Definition: A feeling or perception that one's environment is unreal, strange, or unfamiliar. With panic disorder, derealization is one possible symptom of a panic attack.
Derealization also may be a symptom of ongoing anxiety, and so may last longer than the duration of a panic attack in a person with panic disorder.
People with panic disorder frequently describe derealization as a dreamlike feeling, or a feeling of spaciness or of being in a fog.
Derealization is not the same as depersonalization, when a person feels detached from himself.
