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Forum Name: Psychiatric Topics

Question: unreality - nothing feels real

rated_2006 - Wed Mar 14, 2007 8:34 am

age 26, no meds, male, no past diagnosis or surgeries. I am very lonely and miserable, but when people try and befriend me it does not seem real. I know what I want from life in my mind but the real world don't connect with it everything is like a dreamworld and feels unreal. I have no feelings towards people, no interest in jobs or anything, I wanna but the world feels unreal and I don't feel nothing. life feels like an existance when things happen to me good or bad, it don't seem real. the past feels like a dream, the present feels unreal, the future feels like it not there. it cant be normal to feel this way. how can I live a normal life if I cant feel nothing and everything feels like it is not happening. what happens today feels like it never happenned tomorrow

Dr. K. Eisele - Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:56 am

rated_2006: When did this begin, and did it start suddenly? Do you have any other symptoms, specifically those of suspiciousness? Is there anyone, such as your best friend, or favorite brother or sister, or other relative to whom you feel close? Quote: what happens today feels like it never happenned tomorrow Very interesting description... If you are having any feelings of killing yourself or anyone else, or have a plan to do so, please get help! Get yourself to safety--call 911 or go to the emergency room. You CAN feel better. I would hate for someone who can write so magnificently to be miserable or worse... If you have no thoughts of killing yourself, etc., then please call a psychiatrist as soon as possible. Good luck to you; I'd love to hear back from you.

rated_2006 - Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:15 pm

life has been like this for a along time, only now I questionning it. I thought I was suffering with some sort of Depression but I know its sometihing more serious than that but I just cannot express it to make anyone understand. I been to the doctors (cause I know that a normal person would go to the doctors)and even though the doctor does not seem real and the converstaion does not seem real, what happens at the doctors does not seem real. it like it someone else in my body talking and its just a blur and its like I putting on a act. when I look in the mirror I see a stranger. I cannot function in a normal way of life its very distressing cause I am normal to look at and talk normal when I need to but I know that something is wrong in a big way but its impossible to describe or express cause I appear so norma when I have to. I think this is going to be undetectable and I am very scared. cause I have expressed everything to the doctors but they seem to not really acknowledge it and don't see it as a big deal, I don't really know what is reality and what isnt reality, when I there it seems like a dream and its not really happening, but I trying to reach out. I told the doctors everything, but its hopeless, I even told them of thoughts of suicide, but they sent me packing and said I seem normal and talk well. it seems like I am the only one who can see whats happening and it is impossible to get it across to people.

Dr. K. Eisele - Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:06 am

rated_2006: I had a patient once, who came to me with a similar complaint and description. It occurred after he'd watched a movie, "The Matrix." That movie essentially rocked this guy's core, and he began to question the reality of literally everything. What came of it all was that he had been unhappy to begin with, for a long time. The movie played the role of a catalyst to send him over the edge, and I treated him for a "psychotic Depression." The standard of care for such a disorder is an Antidepressant and an Antipsychotic. The good news is that, most likely, the only medicine you may need long term is the Antidepressant. You somehow need to find a psychiatrist who will pay attention to your description. My suggestion is to find a young doctor still in a psychiatry residency program. The advantages are that they haven't had enough time to be tricked by those just wanting drugs too many times, so they are not jaded, and also that typically the young psychiatrist is very idealistic, and wants to cure the world of all its ills. Another thing I would have you try if you were my patient, is that I would have you connect one of the more concrete senses, such as taste, smell, or touch, to everyday experiences that have that unreal (or is it surreal?) feeling. Pay very close to any emotion that you may have. I get a sense of an incredible lack of emotion in you. You might be able to use this feeling if it becomes just a bit less severe, to get closer to your goals. At times when we are angry, for example, the feeling is often followed by a numbing of the emotions--like the emotions have been exhausted--during which some people have an augmented ability to concentrate. What I'm suggesting is that you are in a perpetual state of numbness as far as your emotions are concerned. Once you've been able to "harness" that numbness to achieve any progress toward your goals, you might find your emotions flooding back to you. Sometimes people have this kind of problem after a prolonged period of refusing to express their emotions. I wonder if that may be the cause of your problem. Again, good luck to you, and keep in touch.

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