Depersonalization and derealisation are two unpleasant symptoms that commonly arise with the onset of chronic anxiety or severe anxiety attack, also called a panic attack.
Due to the strange feelings that these symptoms incur, many people fear experiencing another episode.
Such fear is what fuels anxiety; and in turn, ongoing recurrence of anxiety and panic attacks further reinforce and pave way for the recurrence of these symptoms.
Furthermore, it is usual for people to have exaggerated interpretations of these symptoms, which renders them to feel as though depersonalization and derealisation are dangerous.
Various anxiety-ridden people have reported acute experiences of strangeness, which usually entails a detachment from the reality of themselves and their surroundings.
The episodes cause them to interpret the two symptoms as mental degradation or insanity.
The ironic part is: They completely relapse to a normal state once depersonalization, derealisation, and anxiety attacks fade; yet anxiety-ridden people continue to fear the said symptoms.
Fight or flight response As in most symptoms of anxiety, researchers claim that the feelings and experiences of unreality associated with both symptoms are due to the body's fight or flight response.
Because anxiety and panic attacks ensue when one irrationally senses danger, or a subjectively perceived threat, the body sets itself whether to "fight or to flee".
As a result, the protection mechanism usually involves concentrating the body's senses to intensely focus on the perceived threat.
Everything else may fade into the background, which renders the person's physicality and surroundings to become seemingly strange or unreal.
When a person's senses heighten during an anxiety attack, the effect also tends to fuel and exaggerate the person's feelings of unreality.
The cycle of fear For a person who feels anxious, he becomes significantly vulnerable to experiencing panic attacks.
This is because anxiety is marked by the person's fear of fear or his fear of another attack; thus, he is always on a constant state of worry and alertness towards when the next episode would occur.
This anticipation conditions his mind and body to actually give a reason for panic attacks to ensue.
A cycle of worry or anxiety is established.
Depersonalization and derealisation experiences, when occurring with anxiety responses and panic attack, are simultaneously thrown deep into the cycle.
Fear of another panic attack goes with the fear of another depersonalization and derealisation episode.
The habit of anticipation has been formed.
Fortunately, habits do not necessarily have to be vicious cycles.
People can break away from a habit.
Breaking the habit Because of the inextricable link between the three, eliminating depersonalization and derealisation involves elimination of anxiety and panic attacks.
This entails ceasing to fear "fear"; ceasing to fear another depersonalization and derealisation episode; ceasing to fear another panic attack; ceasing to fuel the three with constantly keeping the irrational fear alive.
Addressing the fear of one of these will aid the person in simultaneously addressing his fear of the other ones.
Eliminating depersonalization and derealisation effectively does not necessarily require the use of medications.
There are powerful techniques that may be easily availed that successfully address the roots of the problem - fear of another episode or the fear of "fear", and the brain activity associated with it.
With such appropriate treatment methods, eliminating depersonalization and derealisation will become a reality; more so, the person will also rid himself of anxiety disorder for good.