Is it normal to feel like a broken robot?

I keep having this fixation on a theme about a broken robot. I also feel like one, and have the strange sensation of internal, invisible scars on my body, or an amputation, or a part missing of me. I also feel like I'm not quite human, and detached from life and my body.

The theme/idea talks of a robot or cyborg desperately trying to fit into human society. They're changing their appearance, learning to act like people, but to no avail - there's still a strange robotic part of them that won't change no matter what. They grow depressed, bitter and resenting. They distance themselves from their body and workings of the mind. Eventually, they give up. They're now a broken thing, that they're still trying to strain and push to be different; but only halfheartedly. They accept the scars and amputations, but are still distant from the world and themselves.
This theme is always in my head, with the sensations, and whenever I feel it, this story pops up too. The sensation I have almost every day at some point.

Obviously the robot is a metaphor for how I feel, but why I feel this way is another question. I had a somewhat traumatic experience in grade school, perhaps that could have contributed to it. I don't remember or understand much from it, only that I felt very alienated and depressed.

I don't have any actual amputations, and not too many scars, and I'm most likely human.

How normal is this? What could I possibly do about it, regardless?

Voting Results
38% Normal
Based on 21 votes (8 yes)
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Comments ( 9 )
  • NotHumanAtAll

    Wow, this is one of the, if not the singular most relatable posts I have come across. Thanks for writing it. You said in words what Ive been experiencing for most of my life. Heck, its why my username is what it is.
    The solution that seems most obvious to me is really wholeheartedly integrating yourself into the lives of others and forgetting about yourself and the robot you imagine yourself to be. This of course is a lot easier said than done, but if you're motivated, which I am completely the opposite of, could work for you.

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  • RoseIsabella

    I'm sorry, but I am curious about the traumatic childhood event.

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    • Light-fingered

      As I said, I can't say exactly what was the problem; nothing too traumatizing happened, but it was a terrible time of my life anyway.
      I had recently switched schools, and although having done so many times before, I started hating this particular school and its people with a passion. It seemed to me a prison, and its students horrible beasts. I was depressed for some time. I guess I didn't have many friends, and I felt terribly alienated, but I just can't pinpoint the exact cause.

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      • RoseIsabella

        Sounds like enough of a cause to me. Maybe you have some PTSD as a result of those experiences?

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        • Light-fingered

          Maybe. But it wasn't a death or disaster. Granted, I don't remember many details, but I'm sure I didn't witness or experience anything like that. So I wonder what the problem was...

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          • RoseIsabella

            I respectfully suspect that you're in denial of said trauma's severity and effect on you and your life.

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