Feeling Unreal

"Everything feels unreal to me, like a dream...I feel detached, like a stranger to myself." These are quotes from actual people, experiencing something they don't understand. What they are saying is being heard by friends, families, and physicians today more than ever before. They do not simply suffer from anxiety, or depression, and they are not schizophrenic. They have found themselves trapped in a very real and singular disorder, yet few even know its name. Their enigmatic state of mind has been studied for more than 100 years, but only recently has it become clear how prevalent and how distinctive it really is. The condition is called Depersonalization Disorder, and Feeling Unreal is the first book to reveal what it's all about. This important volume explores not only Depersonalization, but the philosophical and literary implications of selflessness as well, while providing the latest research, possible treatments, and ways to live and thrive when life seems "unreal." For those who still believe that such experiences are merely part of something else, that depersonalization is just a symptom and not a disorder in its own right, Feeling Unreal presents compelling evidence to the contrary. This book provides long-awaited answers for people suffering from Depersonalization Disorder and their loved ones, for mental health professionals, and for all students of the condition, while serving as a wake up call to the medical community at large.

Feeling Unreal is the first book to reveal what depersonalization disorder is all about. This important volume explores not only depersonalization, but the philosophical and literary implications of selflessness as well, while providing the latest research, possible treatments, and strategies for living and thriving when life seems 'unreal.' For those who still believe that such experiences are still a part of something else, that depersonalization is just a symptom and not a disorder in its own right, Feeling Unreal presents compelling evidence to the contrary. This book provides long-awaited answers for people suffering from depersonalization disorder and their loved ones, for mental health professionals, and for all students of the condition, while serving as a wake up call to the medical community at large.

Depersonalization is the third most common psychiatric symptom, yet few people even know its name. It can turn life into a nightmare of unreality and detachment from the normal sense of self. This book provides information on this symptom that is useful for patients and physician alike.

'The first of its kind, this self-help book will offer guidance, help and solace to the many sufferers of depersonalization disorder.' Daphne Simeon, Depersonalisation and Dissociation Program, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York Depersonalization disorder can make you feel detached from life and many people describe feeling 'emotionally numb', unreal or even as if their body doesn't belong to them. It can be a symptom of another problem such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and, particularly, of panic disorder, or of an illness like epilepsy or migraine. It can also occur in its own right and/or as a side effect of certain drugs. This self-help book, written by leading experts, will help you to understand what causes depersonalization disorder and what can keep it going, and will introduce you to effective strategies to overcome it: Based on clinically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques Clear and accessible step-by-step exercises and tools, including diary-keeping and problem-solving Overcoming self-help guides use clinically proven techniques to treat long-standing and disabling conditions, both psychological and physical. Many guides in the Overcoming series are recommended under the Reading Well Books on Prescription scheme. Series Editor: Professor Peter Cooper

When you have depersonalization disorder, nothing seems real. You may feel detached from reality, even from your own thoughts, as though you are going through the motions of living without ever being truly connected to your experiences. Whether your depersonalization developed after a traumatic experience or is something you've always lived with, this book can help you reconnect with life again. Overcoming Depersonalization Disorder can help you diagnose the type and degree of your depersonalization disorder, come to understand why it developed, and cope with your symptoms using practical skills drawn from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Ready to feel real again? Put the practical skills in this book to work in your life right now and start reintegrating yourself back into the world and reconnecting to your own vibrant thoughts and feelings.

This journalistic examination of depersonalization as a disorder and cultural phenomenon includes case histories, treatment, and literary and spiritual perspectives.

Feelings of Being is the first ever account of the nature, role and variety of 'existential feelings' in psychiatric illness and in everyday life. There is a great deal of current philosophical and scientific interest in emotional feelings. However, many of the feelings that people struggle to express in their everyday lives do not appear on standard lists of emotions. For example, there are feelings of unreality, surreality, unfamiliarity, estrangement, heightened existence, isolation, emptiness, belonging, significance, insignificance, and the list goes on. Ratcliffe refers to such feelings as 'existential' because they comprise a changeable sense of being part of a world In this book, Ratcliffe argues that existential feelings form a distinctive group by virtue of three characteristics: they are bodily feelings, they constitute ways of relating to the world as a whole, and they are responsible for our sense of reality. He explains how something can be a bodily feeling and, at the same time, a sense of reality and belonging. He then explores the role of altered feeling in psychiatric illness, showing how an account of existential feeling can help us to understand experiential changes that occur in a range of conditions, including depression, circumscribed delusions, depersonalisation and schizophrenia. The book also addresses the contribution made by existential feelings to religious experience and to philosophical thought.

Depersonalization Disorder is when a person experiences a feeling of being detached from life around them and sometimes emotionally numb. It is often a symptom of another disorder such as anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder and particularly panic disorder, or of an illness like epilepsy or migraine, but also occurs in its own right and among users of certain drugs. CBT is an effective treatment. PRAISE FOR THE SERIES: 'The best consumer-friendly CBT-based books&All are very thorough.' Observer 'The Overcoming series just keeps getting better and better.' The Psychologist