Derealization is an alteration in the perception of the external world, causing those with the condition to perceive it as unreal, distant, distorted or in other words falsified.
[2][3] Derealization is a subjective experience pertaining to a person's perception of the outside world, while depersonalization is a related symptom characterized by dissociation towards one's own body and mental processes.
[5] Experiencing derealization for long periods of time or having recurring episodes can be indicative of many psychological disorders, and can cause significant distress.
In such cases it can build unnoticed along with the underlying anxiety attached to these disturbing thoughts, and be recognized only in the aftermath of a realization of crisis, often a panic attack, subsequently seeming difficult or impossible to ignore.
[5] The instances of recurring or chronic derealization among those who have experienced extreme trauma and/or have post-traumatic stress (PTSD) have been studied closely in many scientific studies, whose results indicate a strong link between the disorders, with a disproportionate amount of post traumatic stress patients reporting recurring feelings of derealization and depersonalization (up to 30% of those with the condition) in comparison to the general populace (only around 2%),[13] especially in those who experienced the trauma in childhood.
[14] These are factors proven to increase susceptibility to maladaptive psychological conditions, which of course includes dissociative disorders and subsequently derealization symptoms.
Some neurophysiological studies have noted disturbances arising from the frontal-temporal cortex, which could explain the correlation found between derealization symptoms and temporal lobe disorders.
[18] Cannabis,[19] psychedelics, dissociatives, antidepressants, caffeine, nitrous oxide, albuterol, and nicotine can all produce feelings of derealization, or sensations mimicking them,[20] particularly when taken in excess.
[22] Interoceptive exposure exercises have been used in research settings as a means to induce derealization, as well as the related phenomenon depersonalization, in people who are sensitive to high levels of anxiety.
[24] The protagonist of the 2017 video game Night in the Woods - Mae Borowski - is implied to experience derealization, seeing objects and people as "just shapes" and "just lines someone wrote".
In season 3, episode 3 of the Netflix series Evil, Ben Shakir is spontaneously diagnosed as being "Culturally Derealized" by the children of Kristen Bouchard.