- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I second the advice from PeggySantiago: remind yourself that you’ve felt this way before and it’s also gone away before. There’s no reason to think it won’t eventually go away again. Breath and find ways to ground yourself. There are lots of great mindfulness techniques for simply getting into your body and paying attention to your sensations and that can help bring you back down to earth or at the very least stay a little calmer in the midst of the depersonalization storm.
- Date posted
- 5y
thank you all greatly for your help, and I send all my love to y’all as well! watching painting videos now to ground myself. I will take all your comments into consideration: I learned I definitely catastrophize situations and think I will never go back to feeling “normal”! but I’m trying to remain positive and, like you said, remind myself that there will be good times too. again, I appreciate it. be good to yourselves friends :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes, I watch Bob Ross and he helps with my anxiety and spirals SO much!!
- Date posted
- 5y
@kittie what a calming man!!! sometimes he makes me want to cry because of how sweet he is lmao (I’m such a crier !!!!)
- Date posted
- 5y
I just talked to my bf about something like this the other day— I get depersonalization and derealization sometimes and I get all existential about it! I told my bf about these thoughts and he was actually so understanding about it and talked me through it. He said: whether it’s real or not doesn’t matter, because you have to experience it anyway. So just be in the moment! Sending love, if you need help pls don’t hesitate to reach out <3
- Date posted
- 5y
I find that it helps me sometimes to remind myself of other times I felt (in your case depersonalization) a certain way and got through. Everything passes, it's just a matter of waiting it out sometimes. I know this can be very challenging. Much love to you! ♥️
- Date posted
- 5y
*now, not new! sorry folks!
- Date posted
- 5y
Sometimes I’ll be at work and I’ll have a thought that tells me “none of this is real, reality is an illusion,” and it sends me into full blown panic mode :\ I also get a weird feeling that reality is a “curtain” that I can rip through, and then my brain feels really 2 dimensional for a while, if that makes sense. I hate it ?
- Date posted
- 5y
that’s exactly how I feel sometimes! that is one of the reasons I feel much calmer about it: I know that these are just OCD thoughts in a different theme. I often catch myself throwing myself into dissociative states just because I’m questioning if I’m real/if I’m feeling the “correct” things/etc. So I’ve been trying to work on just acknowledging the thoughts and not engaging... That’s what causes the panic, which then sends me into actual depersonalization. it’s been getting better recently, but the past couple days have been rough (hence my post)! however, as I know it’s gotten better for me, I know it will for you too!!!! I hope that won’t feed a compulsion, btw!! I haven’t really recognized my mental patterns as OCD until recently, so I’m learning too. best of luck!
- Date posted
- 5y
@jessicabellomy I’m glad it’s getting better for you! Honestly making jokes about it is what’s helping me cope with the thoughts, like when I feel like I’m dissociating I just announce that I’m “transcending,” because that’s what it feels like ? my dissociation lately has been really rough and it’s actually making me feel like I have DID or am developing schizophrenia :\
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 20w
Hi guys! I’m new to the community and I’ve recently received my OCD diagnosis (tho I’ve known about it since childhood). I’ve been somewhat spiraling lately as I wait for my first ERP session (hooray!) I was just wondering if any of you guys have received ERP for existential OCD and if it was successful? My existential OCD compulsions are more so mental and have been affecting me in the sense of dream/memory flashbacks and giving me a sort of “uncanny” feeling about everything around me. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you❤️
- Date posted
- 17w
Lately, I’ve been feeling so disconnected from my boyfriend, and I don’t understand why. When I look at him, it feels like I’m looking at a stranger, and my mind keeps telling me that I don’t like him, that I never really loved him, or that I was just attached and comfortable. It feels real, and that terrifies me. I know logically that ROCD makes me overanalyze every little feeling, but it doesn’t make this any easier. I keep waiting to feel something—love, excitement, even relief—but instead, I just feel numb and distant. When we talk, I feel weird. When he kisses me, I don’t feel much. I keep thinking, ‘If I really loved him, wouldn’t I feel something?’ And the fact that I don’t just fuels my anxiety even more. It scares me that I can’t remember how I felt before ROCD took over. I look at old pictures, and my brain tells me, ‘That wasn’t real, you were just excited to have a relationship.’ And because I can’t access those feelings right now, it makes me doubt everything even more. I also feel guilty because my boyfriend is so loving and patient, but I feel like I’m hurting him. He tells me he doesn’t feel loved by me anymore, and I hate that I can’t just snap out of this and be the way I was before. It’s exhausting. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I keep checking how I feel every second, and it just makes me feel worse. I know that’s a compulsion, but it’s so hard to stop. I keep searching for certainty, but no answer satisfies me. Even when I try to accept the uncertainty, my mind screams, ‘But what if you don’t love him? What if you’re just lying to yourself?’ I want to be present with him. I want to feel love naturally again. But I don’t know how to get there, and it’s terrifying.”
- Date posted
- 17w
Does anyone else struggle with object permanence in relationships? Like whenever my partner is out of the house I immediately think negatively or I find things wrong with the relationship or him… For background my partner and I always fight over chores (I know it’s common but it’s annoying) I definitely pull more weight than him and I think he has ADHD, which makes him struggle to help and be aware of helping. Lately we’ve been somewhat good with splitting meals and dishes whatever, I know it can change with work stress, fatigue whatever. But last week my partner was out of the house watching his uncle’s dog so he was barely home. He was sleeping over at his uncles house and would come home for meals sometimes and stuff like that. I started becoming super fixated on him not helping with the dishes before he left and would constantly feel urges to yell about it. Even though the week prior everything was good when it came to that (sometimes with my ROCD I’ll even question myself and be like was it?) so I have started 4 separate fights arguing about dishes and chores and mentioning that he doesn’t help enough and if this continues I’ll have to leave… it’s so hard for me to snap out of it and just realize that he was going back and forth and didn’t think to help because he was busy with helping his uncle. And then I get such a negative view of him in my head that I nitpick his appearance, I make comments, etc, because my underlying fear is he doesn’t care to help, he will never change, and we will fail. So it’s almost like I’m looking to have a reason to run before I actually need to? It’s a constant cycle for me and I’m truly so exhausted by myself. But also relationships are so hard for me because I struggled SO much with trying to depend on others that I almost don’t let myself depend on others…. Any advice is appreciated but also just like do you also experience this? Thank you & pls be kind 🥺🥺🥺
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