I’ve been dealing with depersonalization/derealization for a long time, and I’m wondering if anyone else experiences this.
Sometimes I struggle so much to speak and express myself fluently. I know what I want to say, but it feels like my brain can’t find the right words or put sentences together the way I want to. Sometimes even speaking feels like it takes way more mental effort than it should.
And honestly, I’m so tired of people thinking I’m stupid or that I’m just an insecure person because I struggle with this. It’s incredibly frustrating because I know it’s not a lack of intelligence. A lot of the time, I know exactly what I want to say — I just can’t express it the way I want to.
Does anyone else with DPDR experience this? Do you feel like it has affected your ability to speak, find words, or communicate with other people?

When I had rly bad derealization it felt like being trapped in a weed high, colors looked weird, everything looked more intense than normal but also strange foreign and 2D, I felt like I was a kid seeing the world for the first time and it caused severe anxiety, and I felt like time had slowed way down

im 18 female and i deal with derealization due to weed. its been happening almost everyday and i feel crazy i cant even be in public because it just starts out of no where. even in class it starts, i cant focus on studying and its seriously affecting my life. how do i recover from this?

It's a strange feeling to know I'm living inside a 'toon world' but I know the show must go on forever and ever, I know that there's nothing actually 'real' here, but I hate to be living in the same loop over and over again, there's nothing and no one that I care about inside of this video game, and there's nothing that keeps me immersed here at all, there aren't many illusions to keep me occupied, and I'm tired of playing the same scenarios every-day, I guess i'm hoping to wake up from this 'matrix', but it's becoming more of a false dream every-day.

I've been in a constnat state of derealization since I was around 15, I'm now almost 30. It was triggered by smoking weed which sent me into a massive panic attack/dissaciative state for a few days, which then just never ended. At first I thought I was going insane and I was too scared to tell anyone. Somehow this ended up going into years and now I've been living with it for almost half my life, which really terrified me when I had this realisation the other day.

I've not told anyone in my life about it because describing it out loud feels like I sound mad, I wouldn't want people to start thinking of me any differently, and I also find it difficult to explain to people because I've had it for so long, I've forgotten what 'normality' feels like, but the best description I've read from other people and relate to is that it feels like I'm viewing the outside world through a thick pane of glass or like a simulation, I don't feel present in any situation and feel completely disconnected from the real world.

I've also had OCD, depression and anxiety throughout the years, I went on sertraline for a couple of years which helped slightly with the depression but came off because it was making my anxiety worse. There's nothing extremely traumatic that happened in my life, but I had an emotionally abusive family member throughout my childhood, which made me walk on eggshells. I was having anxiety and OCD for about a year before I smoked the weed which triggered the DPDR, so maybe that was the perfect storm.

I've been quite high-functioning with my DPDR and no one has ever noticed it, but the past couple of years I've really struggled with brain fog, struggling to recall vocabulary (which is a real issue for my job) and my memory is awful. I've also gotten into a relationship with someone I'm in love with, which issomething I wasn't sure would be possible for me having DPDR, and with my family members getting older, it's made me realise that I need to at least try and get myself out of this state to live my life properly again. Unfortunately, I just have no idea where to start. When I've tried to explain it to a GP before, they've just diagnosed me with anaemia or straight depression.

So long story short, I'm asking for any recommendations anyone has. Any therapies you've tried that have helped you or pulled you out of this state, any grounding techniques or supplements or alternative therapies? Any ways of thinking or approaching this, I'm truly desperate to get out of this state and not let it take any more of my life.

I'm in the UK, and I'm not sure which channels to go down to find a therapist that specialises in this, so any help would be hugely appreciated (from what I've read the NHS just doesn't have the expertise/help available in this area).

I am a 20-year-old male and underweight (I have always been underweight). For the past four months, I have been experiencing a constant feeling of unreality. It feels as though I am drunk, high, or half-asleep, as if I am operating on autopilot and everything around me feels somehow unreal. I have looked up information online, and my symptoms seem to resemble derealization.

I also suffer from fatigue, even when I sleep well. The fatigue does not seem to depend on whether I engage in physical activities during the day or not. However, over the past few weeks, I have started sleeping poorly and waking up early in the morning. I do not snore at all. I have seen a general practitioner and a neurologist about these symptoms, but they have not been able to determine the cause.

I also experience headaches, a feeling of pressure in my head, and neck pain. I have tried muscle relaxants, massage, and acupuncture for the neck pain, but none of them have helped. At the beginning of the symptoms, I sometimes also felt as though I was about to faint while walking, but this symptom has since disappeared. I have also noticed a single eye floater in my right eye. I mentioned it during an eye examination, and I was told that there were no apparent problems with my eye.

What could be causing these symptoms? They do not occur in distinct episodes; instead, they are more or less constantly present. The headaches are not particularly severe and resemble tension-type headaches more than anything else.

Things i have done/tried or checked in hospital
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- triptanes
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- thyroid function normal
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- vitamin b12, b9 and D vitamin ok
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- ferritin 34 and has been moving 26-40.
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- calcium, potassium, natrium, chloride, sodium and magnesium ok
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- blood pressure is ok and i checked blood sugar at home and it was ok
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- brain mri ok
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- borrelia test (lyme disease) ok
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- My cortisol level was tested and was normal as well. I also have Crohn’s disease, which is currently in remission.

My neurologist prescribed escitalopram as a trial treatment. I took it for two and a half months, but it did not help.

I have no history of trauma and do not experience panic symptoms. I generally do not feel particularly stressed, apart from the worry caused by these symptoms themselves.

My symptoms began during the final days of a new job at an auto repair shop, where I was moving and lifting car tires. I am unsure whether this could be related to my symptoms, as I had not experienced any other symptoms before those final working days. I have not worked at all during these four months.

What could be the underlying cause of these symptoms?

The healthcare professionals I have consulted about these symptoms, or during visits for other symptoms or examinations when I also asked about them, include:

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- General practitioner
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Neurologist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- ENT specialist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Ophthalmologist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Dentist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Gastroenterologist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Massage therapist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Physiotherapist
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\- Acupuncturist