Derealisation: What Exactly Is It?

You’re sitting in a room full of people and for some reason, you find yourself zoning out. Before you know it, the music playing in the background is just noise.

You’re watching a movie with the people you love. It’s your favourite genre- comedy- and you laugh throughout. But once you’re out of the hall, it takes you a while to get accustomed to the lights; not because your eyes are weak, but because it feels like you’re in a parallel universe away from the movie characters you had just started to identify with.

In class one day, your friends are talking about something really interesting, but even though you’re sitting right there, it seems like you’re planets away.

This is how it feels to live with derealisation. But what exactly is it?

Derealisation is seen as a dissociative disorder, quite similar but not the same as depersonalisation. While depersonalisation detaches us from the self, derealisation detaches you from your surroundings. People with derealisation tend to perceive the world they live in slightly differently as if it might be ‘fake’.

Derealisation is in fact very common, be it persistent or recurring. Unfortunately, not many people realise the gravity of the situation and may believe to be ‘zoning out’ and shrug it off. It is true that rare cases of derealisation are not something to worry about, however, if they occur more regularly, one is advised to visit a doctor.

One of the most common causes of derealisation is stress, something we all, unfortunately, face every day.

High levels of stress can make a person feel like the world around them is ‘too much’, causing them to dissociate from their surroundings thus starting a period of derealisation. Even though derealisation is not termed as a disorder until it persistently occurs, the effects it has on one’s personal life can make it very hard to function. It makes it difficult to concentrate on work, as one feels too overwhelmed to do anything.

Derealisation can be a symptom of various mental health disorders like anxiety, depression and borderline personality disorder or BPD. In such situations, patients may be prescribed medication to deal with the disorder.

Other than medication, another form of treatment, (in fact the most effective form according to many), is talking therapy. It helps in bringing out the root cause.

While anxiety could be a cause of derealisation, it is common for the opposite the take place as well, with derealisation causing anxiety. Unhappy with the situation they’re in, one may feel trapped, and unable to get out of the unintentional escape they’ve created for themselves. Feelings like these can further lead to issues in a social setting, where a person can no longer relate to the people around them because they’re just so far away from everything mentally.

It isn’t just this feeling of being on another plane that best describes derealisation, there are a number of other incidents that point to the disorder. One may feel like their senses aren’t working well enough. Time seems to go slower or faster and one finds it hard to cope with time changes. Questions like “Did I really sleep only for 15 minutes?” become common. The world around you may seem to go by in a blur and you may hold on to certain things in the form of pictures or videos, scared that you will forget them soon.

Another interesting occurrence caused by derealisation is vision impairment (in a sense). It may seemingly take more time than usual for your eyes to normalise when you enter a darker room. The world around you tends to seem fuzzy and blurry. Anatomically, your eyesight may be perfectly normal, however your mind perceives the surroundings in a blurry fashion. One may even feel different feelings when they’re in different lighting. For example, one may feel uncomfortable when the yellow light in their room is replaced with a blue one, making them feel like their world is ‘altered’, and as if their ‘safe place’ has been changed. Lights may also seem too dark or too bright.

While these aren’t the be all and end all of the symptoms of derealisation, they do come close to how it really feels.

What I want to touch upon is the fact that even though derealisation is very common, not many people realise that what they’re feeling is an actual disorder with a name attached to it. This is incredibly unfortunate and there is a rising need to deal with it at its onset since there is a rapid increase in the number of anxiety and depression cases taking place across the globe.“

“My go-to description of it is that it’s like being drunk all the time, but just without the fun tipsy side of it,” is how YouTuber, Dodie Clark describes it. She posts videos regarding her struggle with mental health issues and she openly discusses the topic of her journey with therapy and medication, across all of her social media platforms. She has done a video about derealisation that may help you learn more about it and to make you realise you’re not actually alone!

The bottom line is this: derealisation is very under-researched, lagging behind in awareness, and not talked about enough. Dissociative disorders can be extremely frightening and unnerving, which calls for its public discussion and awareness urgently.

Tania Bagchi