Question of the Week: Have You Experienced Depersonalization?

I experience Depersonalization quite frequently during panic attacks. It is one of the earliest signs of panic and will usually last through most of the attack. I describe it to my doctor as a "sense of unreality". It will sometimes appear suddenly and I will feel a quick flash of questioning where I am and what I am doing. There is some short of shift that takes place and I am quite aware that it is happening. It does not decrease the fear as I know that I will be okay, however, my body respones are screaming the opposite in terms of hyperventilation, racing heart, visual disturbances (sometimes with a brief loss of vision in a portion of one eye), and a burning, flushed face, neck, chest and arms. I once went through an entire attack in my doctors office and talked her through my symptoms. I told her I knew it would pass, but did not feel as if the conversation we were having was actually taking place with me being fully present.