Derealisation in 17 yr old

[rainydogday]

Hi, my DD is soon to be 18. She has had a lot of input from CAMS at school for anxiety. She had CBT and they diagnosed her with Derealisation. She had lots of help and managed to cope better. I have noticed the last few weeks she has slipped again and tonight she said she has. We talked it out and she is going to do her meditation etc. I just wish I could make it better for her. She has got exams soon. She says things like ‘I can’t imagine my future’ then worries that she doesn’t have one as she may not be real. It’s so awful. She has a lovely
boyfriend and a few nice friends. She doesn’t drink, smoke, drink coffee or anything as she doesn’t want to trigger anything. She has an over riding fear that she is going to have psychosis, then goggles the hell out of it. When we talked it though rationally she knows that it’s the anxiety doing of this so she mustn’t feed it by reading silly stories online. Does anyone have any tips of how else I can support her? The GP has the CAMS report but now it will be steps to wellbeing as 18 soon. I could book her to be seen privately if needed. Any advice gratefully received !

There's a charity called Unreal, who run support groups via zoom for people with derealisation, if you think that may be of any use Book a Class — Unreal: Depersonalisation and Derealisation Support. I think she may have to be over 18 to join one of the groups, but it's a good resource to file away x

I have dissociation (depersonalisation mainly) from PTSD and the extreme anxiety from it. To be honest it was medication that helped me most, specifically escitalopram (Lexapro). That is just my experience. CBT helped too but I needed something to hit the anxiety on the head.