in other important areas of your life. During these episodes, you are aware that your sense of detachment is only a feeling and not reality.
The experience and feelings of the disorder can be difficult to describe. Worry about "going crazy" can cause you to become preoccupied with checking that you exist and determining what's actually real.
Symptoms usually begin in the mid- to late teens or early adulthood. Depersonalization-derealization disorder is rare in children and older adults.
Depersonalization symptoms
Symptoms of depersonalization include:
Feelings that you're an outside observer of your thoughts, feelings, your body or parts of your body — for example, as if you were floating in air above yourself
Feeling like a robot or that you're not in control of your speech or movements
The sense that your body, legs or arms appear distorted, enlarged or shrunken, or that your head is wrapped in cotton
Emotional or physical numbness of your senses or responses to the world around you
A sense that your memories lack emotion, and that they may or may not be your own memories
Derealization symptoms
Symptoms of derealization include:
Feelings of being alienated from or unfamiliar with your surroundings — for example, like you're living in a movie or a dream
Feeling emotionally disconnected from people you care about, as if you were separated by a glass wall
Surroundings that appear distorted, blurry, colorless, two-dimensional or artificial, or a heightened awareness and clarity of your surroundings
Distortions in perception of time, such as recent events feeling like distant past
Distortions of distance and the size and shape of objects
Episodes of depersonalization-derealization disorder may last hours, days, weeks or even months at a time. In some people, these episodes turn into ongoing feelings of depersonalization or derealization that may periodically get better or worse.
When to see a doctor
Passing feelings of depersonalization or derealization are common and aren't necessarily a cause for concern. But ongoing or severe feelings of detachment and distortion of your surroundings can be a sign of depersonalization-derealization disorder or another physical or mental health disorder.
See a doctor if you have feelings of depersonalization or derealization that:
Are disturbing you or are emotionally disruptive
Don't go away or keep coming back
Interfere with work, relationships or daily activities
Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic
Causes
The exact cause of depersonalization-derealization disorder isn't well-understood. Some people may be more vulnerable to experiencing depersonalization and derealization than others, possibly due to genetic and environmental factors. Heightened states of stress and fear may trigger episodes.
Symptoms of depersonalization-derealization disorder may be related to childhood trauma or other experiences or events that cause severe emotional stress or trauma.
Risk factors
Factors that may increase the risk of depersonalization-derealization disorder include:
Certain personality traits that make you want to avoid or deny difficult situations or make it hard to adapt to difficult situations
Severe trauma, during childhood or as an adult, such as experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event or abuse
Severe stress, such as major relationship, financial or work-related issues
Depression or anxiety, especially severe or prolonged depression, or anxiety with panic attacks
Using recreational drugs, which can trigger episodes of depersonalization or derealization
Complications
Episodes of depersonalization or derealization can be frightening and disabling. They can cause:
Difficulty focusing on tasks or remembering things
Interference with work and other routine activities
Problems in relationships with your family and friends
Anxiety or depression
A sense of hopelessness
So far, it doesn't resonate as the same thing. Even when I have experienced full dissociation, I retreat inward. I haven't ever had the sense of viewing myself from the outside.
What I am remembering of "Outsider Syndrome" resonates more closely with "Social Anxiety." Maybe. Not sure it really matters. Since my first therapy appointment in 1972, psycho-labels have changed more than computer operating systems. I, personally, find the operating systems much easier to keep up with.