Does anyone have depersonalization?

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Even just occasionally or Depersonalization Disorder? I've been looking for a comorbidity and haven't found one, but I think that some of the things I mistook for autism were actually DPD.

depersonalization disorder

sorry sunshine, but i can't say that i have had it per se, but there were transient feelings resembling it during stressful times in my life. i have read of soldiers in battle who sometimes recalled times when they felt as though they were outside of their bodies as they were "taking that hill." when i was in basic training there were brief "out-of-body" feelings as i was being worked-over by the drill instructors over this or that. the feelings were never long enough for me, though, little more than flashes.

This has been discussed here before at least once so there might be some useful information there. It will give you something to read while you wait for people to respond to this thread. Since posters come and go there might be information in the older thread that you would not get from current members.

Link (to older thread about this topic) is below
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I don't know if this is the same thing, but I am reading a book by Nick Dubin called Asperger Syndrome and Anxiety, and it mentions a comorbidity present in some aspies in which they find it difficult to form a clear sense of their own self; they feel that they cannot function independently of another person, such as a caregiver or parent, and they don't really know what their own personality is. He also talks about how to address this problem with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Thanks for the links and for the book suggestion. The book, Feeling Unreal, is what made me wonder if some of the things I'd mistaken (and various therapists had mistaken) for autism were really depersonalization. I mean, they'd mistaken depression for depersonalization.

Not diagnosed with it, but have had spells where reality didn't feel real, and/or I felt like I was sitting in the back of my own head, as if in a darkened movie theatre, looking through my eyes via the movie screen. Or something like that. A very numb, disconnected state. Strangely, it probably enhanced my ability to function, as I was tuning out huge amounts of stress and discomfort at the time. OTOH I think that's also what caused it. It was basically at my peak of "faking it" just before burning out. (Was physically ill too, and tuning out the discomfort of that, as well. I think was basically self-anesthesia.)

I can see people harming themselves to "feel the reality" when in such a state, though I instead found that large amounts of alcohol would break through it for some hours (I'd of course recommend not doing either). After that time I have had spells like that which have been a problem. It's been some years since a spell, now, but it was a problem in that I would become emotionally unable to respond/connect to anything. (not good for the few (er, one) friendships I had at the time)

I just looked at Depersonalisation Disorder in Wikipedia. No, I am afraid that doesn't seem to be the same thing as is described in the book I am reading. (Unless I just don't understand the way in which the condition manifests itself.) It is still a very helpful book on anxiety, though, and I say this in spite of the fact that I don't think the author really 'gets' the role of sensory problems in meltdowns. I find the rest of it very helpful, even the stuff about how hypervigilance contributes to meltdowns.

I know that feeling very well but don't experience it as much as I used to. I think meds made the difference. Sort of like those scenes in Being John Malcovitch.

I also get that, usually whenever I'm stressed out by sensory or social overload.

I often don't feel real. Or that everything else isn't.

DPD is a thing that's been mentioned by psychiatrists in my dealings with them.

I was diagnosed with DPD when I was 16, then diagnosed with AS at 21. I've had DPD since my twelfth birthday, however, I recently decided to let my psychiatrist give me pills, which I used to be against, and now I'm on a combination of Klonopin and Dextrine, which has been the only medication that has made my DPD at least 75% better.

Edit: Oh yeah, I also have really severe DP. Basically, the longest I've gone without DP in the past 10 years was 24 hours after I had my first intimate experience with someone a couple of years back. I rarely get flashes of true reality. I am in a constant state of DP. Kinda sucks. Got used to it.

Last edited by heliocopters on 20 Mar 2010, 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

I used to experience DP when I was really nervous and/or lacking sleep. Somehow I found what it was online and read an article about this being common in Aspies. I had no idea what an Aspie was back then although I suspected I had AS but I forgot the name of it. I did a lot of research on DIDs and found that 70% of Americans have experienced Depersonilization atleast once. Although I don't think I had DID, I experienced this a lot at one point. I think Depression and Anxiety were contributing factors. AS is hard in the teen years because of bullying and being isolated. I don't see how DPD could be misdxd as AS. Although it could make you appear aloof, it wouldn't really make you have bad social skills and obsessive interests, just to name a few. Most people with DPD are able to hide it pretty well when they need to.

I used to sometimes feel like people weren't real. I can remember when I was 6 and at school, and I started thinking how alien people looked (literally and nonliterally).

I was diagnosed with dissociative states which falls under this. Sometimes it's like I have two physical perspectives - maybe one hovering above me and the other in my body. A couple of times I've had much stronger episodes but it's been a while I think because my life is less stressful now. The disembodiment feeling can come from just talking about it.

I think it has its roots in exposure to some domestic violence and abuse as a small child. It wasn't directed at me, but I witnessed it between my parents and sometimes I was caught in the fray. To quote my therapist, "you know that's not normal, right?" (Referring to my parents' relationship).

I think I have had similar experiences to what you all are describing. Is it something to be concerned about, or is it just something weird?