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When life feels unreal

K

Kyl

Bluelighter
Joined
Jul 21, 2015
Messages
54
Does anybody ever have little moments where life and existence feel really strange and you're thinking "What on earth is this all about, what am I, why am I, and why is everything?" and your familiar surroundings feel, and look different. I get this feeling, I can induce the feeling by thinking about myself, and life too much in my mind. These moments don't last very long and I can shift them just as quickly as I induce them. But when I do feel that way, it's really freaky and weird, and scary in a way. It's like I can switch my mind onto a different level of conciousness.........but not for long.

Am I a total nutjob? Can anybody else identify with this?
 
You're not a nutjob and I think what you described is perfectly normal and quite common. There's even a name for it: derealization or depersonalization. Sometimes, most times even, the "what", "why", and "how" questions aren't important, all that matters is that "it" is.
 
Thank you for the reply. I looked into the depersonalization and derealization and they both perfectly fit how I'm feeling. Almost like a disassociation with myself and my surroundings. Is there anything I can do to reduce what is happening or get rid of it altogether?
 
Without knowing your personal history, it's difficult to say what you can do. Depersonalization/derealization often occurs as result of drug (ab)use, but it's not always the case. If you do take any drugs (recreational, pharmaceutical or anything in between) you could stop for at least a few weeks and see how you feel afterwards.

Otherwise, keep healthy in other areas of your life - make sure you're eating well, getting exercise and sleeping at least 6-8 hours a night. Be social, don't isolate yourself or dwell on the thoughts you're having. Is there anyone you trust who you can talk about these feelings with? Sometimes just having someone to listen can help you let go of whatever it is you're experiencing. You might also focus on a craft/hobby/something creative to take your mind off things. It may take some time to stop feeling the way you do, but know that it will go away eventually.
 
Grinders Kiefers said:
Without knowing your personal history, it's difficult to say what you can do. Depersonalization/derealization often occurs as result of drug (ab)use, but it's not always the case. If you do take any drugs (recreational, pharmaceutical or anything in between) you could stop for at least a few weeks and see how you feel afterwards.

Otherwise, keep healthy in other areas of your life - make sure you're eating well, getting exercise and sleeping at least 6-8 hours a night. Be social, don't isolate yourself or dwell on the thoughts you're having. Is there anyone you trust who you can talk about these feelings with? Sometimes just having someone to listen can help you let go of whatever it is you're experiencing. You might also focus on a craft/hobby/something creative to take your mind off things. It may take some time to stop feeling the way you do, but know that it will go away eventually.
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I have history with anxiety depression. It's actually been diagnosed by a doctor. I have chemical imbalance in the brain that causes it. I smoked weed every day for 7 months, used cocaine every weekend for 2 months, 1 acid trip, and 3 shroom trips. So there's my history with mental illness and drug use. However, I have been drug free for 3 months now. The depersonalization/derealization started 4 months ago. Kinda all started when I realized my own mortality and that I have to die one day which that freaks me out. And I also pretty much abandoned my christian religion as I don't know if God exists. I never deny the existence of God but it's hard for me to accept his existence. I like to think rationally and logically.
 
You know that it is also a very normal part of a thinking person's development to feel this way and ask those questions. Maybe you could try to see it differently for a while--not as a negative or scary state but as a questioning and open state. Sometimes we hold the very things that make us uncomfortable in place by how we view them. I think you sound like you are sensitive to your surroundings and to your thoughts and feelings and there is nothing wrong with that! Try taking a step back and observing your thoughts when you have the feelings of disconnection--see if by neither judging them good or bad they may have something to teach you about your own consciousness.<3
 
herbavore said:
You know that it is also a very normal part of a thinking person's development to feel this way and ask those questions. Maybe you could try to see it differently for a while--not as a negative or scary state but as a questioning and open state. Sometimes we hold the very things that make us uncomfortable in place by how we view them. I think you sound like you are sensitive to your surroundings and to your thoughts and feelings and there is nothing wrong with that! Try taking a step back and observing your thoughts when you have the feelings of disconnection--see if by neither judging them good or bad they may have something to teach you about your own consciousness.
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It happens a lot after episodes of trauma. After I was diagnosed with (a quite serious) illness a few years ago, there was about a three or four week period when I experienced derealization on a pretty strong level. I actually thought that I was living in a dream, and was disappointed every morning when I woke up to find that everything that had happened to me was happening in the real, material world. It was a very strange feeling and was extremely unpleasant.
 
There are a lot of reasons to experience what someone I know calls a "paradigm shift",including trauma, illness or even you add up a series of experiences. Unless it's really interfering with your functioning, you could just wait it out. I experienced it after an unexpected diagnosis-the episodes were quite short.
 
nmwfl said:
I remember having this a few months after I quit weed (daily). It's not happened much since tbh, and I'm 8 months sober. Everyone's different of cause. It's really great that your making this conscious decision at such an early stage in comparison to other drug users. All the best.
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Funny thing is, I started having these symptoms after I stopped smoking weed daily for 7 months.
 
Maybe the chemical balance in your brain represents your depression and is not the cause of it. You're depressed for a reason, don't start throwing yourself head first at willing retardation by saying that meanings and thoughts don't have a place in the way you feel and that it must be something chemical instead.

Things look and feel different because you're waking up to the fact that your perceptions of them were a bit unrealistically happy. That is a long hard road and many people end up with an "inner child" because part of them just can't cope with it. This isn't some happy fantasy land, we're all fucked. We live, we die. People pretend they live on through their children, they don't. They just die and end up damaging the life someone could've had from the get go. We eat things someone else murders to survive and get eaten in return -- there's no happiness to this vicious cycle, it is what it is. Nobody in this life is better off for any of it, we could just as well have not been born. What's unreal at this point is what you used to think it was -- that's the sales pitch that got all us idiots out the door to this place to begin with ;)
 
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