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Can't Stay In Reality

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Jennell

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I have a hard time staying in reality I just space out all of the time and I stay in my unconscious mind I tried everything from breathing techniques and sleeping but I feel like I'm just existing and not living I tried meditation and nothing seems to be working.i can't control it I just immediately go inside my head without reason,I can't feel anything I'm numb all of the time,sometimes when people are talking to me I space out and not say anything I need help.i feel like I'm losing my mind and that I can never come back to reality.help me please
 
How long has this been going on for?

Any medication changes lately (past 3mo)?

Struggling with depression at all?

What's your self care look like? (Eating, sleeping, exercising)
 
It's been going on for about a week and I'm not on any medication yes I'm struggling with depression I'm sleeping little to none I eat good I don't exercise that much
How long has this been going on for?

Any medication changes lately (past 3mo)?

Struggling with dep...
It's been going on fora out a week
 
So... Sleep Dep... (even without PTSD or depression) will cause both major disassociation & derealization (as well as hallucinations & anxiety & paranoia & emotional instability & time distortion...along with physical side effects; hot&cold, numbing, tingling, clumsiness, slowed reaction times, vision & hearing wonkiness, etc.). Life becomes extremely surreal during sleep deprivation. Doesn't matter how much you try and ground or use PTSD tricks on it, your brain is literally too tired to connect to the world around itself... And you'll be spending at least part of your time dreaming while awake. Whether that's pulled back from the world dreaming while awake, or your dreams super imposing on real life (hallucinations) really just depends.

Add in PTSD & depression... And you've got disassociation coming at you from 3 places.

In my experience... Until you hit at least two of the areas? The disassociation will drag on.

I think my worst was about 6mo. Most of the time, though -when bad-, it averages about a week.
 
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I second sleeping more. If you are having awful insomnia, at least lie down and practice breathing deep with your eyes closed in bed. Giving your brain a chance to reset might work wonders for you.
 
Feeling tired has absolutely nothing to do with sleep deprivation.

I can (and do) stay up for 72 hours feeling as wide awake & fresh as if I'd been sleeping 7 hours a night, every night, for years. My old work had to train us to both use that, and to account for it. Because after 24 hours? No matter how wide awake / not sleepy you feel? Your judgement and reactions will start to be impaired. Longer you're awake? The more impaired you're gonna be. Learning to operate in sleep dep is like learning to handle your drinking. Just because you're used to drinking? Doesn't mean you're not double the legal limit, or that your judgement and reactions aren't impaired. Your simply used to functioning while altered.

Another way to think of it is that anxiety produces chemicals that are what Meth & Coke & other stimulants replicate. New parents and other people who don't have the anxiety component, or emergency component, or drugs simulating/stimulated feel exhausted by sleep dep, more often than not. Chronic insomniacs, people suffering from anxiety, military & other emergency workers, drug users? They don't generally feel tired... Until the chemicals keeping their brain awake-awake-awake... wear off. Or they're so chronically sleep deprived that how tired they feel is now meaningless. Tired numbs out along with every other feeling.

Here's some plain English reading :)

http://www.livescience.com/52592-spooky-effects-sleep-deprivation.html

A single good nights sleep? Will do wonders. But you still won't be functioning 100% until you're getting regular sleep... For awhile. I forget the actual numbers. But I think it was something like 3-10 days, on average? But could run as much as several weeks to a few months for chronic conditions? Something like that.
 
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When I e gone through a few nights of hardly any sleep, I take what I call my "knock out pill" it's actually a Zopliclone, but it does the job!

When I eventually do wake up, I feel so much better. The doctor told me not to use them too often, as the body gets used to them, and the effects won't work as well?

He gives me seven of them at a time, and they have to last for two months, but I don't use them that often, yet.
 
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