# is this derealization or just anxiety? Need some advice



## mustcm812 (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi Everyone!

I've been on this site lurking for about a month and I am in need of some advice from you about what's going on with me. I'm currently not sure if I have mild DR or if I'm just experiencing the after affects of anxiety. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this has been the worst three months of my life.

Currently I am just feeling very spaced out. Everything looks normal and feels "real to me". It is very hard to concentrate and I may be a bit cognitively slowed. I feel almost as if I have had three beers all of the time. This feeling increases and decreased but never fully goes away. This spaced out feeling started with a bad trip on LSD three months ago and I was able to get rid of it fully for a week two months ago but then it came back. The two weeks after the trip were filled with intense anxiety which has since gone away. I haven't had any major anxiety since that time just some minor anxiety about this feeling.

I was wondering if any of you have experienced something similar and if this is perhaps mild DR? On other forums I have also heard this called an anxiety comedown? If I didnt feel spaced out I would be my normal self and feel connected to those around me and enjoy the things I normally would etc.

Thank you for all your help! Best of luck in your recovery!


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## AndyG7006 (Jan 6, 2016)

Yeah I'm actually experiencing the same thing right now and have been for the past 2 months. My feelings started after smoking a joint one day with a few friends back in September of last year. I just didn't feel like myself and it was really bothering the shit out me and then the anxiety came when I started dwelling on it and giving it too much power. Long story short, I smoked, got a fuck ton of anxiety symptoms, worked myself up by feeding into it, and just ended up having no more physical anxiety symptoms but more or less just a blank mind 24/7. It's almost as if I forgot how to live and do anything that I used to do. Literally ANYTHING. Sometimes I even feel weird interacting with family. I'm not sure when it'll pass but just know that you're not alone.


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## mustcm812 (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi AndyG7006,

Thanks for the response. I'm not sure how similar our experiences are. I haven't forgotten how to do anything. I can still work and go through my day as usual, I just feel spaced out. I can interact with friends and family without a problem I just feel spaced out during the interaction so it doesnt feel the same. Anyways, thank you for your response and I hope everything resolves for you.

If anybody has some other opinion or advice, that would be greatly appreciated!


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2016)

Sounds like the after affects of just anxiety. I mean DP and DR can happen as the result of anxiety, but what your saying, your sense of self, reality seems fine etc, so maybe its just residual anxiety. Like i said to another poster, anxiety does weird things and causes all sorts of sensations. Lots of people have anxiety disorders and have a variety of different symptoms. I honestly don't know about after affects per say of drugs like LSD, maybe someone on here can comment? Hope you feel better soon.


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## vanuti vetru (Sep 7, 2015)

Well, my understanding is that during intense, extatic experiences - and LSD trip can be one - new "circuits" are created in the brain. Not sure to what extent they reflect actual neuronal changes but, subjectively, it's about acquiring new patterns of being conscious, so to speak. When you have a bad trip with lots of anxiety and fear, these newly formed "circuits" become naturally associated with the negative emotions being experienced. That's why people can acquire chronic anxiety and HPPD after taking psychedelic drugs.

From this perspective, recovery can be attained by isolating and starving the anxiety-related "circuits". In practice in means simply staying calm, ignoring any weird sensations and just going on. AFAIK, no other cure is known for HPPD-type disorders. Of course you should avoid doing any drugs (cannabis included) as they'll most likely bring the symptoms back.


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## Guest (Jan 21, 2016)

I've had DP and Dr all my life.

I never taken drugs, so I may not be the best person for advice but.

It does sound like DR to me..that feeling like you're high or drunk (I am no doctor though.)

So yes, I feel like i'm high all the time...

Its hard to concentrate...


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## socky_b81 (Jan 27, 2016)

Sounds like DP or DR to me. I'm going through a similar situation currently that has thrown me for a loop. The only reason I know what this is is because it seems to happen every 10 or so years: 16, 26, and now 35.

Regardless of drug use or none it can all be related to anxiety. What's the purpose of taking the LSD or pot in the first place... an escape? Perhaps you're using the drugs to suppress the anxiety but you can only do that for so long before the anxiety rears it a ugly head.

Now, the tricky part is figuring out what is causing the anxiety/stress.


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## mustcm812 (Jan 6, 2016)

Thank you everyone for all your replies. I have met with a psychiatrist who believes it is just anxiety but I am still not convinced. Is anybody else's only symptom just feeling really spaced out?


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## Surfer Rosa (Nov 27, 2015)

Ptotip: don't do acid, at least not until you are 100% socially and financially established. I don't think going intentionally psychotic or whatever is a great idea for the average person.

All the terms they use to describe what you are going through are vague. It might be dissociation. It might be a cognitive slowing or something. I guess a nuerologist would help with this?


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