# What is the difference between feeling unreal and having a break from reality?



## 2deepathinker

Hello!
I am just wondering what the difference is between feeling unreal, and having a break from reality? I don't know if I can take it anymore. This week has been really rough. One of the hardest things is my thinking. I am always trying to interpret what is going on. I start to wonder maybe this is just a dream, and what really is reality. I am concerned about having a psychotic break, and I really don't know how I would know if that is what I am experiencing. I am feeling under stress. I have been able to function, I just feel really, really stressed out. I have started to feel like I am unreal, and not just my surroundings are unreal. I am also having trouble with thinking, like I can't focus my thoughts. I feel like I have fuzzy thinking. I also feel like I don't always recognize my apartment. I miss the days where my biggest worries were seemingly trivial things.

I have been making myself really busy, which in many ways has been good. I have now overloaded my plate, and I almost feel like I can't keep up. It has been helpful to stay super busy.

So what does it mean to have a break from reality? What are the symptoms?


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## Kpanic

mourningdovespirit said:


> Hello!
> I am just wondering what the difference is between feeling unreal, and having a break from reality? I don't know if I can take it anymore. This week has been really rough. One of the hardest things is my thinking. I am always trying to interpret what is going on. I start to wonder maybe this is just a dream, and what really is reality. I am concerned about having a psychotic break, and I really don't know how I would know if that is what I am experiencing. I am feeling under stress. I have been able to function, I just feel really, really stressed out. I have started to feel like I am unreal, and not just my surroundings are unreal. I am also having trouble with thinking, like I can't focus my thoughts. I feel like I have fuzzy thinking. I also feel like I don't always recognize my apartment. I miss the days where my biggest worries were seemingly trivial things.
> 
> I have been making myself really busy, which in many ways has been good. I have now overloaded my plate, and I almost feel like I can't keep up. It has been helpful to stay super busy.
> 
> So what does it mean to have a break from reality? What are the symptoms?


I am unsure of break from reality? It sounds like DP/DR more on the DR side to me. Especially when you talk about not recognizing anything. If your thoughts are out of control and you feel like you are on the verge of loosing it, it might be time for a AAP. I am not a Doctor and I do not know what you have been taking or did take, but it might be time to try one out. If you do go that route - Zyprexa would be a good choice or if your DP/DR is anxiety related Seroquel XR might help also. But Zyprexa, hands down, is the best at calming you the hell down RIGHT NOW. My RX was Pristiq 100 x1 and Xanax XR 1 and Xanax IR prn. I can also tell you that I added a B Vitamin complex as well as a Omega 3,6 and 9 complex. I added them about 2 weeks ago and my DR (I mostly have DR) has gone away for the most part. I do not know if it was upping the Pristiq to 100 or the Xanax combo or the vitamin, all I can tell you is those three have virtually eliminated my DR. I am probably 80% to normal. Have you been to therapy? If not, try EMDR from a qualified person, it was the best therapy for me. I feel very sorry for you and wish I could have the magic pill or magic therapy but I dont. I know that the Pristiq stopped the thoughts about "how I am feeling today" and the Xanax shut down the panic. And the vitamin (s) have also helped I guess, to what extent I do not know. I would have a serious talk with a pdoc about Zyprexa to help you shut down the thoughts. If Zyprexa does not work, try Seroquel. Last resort Risperadal and Geodon. Zyprexa at 2.5 to start and could go up to 15 or 20 if you need to. Good luck, I will pray for you.


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## 2deepathinker

Thanks Kpanic. I know of many people on here who have gone on zyprexa with good and bad results I suppose. The relaxation part of it sounds like a relief, but I currently do not take any medication. I don't even take aspirin very often if I can help it, or anti-histimines for allergies. I don't know how I would feel to all at once take an anti-psychotic. It is interesting to see that it can help some people. Thanks for sharing, and also for your concern. I will consider it. Did you experience any side-effects with zyprexa?


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## Kpanic

mourningdovespirit said:


> Thanks Kpanic. I know of many people on here who have gone on zyprexa with good and bad results I suppose. The relaxation part of it sounds like a relief, but I currently do not take any medication. I don't even take aspirin very often if I can help it, or anti-histimines for allergies. I don't know how I would feel to all at once take an anti-psychotic. It is interesting to see that it can help some people. Thanks for sharing, and also for your concern. I will consider it. Did you experience any side-effects with zyprexa?


I have only taken it twice, that was about 10 years ago.. Hence the word calm you the hell down RIGHT NOW. Think of it this way... To use a stereo analogy, let's assume all the crap in your head is like having a radio tuned to a station you don't like that's turned up too loud. Both anticonvulsants and antipsychotics work to tune the radio to a preferable station, but they work on the volume in a different manner. The anticonvulsants actually turn down the volume. The antipsychotics work like earplugs, the volume is still turned up, but you can't hear it so it doesn't make a difference. The anticonvulsants that are known to help anxiety are Depakote, Lamictal and Gabapentin. The Gabapentin is hit or miss with alot of people. The Depakote seems to work pretty good with anxiety from a few blind studies and even Lamictal has been shown to help some with anxiety and also DP/DR. It TOTALLY DEPENDS on how you are wired. And then there are those special few folks that are Paradoxical responders. This means that even though a med has been shown to not be effective at treating X disorder, these people will respond good even though thousands did not, again, it all depends on wiring. Before I went to a AAP, I would exhaust all of my other options. These meds work well, but are harsh on the system.

I have never been a fan of meds, but if you need them you need them. If I were you I would seek a therapist that specializes in Anxiety disorders. If you do not want to take meds, thats fine, but you need to be seeing someone that can help you. If you do not get help, the road only goes south. I know it is hard to believe that the DR/DP comes from anxiety, but most people report the onset to be stemming from an anxiety "issue". You are probably at the place I was a few months ago, I did not care what I had to do to get better, I just knew I had to do it and soon. In some cases, a Benzo can help you calm down. Klonopin, Xanax, Ativan etc.. I know it might be hard to choke the pill down as it was for me, but I had to break down and do it. I know it is scary, I have been there, but eventually you have to break down and get the help you need. I would suggest a small dose of Xanax or Klonopin (Klonopin did not work for me) but it may work for you. Benzos are a moving target as well, some respond well to one and not the other. I hope you take my advice and at least go see a therapist. I hope you get better.


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## snow storm

mourningdovespirit said:


> Hello!
> I am just wondering what the difference is between feeling unreal, and having a break from reality? I don't know if I can take it anymore. This week has been really rough. One of the hardest things is my thinking. I am always trying to interpret what is going on. I start to wonder maybe this is just a dream, and what really is reality. I am concerned about having a psychotic break, and I really don't know how I would know if that is what I am experiencing. I am feeling under stress. I have been able to function, I just feel really, really stressed out. I have started to feel like I am unreal, and not just my surroundings are unreal. I am also having trouble with thinking, like I can't focus my thoughts. I feel like I have fuzzy thinking. I also feel like I don't always recognize my apartment. I miss the days where my biggest worries were seemingly trivial things.
> 
> I have been making myself really busy, which in many ways has been good. I have now overloaded my plate, and I almost feel like I can't keep up. It has been helpful to stay super busy.
> 
> So what does it mean to have a break from reality? What are the symptoms?


There have been times when I have felt so detached from myself, from my feelings and my body that I have thought to myself that I must be on the verge of a psychosis. I have felt that I almost have lost the sense of how the world works, that the world around me is just loose pieces that are no longer connected. I have felt very unreal as well. Still haven't had any psychotic break. Maybe I have been close. I don't know. When it's really really bad I call my parents. Just expressing how I feel to someone is what helps me in these situations, making me feel a bit more connected.

Since I never have had a break from reality myself I can't give you any first-hand information...but I guess it must be that you are no longer able to relate to the world in a meaningful way. You actually believe that your distorted perception of the world is how it actually is, your ability to resonate clearly and to act rationally is (severly) weakened. I also guess that there are different types of reality breaks. If you feel more towards paranoia you may hear voices, think that people can read your thoughts etc. I found this description on a webpage: "A collapse of the "ego integrity", a state of mind where the person is unsure of who they are, where they are, what they are doing and how they should be behaving - a pervasive and overall loss of "identity" and "sense-of-self".

I don't think it's uncommon that people expereince states close to a psychosis, but still remain some of their ability to think clearly, and thus not becoming psychotic. I don't think you should worry too much about it. It's good to stay busy and think about other things, but you have to make some time for your self as well. It can be difficult to find the balance.


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## Ayato

As long as you don't actually BELIEVE in these ideas, you are not psychotic. If you start thinking you actually are unreal, dead, living in the matrix or whatever, thats when you are in the middle of psychosis. A person with DP will say its "As if" they are unreal. A psychotic would say "I am" unreal. Reality testing remains intact, as they say in psychiatric literature.


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