Reader’s Question

My symptoms all began one day when I was in the third grade. Since then I have had periodic incidents of what I can only describe as feeling “like I’m in a dream” or feeling as though the world is not real or that you don’t belong where you currently are and everyone and everything seems unreal or dreamlike for a few minutes.

Usually, these symptoms can be taken care of by taking a couple deep breaths, laying my head down, and closing my eyes for a few minutes. These kinds of incidents usually happen when I am in a place I have never been before and I am on my own, or when I concentrate too deeply on a single thing, or when I am very tired or lacking sleep.

Do I have a case of dissociation or derealization? How can it be prevented? Also, I have never had any very traumatic incidents in my childhood or my life, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have any mental/nervous disorders.

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

The symptom of unreality (also sometimes accompanied by derealization or depersonalization), is most often a manifestation of anxiety. So, it’s not so unusual that you report having such a symptom when you are in a place you’ve never been before and on your own.

Although sometimes quite distressing, the symptoms of anxiety are quite harmless. Nonetheless, it’s not uncommon for folks experiencing anxiety to attach some sense of danger to the symptom, which only makes the symptom more intense and makes the anxiety cycle intensify.

People can learn to “desensitize” themselves to the symptoms of anxiety by paying them little regard and accepting the anxiety that underlies the symptom. They can also examine their self-talk for anxiety-fueling statements and change those thoughts to more secure thoughts.

Although you might not have significant trauma in your history or a history of mental conditions of any kind, that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t experience some situational anxiety. And whether or not you seek professional help to deal with it, you can rest assured that most anxiety-related problems can be readily and effectively dealt with.