Navigating the Unfamiliar: Understanding Feelings of Unreality

Sometimes, an individual may experience feelings of unreality, questioning their own existence with a profound sense of "I don't feel real". Such feelings can be disorienting and distressing, often indicative of underlying psychological conditions. This article explores the reasons behind these feelings and offers insight into the conditions that may trigger them.

Unraveling Feelings of Unreality

Defining Depersonalization and Derealization

The feeling of unreality often falls under two related categories: depersonalization and derealization. Depersonalization refers to a sense of being detached or disconnected from oneself, observing one's own thoughts, feelings, and physical presence from a third-person perspective. Derealization, on the other hand, involves experiencing the external world as unreal, dreamlike, or distorted.

Potential Triggers

Feelings of unreality can be triggered by numerous factors. Intense stress, trauma, or anxiety can result in such experiences as a way for the mind to cope with overwhelming emotional distress. Similarly, certain substances or medications may induce feelings of unreality.

Underlying Conditions and Feelings of Unreality

Anxiety Disorders and Dissociative Disorders

Anxiety disorders are often associated with feelings of unreality. Severe anxiety can lead to sensations of depersonalization and derealization as part of panic attacks or generalized anxiety. Additionally, these feelings of unreality are key symptoms of dissociative disorders, a group of conditions marked by a disruption in consciousness, memory, identity, or perception.

Other Conditions

Feelings of unreality can also accompany conditions like depression, schizophrenia, or certain types of epilepsy. They may also occur as a side effect of some medications or recreational drug use.

Coping With Feelings of Unreality

Professional Help

When feelings of unreality persist and interfere with daily life, professional help is crucial. A healthcare professional can diagnose the underlying cause and provide a treatment plan, which may include psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness techniques, or medication.

Self-Care Strategies

Engaging in self-care strategies like regular physical exercise, maintaining a healthy diet, ensuring adequate sleep, and practicing relaxation techniques can also help manage feelings of unreality.

While feelings of unreality can be distressing, understanding their origins and the potential underlying conditions can provide a road map to navigate this unfamiliar territory. With professional help and effective self-care strategies, individuals can regain their sense of reality and improve their overall well-being.

Grouport Offers Online Group Therapy & Online DBT Skills Group

Grouport Therapy provides online group therapy for anger management, anxiety, borderline personality, chronic illness, depression, dialectical behavior therapy, grief and loss, obsessive compulsive disorder, relationship issues and trauma and PTSD. Our licensed therapist leads weekly group sessions conducted remotely in the comfort of members' homes. According to participant feedback, 70% experienced significant improvements within 8 weeks.

You don't have to face these challenges alone. Join our community and work together towards a brighter future. Sign up for one of our courses today and begin your journey towards meaningful, lasting change and renewed hope.

Due to licensing restrictions, our online group therapy sessions are for Florida, New York, and New Jersey residents. If you are not a resident of either state, consider our dialectical behavior therapy skills group. It is a therapist-instructor-led online group that will teach you strategic new skills to replace behaviors and emotions causing friction in your daily life and relationships. It is excellent for interpersonal connections and building social skills concerning relationship issues.

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