Does anxiety cause feelings of unreality?

Answer 1

Feelings of "unreality" are often called "derealization," "depersonalization," or "dissociation." This can be caused by a number of things, including depression, PTSD, anxiety, etc. A mental health professional can help determine the contributing factors and appropriate treatment. It can be helped. Although the list above are simply a list of "symptoms" inlcuding ncluding depression, PTSD, anxiety, etc., please keep in mind all that symptoms have a "cause" one cause that must be investigated and ruled out is tick borne diseases, including but not limited to Lyme Disease, Erhlichia, Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma, Q-fever and others. Ticks, fleas and other insects are all thought to be carriers. Many ticks and fleas are they size of the period at the end of this sentence and more than half of all people diagnosed with tick borne diseases do not recall a bite. Since Lyme has become the fastest growing infectious disease in the U.S. is not recognized by most doctor's, as the symptoms are vast and wide and it is thought by Lyme literate Md's that any and all psychiatric symptoms could be the root cause. Since mainstream lab testing used nationwide for Lyme Disease is not "diagnostic" by admission of the creator's of the test (Center for Disease Control) and Md's in all fields of medicine are not trained to recognize these diseases. A person experiencing these symptoms should visit Lyme Disease support forums and and ask for a referral to a Lyme Literate Md in their area. Blood testing is useless unless the sample is sent to a tick borne specialty lab, there are only a few across the U.S. the best known being Igenex. These disease can be misdiagnosed from anxiety disorders, mental illnesses of all kinds and simply must be further investigated for the cause and wise place to start is with tick borne pathogens. Symptoms list and information can be found at the following reputable websites: http://www.ilads.org/PsychiatristBrochure.pdf http://www.canlyme.com/patsymptoms.html http://www.ilads.org/basic.html http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/ http://www.truthaboutlymedisease.com/ http://www.lymeinfo.net/ A search at you tube for Lyme disease is also helpful as in the link here, http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=ZGQINypsf7g Lastly, it is been suggested and unlikely that the cause of these symptoms can be caused by the fluoroquinolone antibiotic group, cipro, levaquin and others. Although there are people that swear this is at the cause of their symptoms, many Md's do not find it likely and a long standing bacterial infection is more likely the root cause.

Answer 2

Well if you want a psychiatric answer, and without getting into ontology, reality is that which is provably true or, if not provably true, that which has been believed for so long and so persistently that it is generally treated as true.

One can prove for existence that the earth is round. Thus, the "earth is round is a statement" of reality. One cannot prove that re-incarnation by the mechanism of karma is true, but billions of people have believed it for thousands of years. Therefore, it might as well be true. In psychiatric terms, this makes it a statement of reality.

A "feeling of unreality" or what is clinically known as de-realization, describes certain neurological and psychological phenomena. An easy example would be "deja vu;" the perception that an event is recurring before your eyes exactly as it has occurred before. It may include more extreme senses of disorientation or depersonalization such as experiencing the feeling that you are somehow living out pre-scripted events with no actual control over them.

De-realization can be caused by neurological problems; migraines, head injuries and prodromal epilepsy are common neurological causes. It may accompany drug intoxication; THC and psychedelic drugs are leading culprits, but caffeine, nicotine and even anti-depressant drugs may cause symptoms. It may also appear as part of alcohol or benzodiazepine withdrawal.

Active insomnia, particularly when accompanied by high stress levels, is a significant cause. It is also seen in some personality disorders; Depersonalization Disorder, Boderline-Personality Disorder and Anxiety Disorder in particular. It also sometimes occurs in psychiatric disorders; Bipolar patients and Schizophrenics sometimes report the feeling. (Of course, as far as differential diagnosis goes, this is not a hallmark of either Bipolar disorder nor Schizophrenia, and a clinician would certainly be aware of other far more debilitating symptoms before he or she could assume a psychiatric cause).

Answer 3

Yes, the symptom is called "derealization". It is quite harmless and will go away after anxiety passes.