Not feeling present

[1sttimemummy2024]

I am a first time mum to a 4.5 month old. She's sleeping relatively well, however, I've not had a full night's sleep since she was born.

Lately I've been feeling strange - almost like I'm present in the room, baby class, driving etc but I question whether I am actually there. Its like life doesn't always feel real and it's starting to weird me out, especially when driving!

Keen to hear if anyone else has experienced anything similar and if so, how long did it last and what did you do to help the situation? Thanks!

Ive had a couple of mild spells of depression since having my first and this is one of my symptoms.

Glad to say that with a bit of support I quickly got back on track and the HV and GP were both very supportive.

Have a think about talking to PANDAS Foundation and your family this weekend and maybe your GP in the week

Yes, but I've had this since a teenager, whenever I'm sleep deprived. Probably most significant was when I was about 13 so when it happens as an adult I'm not so disconcerted. I think it's called dissociation. Was very much not present with my second child, im sure I had postnatal depression but didn't want to accept it and go through the process of talking to lots of different people like I had in the past. With my first I had anxiety and depression and when prescribed qutiapine it really helped me sleep and be more present.

Things I do now are activities to get me out of my head. With a baby, podcasts or audiobooks are great. Could also give grounding practices a go, eg stand on grass barefoot. From my experience I would not do mindfulness as I tried that but it made me feel very out of body experience that was scary.