About a year ago I began suffering severe panic attacks. I had no idea as to what was happening to me. The fear that came along with my panic attacks was of the fear of ‘going crazy’. After months of suffering from the attacks I began to feel severe Derealization/Depersonalization.
(Derealization: A change in an individuals experience of the environment, where the world around them feels unreal and unfamiliar.)
(Depersonalisation: A change in an individuals self-awareness such that they feel detached from their own experience, with the self, the body and mind seeming alien.)
During this time I felt as if my whole life was a dream, everything that existed to me was just an illusion in my mind. Everyone I knew and loved were just identities my subconcious mind created. I was now desperately trying to answer philosophical questions such as “Who am I?” “What is reality?”. I could barely leave my house and my relationships with friends soon deteriorated. After a few months of continous suffering I visited a psychiatrist and was placed on the proper meds. I now feel completely better and connected.
My question is: Is it possible that Descartes and various philosophers dedicated their lives to answer philosophical questions because they had a degree of derealization which compelled them to try and answer some of life’s most important questions.
If anyone has experienced DR/DP I would be really interested to hear your experience.
that sounds like something i experienced in a restaurant once…
i was discussing philosophy with a couple of friends, i was in fact dead tired, and i’m sure this contributed to the feeling, but all of a sudden i felt like i was pulled away from reality, i don’t know, it felt crazy, it was like i was at the point of becoming a ghost or something…
very close to a panic, i started focussing on my girlfriend, which sat next to me, to sorta draw myself back into reality… i don’t know what happened, i only know what it felt like…
but anyway, it worked, and i slowly started feeling attached to the things around me again… i felt a bit shaky for a while, maybe five minutes, but we went seeing a film afterwards and no problem at all…
i think it was the first - so far the last too - time i experienced this, so strong anyway…
to answer your question; i think it’s possible, but i don’t know and i don’t think we’ll ever know, those guys are sorta dead eh…
It’s very interesting that someone mentioned it. but I think something of that sort happened to me a couple of months ago, although it wasn;t so strong, and long lasting, I was feelign I’ll go mad or I’ll die. I think I was very near death at that point. I was very undernourished, I had had the worst period of my life, and I didn;t eat properly, and the little amounts I ate I immediately burnt by stress. it occured more towards late afternoon and all evenings. so it looked like , in the morning I was completely ok, but as the evening came I was getting scared of the darkness and the overall atmosphere of the evening. I think all that experience was due to those physical condition, I didin;t feel weak though, as if without physical power, I had energy, but my mind was projecting appalling scenarios, I was scared I might kill someone without any reason, I was starting to be obsessed. it ended with my intake of sugars and food in general.
so I infer this experience may be induced by agressive attacks of stress, or tiredness.
I had 48 kilos then, now that I gained weight back, I’m ok.
I experienced the same thing. When I explained to my psychiatrist how horrified I was that I was obsessing that I might kill my own family for no reason he told me that was a key symptom of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (obsessive kind). Even though I loved my family and would never hurt anyone in my life I was obseesing and having mental pictures of killing my family. The feelings were stronger if I was left alone with my Aunt’s newborn baby. I would immediately leave the room in a panic. It was terrible.
were you maybe at that time maybe extremely exhausted? yes, I panicked too. because at the same tiem I knew it was dreadful even to think of that and the worst is you realize it and still, you cannot control yout mental processes. I resolved it by going to bed. if it is this Obbsessive Compulsive Disorder, does it mean we all have predisposition to it? it just awaits there to be stirred up by stress, tiredness, or am I psychopatic?, or?
because I take myself as perfectly normal and sane except this experience. I would never think something like that could happen so suudenly and quickly to one.