# I think I have depersonalization, but I'm not sure



## Eweistl (Apr 5, 2018)

Hi, I am a 14 year old girl and I have been experiencing some things that are definitely not normal.

Just over a year ago, I woke up feeling lightheaded and my vision was very "2 dimensional". Everything just didn't seem real and I felt like I was walking in a dream. After a week of these symptoms, I came across the word "depersonalization" and the symptoms are very similar to mine. I started to panic because depersonalization sounded extremely scary and I didn't want it affecting my life. I told my parents about this sickness a month after discovering this fact, and they brought me to the doctor, who said that he was not able to test for anything because I wasn't feeling any pain. He just told me to drink more water, which I did afterwards.

It's been over a year now and I am still experiencing these symptoms, except they seem to be getting worse and worse. Yesterday night, I couldn't fall asleep because I suddenly felt as if I wasn't getting enough air from my lungs (like shallow breathing). I started to flip around in my bed and panic, but I managed to fall asleep. I'm really scared right now since these symptoms are really affecting my life. I don't know what to do because my parents don't think there is any reason to bring me to the doctor again. Is this depersonalization, or is it something else? And what do I do? I feel so lost.


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## solus (Mar 20, 2018)

Hi,

Learn some calming breathing exercises. This is a powerful and easy technique to control anxiety and panic, and breathing is something that can be totally under your conscious control.

When I detect any anxiety, I automatically turn my attention to my breathing, and after calming down it down, the anxiety subsides quickly and doesn't rise to panic. This works well for any kind of anxiety, even public speaking.

Your anxiety caused the shallow breathing, which caused more anxiety and then panic.

Your symptoms seem more like generalized anxiety with some mild depersonalization(/derealization) symptoms, but I think almost anyone who's had bad anxiety or panic attacks has experienced those. If you really had dp you would be unlikely to have any doubt that that was what you were experiencing!

If I were you, I would deal with the anxiety. (And even if you are experiencing dp/dr, 99% of the time, it's still the anxiety you need to deal with more than anything else.) Focus on good diet, and keeping physically, socially and mentally active.

Don't read about others' problems too much, or you'll just find hundreds of new ways to be anxious! There is some good advice in the Recovery Stories Forum. [EDIT: Also Most Liked Content] I am also recovered, and you might find some of my posts useful. (Avoid anything with a trigger warning.)

The anxiety is harmless, and so is dp. (In fact, dp is defense mechanism that is there to protect us, even if it doesn't feel like it!) You'll soon be off the rollercoaster -- and all the sooner if you really attack the anxiety and take control.



Eweistl said:


> Hi, I am a 14 year old girl and I have been experiencing some things that are definitely not normal.
> 
> Just over a year ago, I woke up feeling lightheaded and my vision was very "2 dimensional". Everything just didn't seem real and I felt like I was walking in a dream. After a week of these symptoms, I came across the word "depersonalization" and the symptoms are very similar to mine. I started to panic because depersonalization sounded extremely scary and I didn't want it affecting my life. I told my parents about this sickness a month after discovering this fact, and they brought me to the doctor, who said that he was not able to test for anything because I wasn't feeling any pain. He just told me to drink more water, which I did afterwards.
> 
> It's been over a year now and I am still experiencing these symptoms, except they seem to be getting worse and worse. Yesterday night, I couldn't fall asleep because I suddenly felt as if I wasn't getting enough air from my lungs (like shallow breathing). I started to flip around in my bed and panic, but I managed to fall asleep. I'm really scared right now since these symptoms are really affecting my life. I don't know what to do because my parents don't think there is any reason to bring me to the doctor again. Is this depersonalization, or is it something else? And what do I do? I feel so lost.


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