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Return to campus sometimes comes with an unsettling sense of unreality
A psychiatrist who works with students found that our understanding of reality has been upended by the pandemic
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Return to campus sometimes comes with an unsettling sense of unreality
A psychiatrist who works with students found that our understanding of reality has been upended by the pandemic.
A psychiatrist who works with students found that our understanding of reality has been upended by the pandemic.
Health
Return to campus sometimes comes with an unsettling sense of unreality
By Doris Iarovici
Yesterday at 9:00 a.m. EST
The first-year student in my office was terrified. Here he was, finally living on the campus of the college he had dreamed of attending, and instead of joy, he experienced an unsettling sense of unreality.
FAQ: What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus
The world around him felt off; strange. Worse: He felt off, detached from himself. Too aware of everything he said and did, and at the same time, removed, not relating. The numbness and inability to connect had persisted over a couple of days, triggering panic.
How would he navigate the transition from high school to college if he could not connect? Was he losing his mind?
Derealization and depersonalization — the subjective experiences of unreality of either the outside world or of the self — are fairly common, usually transient phenomena. I am used to hearing about them from the young adults I treat as a college psychiatrist, although these complaints usually come up as side-notes rather than the presenting concern.
[Campus celebration and covid fear: Colleges reopen for a second fall under the pandemic shadow]
But the first week back in my campus office in Cambridge, Mass., this fall, after 18 months of virtual practice because of the pandemic, several students came to see me in crisis specifically because of these symptoms. I began to wonder if the return to school has upended our understanding of reality in new or particular ways.
{snip}
Doris Iarovici is a psychiatrist at Harvard University and the author of “Mental Health Issues and the University Student.”
Return to campus sometimes comes with an unsettling sense of unreality
By Doris Iarovici
Yesterday at 9:00 a.m. EST
The first-year student in my office was terrified. Here he was, finally living on the campus of the college he had dreamed of attending, and instead of joy, he experienced an unsettling sense of unreality.
FAQ: What to know about the omicron variant of the coronavirus
The world around him felt off; strange. Worse: He felt off, detached from himself. Too aware of everything he said and did, and at the same time, removed, not relating. The numbness and inability to connect had persisted over a couple of days, triggering panic.
How would he navigate the transition from high school to college if he could not connect? Was he losing his mind?
Derealization and depersonalization — the subjective experiences of unreality of either the outside world or of the self — are fairly common, usually transient phenomena. I am used to hearing about them from the young adults I treat as a college psychiatrist, although these complaints usually come up as side-notes rather than the presenting concern.
[Campus celebration and covid fear: Colleges reopen for a second fall under the pandemic shadow]
But the first week back in my campus office in Cambridge, Mass., this fall, after 18 months of virtual practice because of the pandemic, several students came to see me in crisis specifically because of these symptoms. I began to wonder if the return to school has upended our understanding of reality in new or particular ways.
{snip}
Doris Iarovici is a psychiatrist at Harvard University and the author of “Mental Health Issues and the University Student.”
