Symptoms felt by people with depersonalization disorder can be numerous and varied. The
following provides a list of the most common symptoms reported by people suffering from a
depersonalization episode:
Most common symptoms:
• Viewing the world through a distorted lens
• A timewarp feeling
• Seeing the world as strange or unfamiliar
• A weird feeling of detachment from external world
• A distorted visual quality of the surroundings
• Seeing the world through a veil, television screen or bottle
• Difficulty of concentration
Symptoms exerpeinced by people in their own words:
• Viewing the world through a distorted lens
by clashcity19
“These symptoms of derealization came because I have felt panic attacks for two years now. It
felt as if seeing the world through a fish eye lens. The sounds I hear were much louder and
them seem to just blend all together. It was scary, strange, chaotic, foreign and strange.”
• A timewarp feeling
by dollybee
“It was a dizzy feeling and felt like I was moving through a time warp or something similar.”
• Seeing the world as strange or unfamiliar
by anon253391
“My derealization experience is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. I was
16 years old at the time of the first attack and it arrived when I was sitting there during
math class. I was just sitting there and doing my seat work when all of a sudden, I
looked up and suddenly it felt like I was in a different world. Everything looked strange
and unreal.”
• A weird feeling of detachment from external world
By manykitties2
“After a semester of getting only barely 3 to 4 hours of sleep a night, I began to
experience symptoms of derealisation. I felt really sick and it looks like everything is so
blurred, distorted and felt so far away from me.”
• A distorted visual quality of the surroundings
by Itsalmahurrr
“When you look at things around you, you will know that it does not match up to the
reality that you are familiar with. Everything is literally brighter and more vivid. You notice
everything in detail, and it makes you uncomfortable inside. You feel things, it's sharper.
You see people, it moves so much faster. It is a scary feeling because you are coherent
and you understand things, you know you are not going crazy. It’s just that the way you
see things is much sharper and in a different light than other people.”
• Seeing the world through a veil, television screen or bottle
By Natasha1981
“It felt like looking at the world through a veil, things had a sort of cartoonish feel to it. I
believe a derealization experience makes me look at things with an extra sharp vision
but it was a different and weird feeling.”
• Difficulty of concentration
by DaneHall
“DR was a difficult thing for me. I noticed that my concentration and memory abilities
have been affected. Too often, I need to reread sentences a few times over in order to
understand them. When talking, my words would sometimes get jumbled up. I am
always distracted by the anxiety that I feel. I feel like I am too focused on my anxiety and
this in turn creates more DR symptoms.
Tags:
Derealization symptoms, derealization feelings