Thanks, Jeepers, actually I think some cake would be lovely with my coffee just now - not onto the caffeinated stuff, I am cutting that down. Hello to shakey.
Thanks for sharing moopy; I want to respond as briefly as I can, as I have a tendency to write long posts and overshare 
. I also don't want to turn this into a 'what is derealisation/depersonalisation?' thread - I think that would be better placed elsewhere.
Nonetheless, from my understanding, such as it is, dissociation, of which DR/DP in various forms are part, is a spectrum of issues; DP/DR also co-exist or are triggered by other mental health conditions. That is to say, one person's experience of depersonalisation as a result or cause of anxiety would and could be different from another person who was experiencing dissociation as a result of trauma or abuse, for example. This is not to discount your experience or what you say, just that I personally would be really wary of making generalisations about what DR or DP is for individuals or what causes it.
There is an excellent book by Bessel van der Kolk, who is a psychiatrist working/specialising in trauma since the Vietnam War, called 'The Body Keeps the Score: mind, brain and body in the transformation of trauma', which goes into detail about dissociation in the context of anxiety, fear and panic, but then also dissociation as a result of trauma in a childhood abuse or PTSD context which shows the ways in which it affects the neurology of the brain in a different way from anxiety/fear responses. To respond to your 'normal' comment, van der Bolk does suggest that childhood trauma is by far and away the biggest public health issue unaddressed in mental health circles and society - and of course, childhood trauma is not the only cause of DR/DP - but that kind of 'normal' makes it very difficult for people who are affected to actually live 'normally'. It is great that you have recovered, but I would courteously suggest that your comments are misplaced here, if well-intentioned.
As to the van der Kolk book, it is helpful to me, because it relates childhood and adult trauma to dissociation, and experiences I connect with (although it is hard to read emotionally). I actually set it down just after Christmas, as it was too difficult too read, and looking at it now, I can see why - BUT the second part, which I am almost at, is about recovery, so I will persevere now. I have discussed some of the things in therapy since then, so probably good timing.