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I always feel that the world and myself aren't real. I don't feel that I am myself when I look in the mirror. Apparently this is depersonalization/derealization.
Also, if this is relevant, I have paranoid schizophrenia.
Is it normal to experience this?
These threads again.
I think I've had enough of these threads accusing me of not being real on IIN. Grow up. Someone seriously needs to put an end to this.
It's not normal in medical terms because it means there's something nasty going on in your head but since you have a good reason for it (the schizophrenia) then it's normal in your case. Most people don't experience it. I did when I was diagnosed with neurosis and depression but it was just a phase. At the same time people who lucid dream regularly may experience it at a daily basis as well.
I experience the world feeling unreal and me not looking like me in the mirror, and I lucid dream. How did you hear/read about the connection?
I can't tell you exactly where I've read or heard about that but it's a natural tendency if you focus on things that are unreal, like dreams. I used to spend a lot of time trying to empty my mind and prepare for a lucid dream, I only had a few and even from my own experience I can tell that the more you focus on the dream being realistic, the more you're likely to feel unreal in the actual real world, kinda like those two were overlapping. If you don't lucid dream on purpose, it could be a simple hormonal disbalance, easy to treat.
What about spending time reading books and watching films - I do both of these a lot. But perhaps a person with the kind of mind which can lucid dream will just naturally have a less solid feeling about reality.
It's normal for somebody with schizophrenia.
In a way you are noticing something many do not.
The world and you are real simply because you perceive it. Reality can be defined by shared perception, but even independent perception is real to the one who perceives it.
In a way we are just dreaming. Dreams are perception as well and are not much different from here even though the laws of physics are different between worlds.
Schizophrenia is like having extra senses most people do not. Sure it can cause some unsettling and confusing side effects but that is the burden that comes with it.