On Holiday - Derealisation/Detatched

[connordyer98]

Hey there!

So I've started my holiday with family in Yorkshire today, and the travel up the country from the island has gone really well compared to other holidays, which is a positive step for me!

But one problem I've faced for a long time is on and off sudden feelings of detachment or anxiety related derealisation. When I went for a health appointment with a psychiatrist, he said that this feeling is caused by a mix of my OCD, GAD. 

It just sucks that I'm in a beautiful place in the dales, but the feeling can make me feel uneasy. I treat it like other obsessions, with trying not to give it my attention; but it's always been one of the worst parts of my anxiety.

Any advice?

Thanks!  

[snowbear]

Hi connordyer98,

A holiday in the Yorkshire dales - lucky you! It's a lovely part of the world.  

Feeling as if you aren't part of things happening around you, or as if you (or they) aren't real is a defensive mechanism the brain sometimes uses to reduce intense anxiety.

You can treat it like an obsessive thought, pay it it no attention and carry on regardless until the feeling goes away by itself. Or accept the detached sensation is nothing more than a sign of anxiety (like noticing your palms are a bit damp) and shrug it off as unimportant. 

The fastest way to overcome it is to throw yourself into your holiday. To be so focused on what's happening around you that you haven't time to think about how you're feeling at all. Whether you choose to think of that as 'distracting yourself from the feeling' or as 'grabbing reality with both hands so you know you're fully a part of it' is up to you.