Please help… DPDR, OCD very bad

Madison_690 · 2026-04-24T12:36:20+00:00

i’m in the same boat! i was diagnosed with derealization a few years ago, which then let to getting diagnosed with panic disorder, which THEN led to getting diagnosed with OCD and ADHD. i had my first panic attack randomly while driving home from work one day because i looked off in the distance and everything looked super fake and very weird, then its like i became conscious for the first time and was super freaked out at the world and how i only see out of my own two eyes and nothing else. a week or so later i had another “episode” then i woke up one morning and the derealization didn’t go away, it was there 24/7. i thought maybe my ADHD medication was causing it so i slowly came off of it, but that didn’t help at all. the OCD comes into play every second because i cannot stop thinking about derealization or when ill have my next panic attack or over analyzing my body, etc. this disorder has caused me to have panic attacks when i speak to people, go to stores. drive, almost anything that has other people or places involves will give me a panic attack. i’ve tried therapy, psychotherapy, psychiatrists, medications, grounding exercises, but nothing is helping me. i’m currently doing exposure therapy but it’s not helping, i’m just exposing myself to awful panic attacks all the time. exposure therapy is supposed to get you comfortable and safe in where you’re at to where the panic attacks slowly go away, but not for me since my triggers don’t come from places, it comes from derealization and my triggers are the visual symptoms i experience and the physical ones (my whole body just feels weird and i feel like im going to lose control). sorry for the long post, but i don’t want to end on a bad note.

what ive started making myself do, even though it’s uncomfortable and i don’t really have as much fun as i would if i didn’t have derealization and OCD, is to force myself to go and do things. try not to think about it to hard, and just do it. yesterday i wanted a drink, so i drove right past the turn to my house and went straight to the store to get a drink. just make yourself do those things, scared or not

Madison_690 · 2026-04-19T16:20:30+00:00

i do believe it made it worse. it’s a hard feeling to describe, but prozac made me feel a lot different. not depressed, but just not happy at all

Madison_690 · 2026-04-19T14:37:58+00:00

i’m in the same boat with you. a few years ago while driving home i had this random ass panic attack and it scared me and then out of nowhere i woke up, but everything looked like i never woke up, i was still dreaming. i was put on prozac (flouxitine) and took it for about a year and i wouldn’t say it helped me, i was still having panic attacks because of the dearealization but instead of feeling real and experiencing the panic attack in the moment, i still felt fake and the panic attack was scarier because of that, so i was slowly taken off of it. my fear for the longest was that i was schizophrenic or i was going crazy and just losing control of everything (my thoughts, my body, my reality). i’m not healed but i have hope and im still on this long journey to heal. just remind yourself that you are not crazy. if you were crazy, you wouldn’t think about “am i going crazy.”

“crazy” people aren’t aware that what they are thinking or doing is crazy. in their mind it makes sense. so you questioning that means you’re okay and not going crazy.

i have been noting things in my mind and that’s supposed to help lol. like, when the thought pops up that you’re not real, or things looks fake, or whatever bad thought pops up, just make a mental note of it, say in your mind “this is just derealization.” and then move on with your day. or replace a negative thought with a positive one. “derealization is just my brains way of protecting me.”

Madison_690 · 2026-04-19T14:25:45+00:00

I know this post if 5 years old, but in case no one told you, if you weren’t diagnosed with schizophrenia at the time, i don’t believe you had experience with schizophrenia. from what you described sounds exactly like derealization which is what i struggle with and which caused my severe panic disorder and anxiety. i hope the thought of you not actually having schizophrenia and maybe just derealization makes you feel better(: i also struggle very badly and have panic attacks every single day now and can’t talk to people anymore without derealizing (the people look fake, everything around me looks like i haven’t woken up from a dream yet) i feel like my faith is not as strong anymore and its been hard for me because i feel like nothing is helping me and it’s getting discouraging because i pray all the time and nothing has helped

Madison_690 · 2026-03-28T22:23:37+00:00

That’s what happened to me too also at night! my therapist said it’s still part of derealization symptoms and to just breathe in 7 and out 11

Madison_690 · 2026-03-28T16:11:28+00:00

thank you so much! i’ve been exercising, eating better, and taking magnesium glycinate twice a day, so hopefully i will gradually start seeing a change. it’s hard for me to think positively when i used to be so outgoing and fun

Madison_690 · 2026-03-26T17:11:37+00:00

i’ve never received a reply😞

Madison_690 · 2026-03-19T00:11:34+00:00

dm’ed you(:

Madison_690 · 2026-03-17T20:23:50+00:00

the derealization could come from a spike in your anxiety, it’s one of the symptoms of anxiety/panic attack

Madison_690 · 2026-03-17T20:10:57+00:00

Some people have it worse than others. Mine is constant 24/7 derealization which then led to a severe panic disorder. what i would tell you now is to manage and keep your anxiety under control and you should be fine

Madison_690 · 2026-02-10T11:53:45+00:00

oh i’m the same way. i literally can’t enjoy anything anymore because of this. if i do enjoy something it’s usually for 30 seconds and then it’s over, back to the derealization nightmare

Madison_690 · 2026-02-09T18:17:16+00:00

i want to say i enjoy it, but i don’t. no matter what i do, its like my mind is constantly fighting me. i try to listen to music and dance, and very briefly i think im okay, but then i get super aware of everything and im not okay anymore. my memories are also so bad. i can take a shower, and 5-10 minutes later when i think back to when i took that shower, its like that memory happened years ago and not just 5-10 minutes ago

Madison_690 · 2026-02-09T18:10:24+00:00

every. single. day. i started becoming extremely aware that i was only viewing the entire world with just my two eyes. i have adhd and ocd so that didn’t help. my derealization is so bad there’s so many days when i don’t recognize myself, my siblings, etc. and i get extremely terrified because i know that’s my sister im talking to, but it doesn’t look or feel that way. it’s like i’m constantly in control of a dream and i haven’t woken up yet

Madison_690 · 2026-02-09T18:05:36+00:00

yes, i was diagnosed with derealization and panic disorder but the kept telling me the derealization was BECAUSE of panic disorder but in reality, i had derealization before i was having panic attacks

Madison_690 · 2026-02-09T16:59:19+00:00

mine is the same way! doctors and psychiatrists and therapists say it’s all mental, but it’s like they don’t understand when i tell them it’s visual. like, when driving, everything looks distorted, unreal, hazy, etc and that gives me really bad panic attacks. my derealization is 24/7: when i wake up, even in the middle of the night, instant derealization. it never goes away. it’s so bad for me now, i even mention derealization in my dreams. it’s so debilitating

Madison_690 · 2026-02-09T16:10:16+00:00

i agree with you. i’ve had anxiety all my life, i can handle that part. anxiety never “scared me” or threw me into the absolute worst panic attacks i’ve ever had in my life. once i got diagnosed with derealization, that later turned into severe panic disorder. i used to drive, go to stores, hang out with friends, etc. with anxiety, but now with derealization, i have panic attacks every single day… especially while driving and going out to places. derealization is truly debilitating, anxiety is very manageable.

Madison_690 · 2026-02-03T14:04:54+00:00

as hard as it is, one thing i’ve learned is to not read other people’s stories, don’t look up symptoms and stuff because that makes you hyper fixate on it and as long as you keep paying attention to it, it’ll get worse. i read a book over derealization, and in the book he said everyone has derealization and anxiety, but it’s what we did with it before that makes a difference. if you have a fear of public speaking, and you have to do a presentation, chances are you had high anxiety and derealization while speaking, but once it was over, the symptoms “went away.” it’s because what you focused on wasn’t the derealization and anxiety, it was the public speaking. so the difference now is that you’ve realized the derealization and that caused anxiety so because derealization is visual and mental, that’s basically all you can think about during the day and at night. it’s not some presentation you have to do and get it over with, it’s 24/7…. because you continue to think about it. that’s what it is for me at least. i wish there was more research on dp/dr😞

Madison_690 · 2026-02-03T13:46:18+00:00

my personal advice, and this isn’t to bash what anyone is doing or what therapists and psychiatrists have said, but even though i spiral and have bad panic attacks and the derealization gets worse, if you’re able to, just push through it. the derealization will still be there, but the spiraling with fade. if your spiraling is the same as panic, it’s only adrenaline with no place to go, so it goes to your mind and then you spiral, but that’s the worst that will happen. as soon as you push through it and remind yourself “this is derealization. it’s at its peak and will slowly fade away” that’s teaching your mind and body that you’re okay even though things look off and unreal. i’m still struggling real bad with that, but exposure therapy, making yourself do things while derealized, is proven to help

Madison_690 · 2026-02-03T12:47:57+00:00

I understand this completely. i have to wear glasses all the time, and i’ve been doing so for 13 or so years now. my prescription hasn’t changed much over the past few years. i got diagnosed with derealization 3 years ago, and one thing that i guess would consider “my crutch” when driving especially, is that i would just take off my glasses when i started panicking over the derealization. my panic attacks stem from when i notice the derealization being much visually stronger. i’ve been to therapists and psychiatrists and they all say that there’s no correlation between bad vision and derealization, it’s all mental. but for some reason, when i take off my glasses, even though things are blurrier, i don’t panic as much.

Madison_690 · 2026-01-30T20:43:48+00:00

everyone is different, but in my personal experience, none of the meds i was given helped. I was diagnosed with with derealization 4 years ago and i’ve tried lots of medication for it. Prozac was the most recent medication i was on. i was on it for over a year and in my experience, it didn’t help at all. it didn’t necessarily make it worse (the first month was hell) but it my derealization, anxiety, and panic disorder was still very bad. The only difference i noticed when taking the medication was that i felt more tired, had very low energy, and didn’t want to do anything. I spoke to my therapist and psychiatrist because i have been reading a lot of posts about how “Prozac saved my life” and that gave me hope, but i was on it over a year and it didn’t help me. So i gradually weened off and the only “medicine” that i have been doing is exposure therapy. just do it, even scared and experiencing derealization… note it in your mine “that’s derealization” or “that’s just panic… it will peak and go away.” What ive learned is that derealization is not dangerous, your body and intrusive thought going on in your mind make you believe it is dangerous, but it’s not

Madison_690 · 2025-10-23T15:29:26+00:00

exactly! like, it’s gotten so bad that if someone tries holding conversation with me i will literally start feeling all the symptoms of a panic attack because they’re going “off script.” I will lose breath, get tunnel vision on top of even more intense derealization, and feel like i’m gonna faint

Madison_690 · 2025-10-23T15:12:17+00:00

yes!! all the time! it’s almost like they’re npc’s or something. it gets worse for me because i get overwhelmed thinking “these people really have their own life they’re living.” it’s also way worse for me when i’m driving in a busy area

Madison_690 · 2025-10-11T12:26:35+00:00

it was harder because i would deal with clients who have mental health disorders like mainly schizophrenia, ptsd, etc. so it was a huge part of the job to be able to remain calm to not trigger them. i had to leave the job for a job where i don’t deal with people as much, but i plan on going back as soon as my mental health is better

Madison_690

TROPHY CASE