Hey Jo! Just wanted to let you know that the feeling of depersonalization is very normal and it WILL NOT harm you in any way. Even people who do not suffer from anxiety get this feeling during stressful situations. It is excrutiatingly uncomfortable but it is not harmful. I get this feeling daily. For years and years and years. I have noticed that I get this feeling more when I am around people or are in a situation that makes me uncomfortable. When I get this feeling, the first thing I tell myself is that everything is ok because I have been through this a million times and nothing has ever come from it - nothing will happen this time either. I know this is just a symptom of the anxiety and nothing more and that helps me get through it. When you get on your flight, the most important thing to remember is that when you get the depersonalization feeling, nothing bad is going to happen. It just your minds way of dealing with the stressful situation. Tell yourself over and over that this is just anxiety and you have been through it many times before and that nothing happened then, which is proof nothing will happen now. You will get through it. It may be uncomfortable, but I promise you will get through it!!

Hi Jo, Thanks for sharing with us how you have been feeling. Paula's post explains very well the term depersonalization that you were inquiring about. Please be sure also though to discuss this term further with your health care provider for more information. Regarding your upcoming trip, being prepared will help. Use what you can from the program to help you with your preparations. You may want to keep a list handy of coping mechanisms to help you through should you start to notice any symptoms of anxiety (such as deep breathing and relaxation techniques). Maybe bring some items on the flight that may help you to relax, such as a book to read or crosswords to do, whatever you think may help to keep your mind occupied so that you can relax and overcome any feeling of panic. You mentioned that you have had a long flight before - draw strength from this experience that you can do it again. Focus on what you will gain from this "well earned" holiday. Take care, be sure to check in when you can to let us know how you are doing. Casey _____________________________________ The Panic Center Support Team

Dear Jo, I am so sorry to hear that you had to experience this. That feeling you described, where you feel like you are in a dream, or lost, I know that feeling well and I'm very afraid of it. It is one of the main reasons I don't leave my house. I'm so sorry you experienced it. I looked up "depersonalization" because I thought that "dream-state" and feeling lost, ect., were only part of my panic attacks. Here is what I found: "Sufferers of depersonalization feel divorced from both the world and from their own identity and physicality. Often times the person who has experienced depersonalization claims that life "feels like a movie, things seem unreal, or hazy." Also a recognition of self breaks down (hence the name). When a person suffers from the disorder (or the symptoms associated with it) he or she finds that when looking in the mirror, his or her face is not familiar, though logically he or she is completely aware of his or her identity. The feeling is said to be like being a ghost. No matter how hard the person tries, he/she cannot feel like they are genuinely interacting with the world. They can't seem to perceive themselves as being normal. While the person is struggling to feel everything as normal, there is a part of themself which begs to just give up and stop the struggling. A sufferer from depersonalization can be especially susceptible to suicide, undertaking the suicidal process calmly and easily without real awareness. Simply put, depersonalization is an alteration in the perception or experience of oneself, so that the self is felt to be unreal; the person feels detached from reality and/or their own body or mental processes. Another possible way to describe the actual physical manifestation of the feeling is to compare the very popular film technique called a Vertigo shot or Dolly Zoom. In this technique, the subject of the picture stays fixed on the shot while all the surrounding background is pulled away - providing a sense of vertigo or detatchment. People may perceive this feeling in a cyclical manner, where the feeling is experienced back-to-back-to-back in rapid or non-rapid succession." (Borrowed from wikipedia.org) I have suffered from this feeling and it is terrifying. If you'd ever like to talk, let me know a

I WENT TO HAIR DRESSER ON SATURDAY AND STARTED FEELING SHAKEY IN CARE AND NERVOUS I ALWAYS DO GOING TO HARIDRESSERS AS ITS THE SAME ONE AS MY MOTHER IN LAW GOES TO AND THEY KNOW US WELL AND AS SHE DOES NOT APPROVE OF ME I FEEL ANXIOUS GOING BUT HE DOES MY HAIR NICE, FELT AWFUL ALL THE TIME WAS IN THEIR THINKING I WAS GOING TO FAINT AND VERY DISTANCE HOPING HE WOULD HURRY AND STOP TALKING SO I COULD GET OUT (MY HUSBAND WAS WITH ME) I WAS FEELING VERY SHAKING THOUGHT I NEEDED SOME FOOD AS HAD NO LUNCH GOT HOME FEEL TOTALLY OUT OF IT AND DISTANCE, NOT WITH IT LIKE I WAS SOMEWHERE ELSE IN MY HEAD AND DREAMING I WAS SAT AT HOME FELT NUMB AND FAINT A BIT AS I NOT HAD ANYTHING LIKE THIS FOR A LONG TIME SO IT KIND ON NEW TO ME A BIT I GUESS (I THOUGHT MAYBE IT WAS THAT DEPERSONLIZATION IF SOMEONE CAN EXPLAIN THAT) NO MATTER WHAT I DID I COULD NOT SHIFT IT, EVENTUALLY WENT BUT LEFT ME DRAINED AND ANXIOUS, THEN TODAY I WAS ON MY WAY HOME WALKING THROUGH TOWN AND SUDDENLY FELT LIKE I WAS IN A STRANGE PLACE AND WOULD JUST KEEL OVER EVERYTHING SEEMED STRANGE AND ODD LIKE I WAS IN A DREAM NOT KNOWING WHERE I WAS BUT TRYING TO KEEP TALKING TO MYSELF SAYING IT BE OK JUST GET HOME. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO MENTION THAT I AM GOING ON A WELL EARNED HOLIDAY IN A COUPLD OF DAYS AND AM EXTREMLEY NERVOUS THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN OR I WILL HAVE A PAMIC ATTACK AND FEEL FAINT ON PLANE AS IT IS A LONG FLIGHT HAVE DONE A LONG FLIGHT FOR A LONG TIME AND AN NERVOUS FLYING IN GENERAL BUT WHAT WITH THE ANXIETY COULD IT BE THIS MAKING ME FELT SO ODD (I DO NOT HANDLE THIS VERY WELL YOU W OULD THINK AFTER THE YEARS I HAD IT I WOULD BE EXPERT BUT EVERYTIME IT FREAKS ME AND THE TEARS START.