Before I start...
New here. Wasn't sure which Dissociative forum to post this in since my main problem is derealization, not so much depersonalization, though i know the two are often coexistent. I'm a 25 year old woman. Been struggling with SEVERE anxiety, panic, depression and derealization (the cause of the rest of them) the last five years. Currently on 10mgs of Celexa/day and 2-4mgs of Xanax/day. Don't ever have a day where I feel "okay" regardless of the medication. I live in AZ and don't have health insurance. It really f*cking sucks. I feel like I'm in a mental prison and I can't get help no matter what I do. Diets. Exercise. Self-help books. Medication. It's not working. It takes ALL my energy just to get through each damn day and I still can't function for sh*t.
Here we go...
My little epiphany about my Derealization and Dissociation:
I believe once a sense of stability hit me (when I moved out of my mom's at 20 years old), that's when the dissociation started. I was no longer fighting constant adversity and other people's battles. My brain didn't know what to do with itself. So it panicked. It spent so long consciously fighting that started subconsciously fighting even if appropriate antagonistic stimuli was not present. Worst part was, I spent my whole life thinking that I had TRULY overcome the adversity. Turns out, I had just suppressed it at a constant rate for far too long. It was all I knew. Now, I realize it was rather naive of me to think otherwise...that I would be unaffected by the trauma throughout my life. My brain was and still is just trying to defend me. The problem is: is doesn't know when to stop. THAT is my problem. Not sure where to go from here since there's little literature on super effective treatments for this. More like a bad switch in my brain that I conditioned myself, subconsciously to protect it.
Now what?