Feeling on autopilot?

[matcha]

Hi guys, sorry I'm not sure where to put this under, so in the end I chose this thread because I'm more prone towards bouts of panic attack so it's more relevant.

At times I'd suddenly feel extremely out of it? I could be fine before, interacting with people in the place where I work, and suddenly I get this overwhelming sense of... Autopilot-ness. I feel like I'm here but I'm not here? I could be talking but it's not really me. And worse of all my touch sense kinda diminishes. I can't really feel 100% if someone touches me, but rather maybe 50%? And since this has happened before I know I'll end up hurting myself and not feel the full extent of what I'm supposed to feel.

Any advice on snapping myself out?

[Ironman]

Hi guys, sorry I'm not sure where to put this under, so in the end I chose this thread because I'm more prone towards bouts of panic attack so it's more relevant.

At times I'd suddenly feel extremely out of it? I could be fine before, interacting with people in the place where I work, and suddenly I get this overwhelming sense of... Autopilot-ness. I feel like I'm here but I'm not here? I could be talking but it's not really me. And worse of all my touch sense kinda diminishes. I can't really feel 100% if someone touches me, but rather maybe 50%? And since this has happened before I know I'll end up hurting myself and not feel the full extent of what I'm supposed to feel.

Any advice on snapping myself out?

Derealization - the mind is racing faster than the body, so the spacey feelings occur. The thing to do, first, is work your way through the derealization....try to slow down your thinking by being a nit more aware of your surroundings rather than drift. It is hard to do at first, but learning to focus can break the derealization.

[London28]

yeah, derealization sucks.. i never used to have it, i only used to have panic and a pounding heart...now that i dont panic about symptoms my mind goes really strange some days and foggy i hate it....its always moving from symptom to symptom.

[InvisibleGuy]

Derealization - the mind is racing faster than the body, so the spacey feelings occur. The thing to do, first, is work your way through the derealization....try to slow down your thinking by being a nit more aware of your surroundings rather than drift. It is hard to do at first, but learning to focus can break the derealization.

This ^

I used to get this in a pretty bad way. It was sort of my brain's way of checking out of certain situations...sometimes I didn't feel like I was really all "there", and felt really detached....but much worse, much more intense than just detached or withdrawn. It still happens to me sometimes but is much more rare than it used to be. Meds have helped me a lot. I have as-needed anti-anxiety meds for when I know I'm going to be in a stressful or triggering situation (Baclofen and Gabapentin) and they help me tremendously. I've also learned through practice how to calm myself when I feel that coming on, how to slow my breathing down and take deep breaths. Breathing has a lot to do with it for me. And I've learned to try to recognize when I start having negative self-talk, and that helps because that's a trigger for me.

[Ironman]

This ^

I used to get this in a pretty bad way. It was sort of my brain's way of checking out of certain situations...sometimes I didn't feel like I was really all "there", and felt really detached....but much worse, much more intense than just detached or withdrawn. It still happens to me sometimes but is much more rare than it used to be. Meds have helped me a lot. I have as-needed anti-anxiety meds for when I know I'm going to be in a stressful or triggering situation (Baclofen and Gabapentin) and they help me tremendously. I've also learned through practice how to calm myself when I feel that coming on, how to slow my breathing down and take deep breaths. Breathing has a lot to do with it for me. And I've learned to try to recognize when I start having negative self-talk, and that helps because that's a trigger for me.

Correct - and knowing what can trigger it helps, too. Remember....a lot of this is out of our own fear of handling things.....like a merry-go-round going to fast. Once you grab a handle, you can sow it down, and find that we have been overreacting the whole time.

[London28]

Correct - and knowing what can trigger it helps, too. Remember....a lot of this is out of our own fear of handling things.....like a merry-go-round going to fast. Once you grab a handle, you can sow it down, and find that we have been overreacting the whole time.

good post..exactly.