derealization
Reality feels fake
Derealization is a psychological state in which one's surroundings feel unreal, dreamlike, or distorted—as if the world has become a stage set or a film.
Objects may seem flat, colors muted, sounds muffled.
It often accompanies anxiety, trauma, or dissociative disorders, and can be triggered by stress, sleep deprivation, or certain drugs: During the panic attack, derealization set in and everything looked fake.
Distinguished from depersonalization, which involves feeling detached from oneself rather than from the external world.
Detachment from one's identity
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
- dissociativeCharacterized by mental detachment
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- panicUncontrollable sudden fear
symptom · diagnosis · psychiatric · disorder · DSM · comorbidity · chronic · acute
State of being isolated
- disconnectionState of being severed
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- isolationComplete separation from others
- unrealityQuality of being imaginary
otherworldly · ethereal · phantasmagoric · illusory · ghostly · eerie · hollowness · emptiness
Quality of being imaginary
- dreamlikeHazy and fantastical
- surrealDreamlike and strange
- foggyObscured by vapor
- hazyUnclear, indistinct
detached · numbness · distortion · unfamiliarity · strangeness · two-dimensional · flat · robotic
Lasting psychological wound
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- sleep deprivationInadequate rest condition
- substancePhysical material with mass
cannabis · psychedelics · fatigue · hyperventilation · migraine · seizure · PTSD · childhood
Twisting from original state
- alteredChanged from before
- sensoryRelated to perception
- visualOf or concerning sight
- auditoryOf or relating to hearing
time · space · depth · scale · proportion · familiar · recognition · environment
Treatment through guided conversation
- CBTPsychological treatment abbreviation
- groundingConnecting to earth
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- EMDRTrauma therapy using eye movements
medication · antidepressants · anxiolytics · therapy · coping · recovery · management · intervention
depersonalization
Detachment from one's identity
- dissociationMental separation from surroundings
- dissociativeCharacterized by mental detachment
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
panic · symptom · diagnosis · psychiatric · disorder · DSM · comorbidity · chronic · acute · episode
alienation
State of being isolated
- disconnectionState of being severed
- estrangementEmotional separation between people
- isolationComplete separation from others
unreality · otherworldly · ethereal · phantasmagoric · illusory · ghostly · eerie · hollowness · emptiness · automaticity
unreality
Quality of being imaginary
hazy · detached · numbness · distortion · unfamiliarity · strangeness · two-dimensional · flat · robotic · autopilot
trauma
Lasting psychological wound
- stressPressure, mental or vocal
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- sleep deprivationInadequate rest condition
substance · cannabis · psychedelics · fatigue · hyperventilation · migraine · seizure · PTSD · childhood · abuse
distortion
Twisting from original state
auditory · time · space · depth · scale · proportion · familiar · recognition · environment · surroundings
psychotherapy
Treatment through guided conversation
- CBTPsychological treatment abbreviation
- groundingConnecting to earth
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
EMDR · medication · antidepressants · anxiolytics · therapy · coping · recovery · management · intervention · stabilization
- Anxietyanxiety, nervousness, panic, worry, generalized anxiety
- Altered Realitydreams, illusions, visions, mirages, hallucinations
- altered statestrance, altered states, hallucination, altered perception, consciousness expansion
- panic attackspanic attack, panic, heart palpitations, palpitations, racing heart
- traumaabuse, abandonment, abandonment trauma, acute stress, amnesia
- Dissociationdissociation, depersonalization, multiple personality disorder, alter, alters
derealizationreality
What actually exists
realness · presence · groundedness · vividness · clarity
derealizationpresence
State of being somewhere
grounding · groundedness · feeling grounded · here and now · centering
derealizationintegration
Combining into a whole
coherence · connectedness · association · wholeness · mental clarity
real, realize, reality, unreal, realistic, realization, realism, realist, realness