I feel disconnected, as if what surrounds me were a dream

“I feel disconnected, like what’s around me isn’t quite real.” Feeling, having the impression or the singular perception that everything that surrounds us is part of a dream or a distant dimension is something that we can all experience. It is true that something like this may sound paradoxical and we could even say to ourselves that “What if I’m going crazy?”

However, this particularity has a lot of evidence and a little of madness. It can occur in cases of intense stress. Also in people who have a high state of anxiety, phobias or who carry the weight of a trauma. Thus, something common that usually occurs is that those who begin to show this type of phenomenon often choose to remain silent, to remain silent and not share with anyone what is happening to them. Out of fear or shame.

Little by little, This feeling of disconnection can be accompanied by other phenomena, such as feeling like a stranger in your own body. or gradually evidence a lesser emotional reaction to things. As if nothing around them is really with them. For what is this? What explains this unique condition?

I feel disconnected: the phenomenon of depersonalization

It is very possible that this type of experience seems disconcerting at first. However, A good part of us have experienced it in a very specific way. Sometimes, when we are given bad news, the mind collapses, like a brief shock.

During that moment we have the sensation of being outside the body, as if what is happening to us at that moment was not real. Our heart races, we sweat, we feel short of breath, and we have the clear perception that what we are seeing is a dream. Adverse experiences, receiving sad and unexpected information, for example, trigger this reaction.

Now, another circumstance may also occur. One may, for example, say to oneself “I feel disconnected and lately everything seems unreal” as an effect of depersonalization disorder. It is a clinical condition that arises as a consequence of more severe and persistent factors. We analyze it.

Depersonalization disorder and anxiety

Persistent and intense anxiety can make us feel like an external observer of our own life. It is as if that umbilical cord that unites us to reality vanishes and suddenly nothing is with us.

Thus, research works such as those carried out at the Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy of the University of Dresden, for example, tell us something about this. The phenomenon of depersonalization (feeling that one is distancing oneself from oneself and the immediate reality that surrounds one) appears in experiences dominated by shame and social phobia.

However, it can also appear at some point in people who have been experiencing intense states of anxiety for a long time, as an effect, for example, as a result of burnout or burnt out worker syndrome.

I feel disconnected, response freezing

People have three responses to face traumatic or adverse experiences: we fight, we escape, or we “freeze.” ¿What does this last term mean? We will ask ourselves. In reality, this third pathway is directly related to depersonalization disorder. It is a reaction in which we remain “numb or frozen.”

That is, one can get up in the morning, get dressed, have breakfast and go to work. But he feels absent, emotionally disconnected from what surrounds him, he looks at things, but does not feel them, he smiles but does not experience joy… All of this often arises as an effect of some trauma experienced or a stressful situation of high impact.

What are the symptoms of depersonalization disorder?

When I feel disconnected, when I perceive that my reality seems like a dream, it is very possible that, as we have pointed out, we show a depersonalization disorder. These would be the symptoms:

Feeling as if everything that happens is part of a movie and not something real.See the objects and landscapes that surround us with more brightness than usual.Likewise, alterations may occur in the distance or size of objects (macropsia)Sensation that sometimes time goes more slowly and other times much faster. Sometimes sounds sound louder than normal or seem, on the other hand, weaker or distant.

What can I do when I feel disconnected from my reality?

When I feel disconnected from myself, when I have the feeling that what I do or what I see is more like a dream, The first thing I should do is ask for expert help. It is essential to know the trigger for this situation. Sometimes, this phenomenon can arise punctually and sporadically as a result of a time that is more stressful or distressing than normal.

In other cases, this feeling of unreality may be a constant and, in that situation, we could already be facing a depersonalization/derealization disorder. Either way, The most common thing is to resort to a double clinical strategy: pharmacological and psychotherapeutic.

Antidepressants or anxiolytics are often chosen, along with cognitive-behavioral therapy. The essential thing is to promote, little by little, a better connection of the person with their immediate reality and with themselves.

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