Article on Anxiety/Panic , Understanding Feelings Of Unreality
Posted: Sunday, April 23, 2006
by Paul David
anxietynomore
Firstly I would like to introduce myself. My name is Paul David and I suffered from every form of anxiety and panic for 10 years. My job is helping people around the world have a better understanding of the whole anxiety and panic condition. I studied this condition for years after my recovery and found that there were far too many people out there without the help and answers they required. My hope is to reach out to as many people as possible and help them understand, why they feel like they do and also to give people a plan for full recovery.
My recovery came because I was given a full understanding of my condition. This is the only way to recover in my opinion. When you know why you feel like you do this takes the whole fear out of your symptoms, it stops you going round in circles everyday trying to find answers to why you feel like you do. It gives your body the freedom to recover. Just like a broken leg or a cut your body is wanting and waiting to recover.
After my recovery I then went on to study the whole panic and anxiety subject in full, in this time I not only realised how much rubbish was spoken on the subject, I was also shocked to find out how many people actually suffered, I knew I was not alone but I could not believe how little information there is out there for a condition for which millions around the world suffer from.
The most common question I have been asked over the years is why do I feel so strange and detached from the outside world.
Here is a chapter from a book I wrote on the whole Anxiety/Panic subject.
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Depersonalisation
In the process of writing this book I covered the feeling of detachment from oneself, otherwise known as depersonalisation: an emotional disorder in which there is loss of contact with your own personal reality accompanied by feelings of unreality and strangeness, also a sensation of ones environment looking or feeling ‘strange’ and unusual.
This one question kept coming up more and more as I was writing this book, so I decided to add an extra chapter on this annoying, yet harmless, symptom.
D.P., as I will refer to it, is a common and understandable offshoot of the anxiety condition. I can also tell you that it is in no way a mental illness. It is not serious or harmful in any way and has a totally logical explanation. It is temporary and, with patience and understanding, eventually passes like any other symptom.
The key to recovering from this feeling of detachment is to surrender to this strange feeling, to pay it no respect and realise it is just the product of an over-tired mind, fatigued by your constant worrying thoughts and the constant checking in to how you feel. This symptom relies on your fear of it to keep it alive.
When people are caught up in the worry cycle, they begin to think deeply and constantly. They study themselves from deep within, checking in and focusing on their symptoms. They may even wake in the morning only to continue this habit, “How do I feel this morning? “I wonder if I will be able to get through today". What’s this new sensation I feel?" This may go on all day, exhausting their already tired mind further. This constant checking in and constant assessing of their symptoms then becomes a habit, but like all other habits this one can also be changed.
All this worry is bound to make your mind feel dull and unresponsive. Is it any wonder you have come to feel so distanced from your surroundings? Is it any wonder you find it so hard to concentrate? Some people, when studying for exams for hours on end, get to the point where they can no longer take information in, so they take a break and carry on the day after. For you, there are no breaks and no time outs.
As I have already mentioned earlier, your body has a safety mechanism that protects it from all this worry and slows the mind down to safeguard itself. It takes a step back from this onslaught, which can then produce your feelings of detachment and the world around you may become hazy or out of focus.
Once you understand this symptom as being caused by an over-tired mind, exhausted through worry, that you are not going mad and these feelings can’t harm you in any way, it makes sense. With the fear factor taken out of this symptom, it can start to hold less power over you and affect you less than it did before. Although still annoying, you now know why you feel these feelings. Once you learn to accept them and stop adding worrying thoughts to the mix, this is another symptom that you will be able to overcome in time. Taking a step back and giving up the worrying thoughts, gives your mind the chance to rest, rejuvenate and refresh.
When it happened to me, I recognised and understood what was causing it. I realised that I was checking in and worrying about it and I did fear this sensation, so I just stopped doing it. I also learnt to get busier and stop brooding on this and other symptoms. Being active gives you another focus. Having too much time on your hands can open the door to too much needless thinking. With less worry and fear of this harmless but upsetting symptom, I was eventually able to overcome it. It merely became a nuisance and because I knew the reason for its existence, it no longer held any power over me. When a worry or fear loses its importance, it loses its power and that is why it is essential to realise these symptoms are neither harmful nor serious. Gradually, without all the checking in and worrying, this symptom that so dominated my life began to diminish and eventually disappeared completely.
This symptom is like any other all symptoms are still being fuelled by your fear of them. As long as the fear continues, so will the symptoms. When we start to understand why we feel like we do, we automatically fear them less and they start to lose their edge and importance, this is when symptoms gradually start to fade.
For more information and a fuller understanding of your condition please visit http://www.anxietynomore.co.uk
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)After reading Mr David's article, I then went to have a look at his website which i found very informative, I then went on to buy At Last A Life, I could not put it down, it made so much sense after all these years. I would Highly recommend it. Thank
As a former anxiety/panic sufferer myself, I know exactly what Paul is talking about. His article and the book, At Last A Life (which I have reviewed), hit the nail right on the head. He discovered the solution much the same way I did. I highly recommend anyone troubled by anxiety and panic to visit this site, read the book.
Reading this was extremely reassuring. My mom spoke the same exact words to me, as this has happened to her before. It feels even better reading it from someone else. This is definitely the most horrible feeling there is and I feared it would never go away or that it was something serious, and I would constantly check in on my symptoms just as described here. And also just as described, when I stopped fearing it, I began to feel normal. I write this as I still have the feeling... Slowly but surely I feel my normal self beginning to come back... I can only imagine the poor souls who don't have this information... they must drive themselves into an actual mentally unstable person due not knowing how this little game works... Damn mind! Haha. :)
i have just had a quick browse on the anxiety no more website. Due to the fact that its after 3am and i can.t sleep because of this derealisation. I was looking on a support group website when i found the link. After reading this it has made me feel a little bit more at ease but i'm still struggling to sleep. This guy explains exactly how i feel! I will definately be buying this book. I am currently having counselling sessions and have recently seen a psycologist, neither have managed to explain my anxiety etc. to me over the space of a month as good as this guy just did... In roughly a minute!
Yes. I went on to read the book At Last A Life. It's a pity that this information wasn't available 30 years ago. Now I feel able to become a new person rather than the old me after a life time of suffering from anxiety and panic. Now at last I understand.
What a positive article. I went on to read the book At Last A Life. It's a pity that this information wasn't available 30 years ago. Now I feel able to become a new person rather than the old me after a life time of suffering from anxiety and panic. Now at last I understand.
Paul is one of the only ones I know who has been able to explain this information so well. His explanations make so much sense and are far better then anyone else has been able to tell me. I hope more people come across his book and website and learn the information he is providing. It will change a lot of lives.
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