What causes hyper awareness of self and environment?

[justcurious2]

I have had periods of this my entire life but recently am on lamictal (a seizure medication) for depersonalization disorder. I have noticed in the past week that I have this super hyper awareness of my thoughts, my physical movements, my interaction with my environment and my environment. I guess the best way to describe it is that if I close my eyes and have a thought I go "woah I'm thinking. Holy crap. I have thoughts. Wait, whose thoughts are these anyways, am I me?" or if I walk into a new room I am like "WOAH! I'm in the kitchen! Woah there's the cabinet. HOLY CRAP I'M TOUCHING THE CABINET" or if I move I am like "WOAH MY HAND JUST MOVED!!!".

To say the least it is incredibly disturbing. I would say that it feels closest to paranoia but I'm not worried that someone is out to get me, just worried that this is a symptom of a serious mental disorder. It is so pronounced and scary that I am kind of paralyzed by it. I don't want to move or think or interact with the world around me because it's like everything is super intense and screaming at me.

Could this be a side effect of the lamictal (I know that it affects neurotransmitters) or could this be a symptom of a developing mental illness?

 

[rave]

i have had hyper awareness at random times throughout my life too. i'm really good at video games when i have this. i have really bad paranoia as well and blah blah blah. i KNOW i'm mentally ill. at times i'll be normal-calm. but i know when i'm going crazy. i know i am somewhat mentally insane. i am a hypochondriac and i think i have every illness. but it's been proven that i'm bipolar, and have just major mental issues. and yes, sometimes it can be really weird. i know how you feel with hyper awareness.

all the mental issues i have are from lead poisoning i got when i was a little girl. it was from lead paint in my grand parents house. all my sibling got it too and we are just a bunch of fucked up individuals. i am smart though, i know. but i'm limited by so many mental problems.

Lead poisoning (also known as plumbism, colica pictonium, saturnism, Devon colic, or painter's colic) is a medical condition caused by increased levels of the heavy metal lead in the body. Lead interferes with a variety of body processes and is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems. It interferes with the development of the nervous system and is therefore particularly toxic to children, causing potentially permanent learning and behavior disorders. Symptoms include abdominal pain, headache, anemia, irritability, and in severe cases seizures, coma, and death.

maybe you got lead poisoning at a point in your life, but no one ever noticed?