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Derealization–9 Ways To Help You Cope Better In 2024

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Derealization is frightening. It can happen after severe stress, physical exhaustion, trauma, or using substances. Up to 7 in 10 people experience derealization in their lifetime, often after a traumatic event. 

These feelings are often short-lived but can last for several years if there is no other mental health condition present. This is called Depersonalization-Derealization Disorder (DPDR) and happens to around 50 percent of people who have a close family member with DPDR.

Derealization makes you feel you are in a bubble, shut off from your outside world. You are surrounded by a barrier you cannot see. Your mind is clouded with a curtain of fog, with time slowing down or speeding up. 

A common reaction is to think you are losing your mind, but there are many ways you can help yourself to cope better. Learn how to stop derealization below.

9 Ways To Stop Derealization

Stop derealization with these nine tips:

  • Seek professional help such as talking therapies.
  • Reassure yourself that you are still in control of your feelings.
  • Identify symptoms of anxiety, low mood, and trauma.
  • Keep a journal of your experiences
  • Accept feelings and commit to change
  • Use grounding techniques to provide distraction.
  • Adopt mindfulness to become calmer.
  • Expose yourself gradually to stressful situations.
  • Reach out for support to people with similar experiences.

9 Methods To Stop Derealization

These 9 tips can help you stop these feelings to reclaim a life free from derealization. 

Reassure Yourself

How To Stop Derealization
This can help calm your mind. Photo: Shutterstock

Derealization can make you believe you have a severe mental health problem. The feelings can be intense. Your mind feels clouded, it is difficult to take in information, and you fear losing control. 

Derealization is unlikely to be the start of a mental disorder such as dementia. Most people with derealization are unlikely to have an enduring mental illness. They are more likely to have problems such as social anxiety

Reassure yourself that these feelings are a natural reaction to severe stress and anxiety. This can help calm your mind and reduce anxiety levels, which can help stop derealization. 

Scan For Other Symptoms

How To Stop Derealization
Try to look for other signs. Photo: Shutterstock

Derealization rarely occurs without other mental health problems. Checking for symptoms of anxiety can help you identify what may be behind your experiences. Sleep problems, poor attention span, panic attacks, and worrying more than usual are all symptoms of anxiety

Low mood, loss of interest, poor appetite, low energy, and feeling hopeless about the future are symptoms of depression. If you have experienced past or recent trauma, derealization can also be a part of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Dissociation, which is related to derealization, occurs in over 80% of people with PTSD. Flashbacks, nightmares, and being easily startled are common symptoms

Keep A Journal

How To Stop Derealization
Recording your experiences helps. Photo: Shutterstock

Recording your experiences helps to identify triggers for derealization. Note where you were, what you were doing, the time, and how long derealization lasted. Note what you did to try to stop it or what helped you cope better. 

Keeping a journal helps you find out if there are regular triggers to derealization, and whether they occur at a particular time and place. It also helps you see which techniques work and which do not. This will help reassure you that something can be done to stop derealization. Journaling of art therapy can be one way of communicating depersonalization.

Use Grounding Techniques

How To Stop Derealization
Grounding can help stop derealization. Photo: Shutterstock

Grounding is used to provide distraction through focusing on the five senses to stop derealization. Try this using the 5-4-3-2-1 technique.

  • Look around for 5 things you can see. This could be traffic, the landscape, or other objects. Keep your focus on each for 5 seconds.
  • Listen out for 4 things you can hear. Sometimes we do not notice sounds unless we listen for them carefully. It could be the sound of people talking, your feet on the surface below you, wind or rain. Keep your focus on each for 5 seconds.
  • Find 3 things you can touch. It could be the feel of the fabric on your clothes, everyday objects around you, or your hair, Keep your focus on each for 5 seconds.
  • Look for 2 things to smell. This could be soap, the smell of your hands, or your clothes. It does not have to be a strong smell. Keep your focus on each for 5 seconds.
  • Notice the taste in your mouth. It does not need to be a strong taste. Keep your focus on this taste each for 5 seconds before stopping the activity.

Grounding can help stop derealization when accompanied by other mental health conditions such as PTSD. 

Practice Mindfulness

How To Stop Derealization
Mindfulness can help with derealization. Photo: Shutterstock

Mindfulness is a form of meditation. It involves sitting down in a comfortable, quiet area for 5 to 10 minutes, closing your eyes, and focusing on the way your body feels. No special equipment is required. 

The non-judgmental aspect of mindfulness is essential. Do not worry about ‘doing it right’ or getting frustrated if your mind wanders. Thoughts and feelings will come and go. This technique allows you to observe your breath so that it gives you something to concentrate on, without judging yourself.

Use these steps to practice mindfulness: 

  • Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor, and arms resting on your lap.
  • Close your eyes softly or look at the ground straight ahead.
  • Bring your attention to your breath as it enters and leaves your body.
  • You can feel the movement of your stomach if you like.
  • You might find your mind wandering, but this is normal.
  • Notice where your mind is going and gently bring it back, without judgment.

This technique can be effective in either reducing the number of derealization episodes or stopping it completely.

Accept Feelings And Commit To Change

How To Stop Derealization
This can help you cope better with your derealization experience. Photo: Shutterstock

Accept yourself as a being human who experiences reactions that can happen to anyone. Once you do, committing to change need not seem like an obstacle but an opportunity. Use this technique to pause, step back, and observe your experience without judgment.

Follow these steps:

  • Take a piece of paper and draw a line from top to bottom and another crossing it in the middle from side to side.
  • At the left end of the horizontal line, write ‘feelings that I move away from’.
  • At the right end of the horizontal line, write ‘feelings I move towards’.
  • At the top of the vertical line, write ‘my outside world’.
  • At the bottom of the vertical line, write ‘my inside world’.
  • List negative feelings that come in the way of happiness in the bottom left square.
  • List positive goals you would like to achieve in your life on the bottom right square.
  • List negative behaviors others might see in the top left square.
  • List positive behaviors you would like for yourself in the top right square.

By observing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in the left-hand section, you can think of how you can commit to change with positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in the right-hand section. This can help you cope better with your derealization experience by observing it in a calmer frame of mind. This forms part of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which helps to stop derealization.

Don’t Shut Yourself Off

How To Stop Derealization
Try to not disconnect. Photo: Shutterstock

You might feel like disconnecting completely from the outside world. Doing exactly the opposite can be more helpful–especially if you expose yourself to situations you know can bring on derealization. Gradual exposure to these situations can help.

Follow these steps:

  • Conjure up a thought of a situation that you know can produce derealization.
  • Use other techniques such as mindfulness and grounding to reduce your anxiety.
  • Gradually put yourself back into the stressful situation for as long as it is tolerable before you feel derealization. 

This graded exposure can help stop derealization by a process called desensitization, where the brain becomes less sensitive to stress over time.

Reach Out To People With Similar Experiences

How To Stop Derealization
Peer support is particularly helpful. Photo: Shutterstock

You are not alone in living with derealization. Find a face-to-face or online mental health support group, so you can connect with others who have similar experiences. Peer support is particularly helpful in coping with derealization from PTSD.

Seek Professional Help

How To Stop Derealization
Treatment is an option. Photo: Shutterstock

A full assessment of your problems can help you receive the treatment you need. Psychological therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can help stop derealization. Medication has a limited role in treatment

The bottom line is that you may need professional treatment for derealization. 

Tips To Prevent It Going Forward 

There is no simple way to stop derealization. However, you can make lifestyle changes to prevent it. These changes can help reduce the impact of other problems: 

  • Look out for stress and physical burnout.
  • Stop or reduce substance use. 
  • Identify other problems such as anxiety, depression, and trauma.
  • Seek professional help early if derealization becomes overwhelming.

When To See A Healthcare Professional 

If you feel your derealization has become overwhelming or the experience makes you feel unsafe from yourself, seek professional help. You should also seek help if your mental health affects your physical health.  

Derealization can be indicative of a mental health disorder requiring professional treatment. When derealization begins to interfere with daily life, it’s time to seek treatment. 

Conclusion

Derealization can be life-changing and can be triggered by a range of other problems. By using these top 10 tips, you are a step closer to living a life free from derealization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does derealization last?

The length of time can vary from a few minutes to several hours. A small number of people with DPDR experience depersonalization for several years, during which time it improves and worsens but is still present.

What are the stages of derealization?

The 4 stages are feeling like a machine without life, feeling separated from feelings, feeling detached from reality, and feeling no emotions.

Can derealization be permanent?

Around 2 in every 3 people with DPDR experience derealization over several years. It is rarely permanent.

How scary is derealization?

It is an intensely unpleasant experience. Although described as a ‘dream-like’ state, it is a feeling of detachment from an outside world that appears artificial and unreal.

Resources

Blurtitout employs stringent sourcing standards, using only peer-reviewed studies and academic research to ensure the accuracy of its content. For details on their editorial process, you can visit their website. This commitment to reliable sources is crucial in the health and medical fields. If you need help finding or interpreting these sources

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About The Author

Tony Rao, MBBS, BSc

Psychiatrist

Dr. Rao is a psychiatrist and writer on mental health. He has 33 years of clinical and research experience, carried out at Cambridge University and King's College London. He has also held a range of leadership positions, including Associate Dean at London Deanery. At the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK, he was lead for public engagement, has written extensively for print media and contributed to radio and television documentaries on mental health. Since 2023, Dr Rao has been a full time medical writer and has published three novels on mental health themes.

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