Life doesn't feel real

[Mt563]

I'm not sure how to explain it. It often feels like life isn't real and also like there's a layer between me and other people. Or maybe I don't feel real?! It doesn't make making big decisions easier though because I worry I'm missing something. The sense has got more intense as I've got older, even maybe especially after kids.

It sounds like it might be disassociation. Have you had any big changes in your life that you've had to get used to? I'm wondering if sleep deprivation since having kids might also be contributing to the feeling?

Dissociation is what that sounds like to me. Are you an anxious person? Could you be depressed?

I have this. It can come in sharp acute bouts where I suddenly feel very separate from other people, like I am watching them through a layer, like you say, but not part of them. And I know they are living in a world I cannot get back to. It also dulls my emotions, so I can see say a beautiful flower but I can't experience it as beautiful.

At the moment I feel very separate from other people all the time. I don't feel part of the world other people are living in.

Both experiences are trauma responses.

Its really awful and I am sorry you are going through this too.