# Visual symptoms of Derealization?



## Rob345 (May 12, 2010)

Hey all,

I wanted to get some feedback on people's experiences with derealization, particularly in relation to some of the visual symptoms experienced.

I've experienced both DP and DR at various stages of my life (27 now), most commonly related to anxiety. I'm going through a particularly pronounced period of DR at the moment, and am experiencing some unusual visual symptoms.

For me, it's as though objects (cars, trees, buildings, my computer screen, other objects) are in much sharper focus than they normally are. It's as though they are 3D objects that are set against 2D backgrounds; almost like looking at a 2D world with 3D glasses on (does that make sense?) The objects seem to 'bounce out' of the background. It's very disconcerting as I've never really experienced symptoms like this before.

I have been experiencing this for about 4 days now; doctor put me back on Lexapro yesterday (for anxiety) and has referred me to a psychiatrist for a full assessment, but doesn't seem to think there is anything to worry too much about.

I'm really concerned that this might be the onset of a more severe psychotic disorder, however given the extent to which I am questioning the symptoms, I would assume that this is unlikely?

Look forward to your replies.


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

Rob345 said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I wanted to get some feedback on people's experiences with derealization, particularly in relation to some of the visual symptoms experienced.
> 
> ...


With me when DR gets bad (im mainly DP) it appears as though my vision is staticy and moves in frames like it did when I would smoke pot. Its like my eyes are a camera taking pictures every second. Its very scary. There appears to be like an invisible wall between me and everything else or like there is a film over my eyes. I sometimes my depth perception gets bad and I walk like a zombie and bump into walls and stuff.


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## Rob345 (May 12, 2010)

Claymore said:


> With me when DR gets bad (im mainly DP) it appears as though my vision is staticy and moves in frames like it did when I would smoke pot. Its like my eyes are a camera taking pictures every second. Its very scary. There appears to be like an invisible wall between me and everything else or like there is a film over my eyes. I sometimes my depth perception gets bad and I walk like a zombie and bump into walls and stuff.


I think I can relate to the camera analogy; as though you are taking pictures of the world around you. Do you ever get the feeling that certain objects appear clearer or more 'in focus' than what is normal? This is what it feels like to me.

I do get altered depth perception as well - this is what causes me the most anxiety I think; it makes everything around you look and feel so different.


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

Rob345 said:


> I think I can relate to the camera analogy; as though you are taking pictures of the world around you. Do you ever get the feeling that certain objects appear clearer or more 'in focus' than what is normal? This is what it feels like to me.
> 
> I do get altered depth perception as well - this is what causes me the most anxiety I think; it makes everything around you look and feel so different.


Yes. like somethings are clear and some things are wierd looking, especially on a sunny day (which sucks). But none of it seems like its "with you" anymore, its to far to reach yet you can touch it. Some sick crap man, I tell ya.


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## Tommygunz (Sep 7, 2009)

i've experienced this with one thing. there is a neon light by my apartment. a neon chef flipping a pan. it's the sign for the resturaunt below my apartment. the tubes of the neon seem to stand out like they are 3D while everything still has the 2D appearance of DR. it is the only thing that ever had that affect on my vision, but it had that affect every time i looked at it. so, yeah i can totally understand what you described looks like and i would probably be a little alarmed if it happened frequently with multiple objects. i agree with your doctor though, i don't think it's anything to worry about. i think like all symptoms of DP, the less attention you pay to it, the more you won't notice it.


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## Rob345 (May 12, 2010)

Tommygunz said:


> i've experienced this with one thing. there is a neon light by my apartment. a neon chef flipping a pan. it's the sign for the resturaunt below my apartment. the tubes of the neon seem to stand out like they are 3D while everything still has the 2D appearance of DR. it is the only thing that ever had that affect on my vision, but it had that affect every time i looked at it. so, yeah i can totally understand what you described looks like and i would probably be a little alarmed if it happened frequently with multiple objects. i agree with your doctor though, i don't think it's anything to worry about. i think like all symptoms of DP, the less attention you pay to it, the more you won't notice it.


Thanks for that; what you describe sounds really similar.

Cheers.


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Rob345 said:


> For me, it's as though objects (cars, trees, buildings, my computer screen, other objects) are in much sharper focus than they normally are. It's as though they are 3D objects that are set against 2D backgrounds; almost like looking at a 2D world with 3D glasses on (does that make sense?) The objects seem to 'bounce out' of the background. It's very disconcerting as I've never really experienced symptoms like this before.


This has happened to me on several occasions. It's where everything gets really bright and super sharp, and like you said, "the objects seem to 'bounce out' of the background." It's happened a couple of times, but has never been continuous. It must be scary to experience that on a regular basis, but I strongly believe that it is just one of the more annoying and aggravating symptoms of DR, not psychosis. Did this happen before you started the Lexapro or after?


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

Claymore said:


> There appears to be like an invisible wall between me and everything else or like there is a film over my eyes.


Yes. I can entirely relate to this. It is sooo annoying. Sometimes I wish i could just ''rip it off'', so that I could ''see'' reality again.


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## Rob345 (May 12, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> This has happened to me on several occasions. It's where everything gets really bright and super sharp, and like you said, "the objects seem to 'bounce out' of the background." It's happened a couple of times, but has never been continuous. It must be scary to experience that on a regular basis, but I strongly believe that it is just one of the more annoying and aggravating symptoms of DR, not psychosis. Did this happen before you started the Lexapro or after?


Started a few days before the Lexapro, but feeling as though it has gotten worse since. I'm pretty sure it's the Lexapro exacerbating the symptoms though given I've only been back on it for a couple of days now. I'm hoping that I level out over the next week or so as it starts to take effect.


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## FoXS (Nov 4, 2009)

me too, i cannot estimate spaces anymore, and thats why the worlds appears flat. perhaps we got brain damage


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## DiscoStick (Dec 13, 2009)

I have visual snow
Nothing stands still
Some things constantly shrink
I can't look near the sun because it stays in my eyes for too long which is the same with most brighter things
I get random white stars every now and again. Like one speck of snow has caught fire and is burning across my sight
My eyes can't stay in focus and everything goes blurry
The walls sometimes bubble
I can't hold my focus on one thing because my eyes like shift as if they're floating along the water or something

But I've had an MRI and I'm fine
so whatever


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## Claymore (Jun 13, 2009)

DiscoStick said:


> I have visual snow
> Nothing stands still
> Some things constantly shrink
> I can't look near the sun because it stays in my eyes for too long which is the same with most brighter things
> ...


This is EXACTLY what its like for me, I just didn't know how to explain it in detail. This is DR to me.


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## jkonick (May 20, 2010)

I can totally relate to this, and it's nice to hear that someone else has it, because it has been the most prominent aspect of my DR, but it doesn't seem like it's a super common one. And hearing everyone else say how awful it must be to have it for any extended amount of time makes me feel good about how well I've coped with it - I've been having it non stop for almost a month now. It would come and go for a few minutes or hours at a time, then one day about three or four weeks ago it just "turned on" and hasn't turned off since then. It gets better and worse... but I my vision has been stuck like this. I also have never had DR/DP before this, so it was incredibly scary at first and I thought I was going to die/go crazy (or both).

It's really hard to describe, because everything looks different, but then when you look at something and try to describe it to someone who is not familiar with DR, it's hard to say what exactly is different because it's more about how you perceive it than what it actually looks like; things being more focused or "3D" is a good description though. It reminds me a lot of how things look after smoking pot, although without any of the cognitive inhibition of being high.

Does anyone else have any physical sensations that seem to be tied in with DR/visual perception change? To go back to the comparison with smoking pot, I get this feeling when it gets worse that is sort of like the "floaty" feeling you can get when you're high, like my body is weightless or feels like jello. And my head feels kind of funny, like it's in a bubble, or I'm hungover or have taken cough medicine or something.

It also seems like it gets worse the more I try to focus on somethiing, like looking at anything up close or trying to read, but when I'm just walking around or talking to people (as long as it is someone I know/not intense conversation) I seem to almost forget it.

Anyway. Not fun. I keep waking up every morning and hoping that when I open my eyes everything will look normal again. Hasn't happened yet, but I am trying as hard as I can to ignore it and not let it bother me/make me worry obsessively and spiral into out of control anxiety.


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## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

jkonick said:


> Does anyone else have any physical sensations that seem to be tied in with DR/visual perception change? To go back to the comparison with smoking pot, I get this feeling when it gets worse that is sort of like the "floaty" feeling you can get when you're high, like my body is weightless or feels like jello. *And my head feels kind of funny, like it's in a bubble*, or I'm hungover or have taken cough medicine or something.
> 
> It also seems like it gets worse the more I try to focus on somethiing, like looking at anything up close or trying to read, but when I'm just walking around or talking to people (as long as it is someone I know/not intense conversation) I seem to almost forget it.


Yes, and yes!!


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## Rob345 (May 12, 2010)

jkonick said:


> I can totally relate to this, and it's nice to hear that someone else has it, because it has been the most prominent aspect of my DR, but it doesn't seem like it's a super common one. And hearing everyone else say how awful it must be to have it for any extended amount of time makes me feel good about how well I've coped with it - I've been having it non stop for almost a month now. It would come and go for a few minutes or hours at a time, then one day about three or four weeks ago it just "turned on" and hasn't turned off since then. It gets better and worse... but I my vision has been stuck like this. I also have never had DR/DP before this, so it was incredibly scary at first and I thought I was going to die/go crazy (or both).
> 
> It's really hard to describe, because everything looks different, but then when you look at something and try to describe it to someone who is not familiar with DR, it's hard to say what exactly is different because it's more about how you perceive it than what it actually looks like; things being more focused or "3D" is a good description though. It reminds me a lot of how things look after smoking pot, although without any of the cognitive inhibition of being high.
> 
> ...


YES!!

I'm so glad to hear that someone else gets this! I only ever had one really bad experience with pot, and remember that the visual symptoms were kind of similar - however I was so panic stricken at the time that I can't really remember. But it has crossed my mind that this sensation feels similar to that.

I'm the same where it seems to be worse when I'm focusing on something, especially the computer screen. If I'm talking with someone it seems to fade.

Mine has been coming and going - yesterday had normal depth perception all day. Today it feels weird again. Not sure whats going on there...

Anyway, Doc has referred me to an opthamologist just to cover all bases, but is convinced it's just another symptom of anxiety. My psych agrees, says that he's heard of plenty of weird and wonderful anxiety symptoms. The less I focus on it, the more it seems to fade, so I'm just going to try and ignore it.


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