feelings of unreality.

[caz36caroline]

Hi all. Another question. Chris is getting episodes of feeling detached from reality which he is finding particularly disturbing. Does anyone else suffer from these feelings and if so how do you cope with them? Thanks in advance for any info. He is not on any meds at the moment only Beta Blockers.

 

[arnie]

I would say that feelings of unreality, or feeling detached from reality, are very common in people with epilepsy. Such feelings can be hard for us to explain but they are certainly there. In one of my poems I describe it as "a twisting of the now". Seizure activity, even very subtle activity, can alter your sense of time. After some of my seizures (complex partial is what I mostly have) I will have no idea what the day or date is. Looking at a calendar does no good because you have no reference point. I recently got a watch which constantly displays the day and date. That's been a big help, especially when I am writing up an order for a customer so I don't have to get out my cell phone to see what day it is, or worse yet, ask the customer!
As for coping with the actual feelings, I think it's just something you kind of get used to and find ways to compensate, if necessary. I hope that helps.

Onward!

 

[kirsten]

I have this problem and I have needed to find some way to make it easier in the moment. For me, the best thing is to sketch in detail everything that's around me. If I'm paying that much attention to the real world, it makes things tolerable.

 

[caz36caroline]

He has always suffered from anxiety and panic disorder along with OCD for as long as I have been with him (22 years) but he now doesn't seem to be able to differentiate between the panic he used to feel before his seizures and now.

 

[kirsten]

These psychiatric things tend to melt into the epilepsy and I'm not sure there's a way to stop that from happening other than to treat both the epilepsy and whatever psychiatric disorders exist. Think of it this way: If you remember when you were last happy because of an achievement, and when you were last happy because of a relationship, would you be able to tell the difference between those two feelings? I know that the epilepsy isn't quite the same thing but feelings will always feel like feelings, regardless of their cause. What I've found, though, is the fact that you can't always be clear about what's going on doesn't actually make either problem more difficult to treat--not in my experience. As long as you know there is panic disorder and OCD and epilepsy, all three things can be taken care of. There's no need to segment every emotional response into its labeled box because there will be plenty of OCD behaviour and panic disorder reactions that happen separately from the seizures to let you monitor what's happening on that front.

I hope I'm understanding what you said correctly--I'm not too sure I have.

 

[kirsten]

I just read your profile and have a better idea of what's going on. My psychiatrist believes that I have a slight case of PTSD over my first seizures, and that those following seem to trigger it. I don't like the PTSD label thrown around that easily but it does, at least, communicate that those first TC seizures are pretty terrifying for some. And disassociation is a natural response to an experience that's that scary. And disassociation makes you feel out of control, which has made me think, in the past, that I was going to bring on my own seizure. (So panic is not such an odd reaction after that.)