“The first time I experienced dissociation I had no idea what was happening to me. I sat on the couch with my boyfriend. He said something to me and when I looked at him, I didn't recognize his face.
I still knew it was him, but his features looked mangled and foreign. This face that I had looked at thousands of times now seemed strange.
Needless to say, I was terrified.”
― A Return to Self: Depersonalization and How to Overcome It
I still knew it was him, but his features looked mangled and foreign. This face that I had looked at thousands of times now seemed strange.
Needless to say, I was terrified.”
― A Return to Self: Depersonalization and How to Overcome It
“Every woman that finally figured out her worth, has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.”
―
―
“Louise often feels like part of her is "acting." At the same time , "there is another part 'inside' that is not connecting with the me that is talking to you," she says. When the depersonalization is at its most intense, she feels like she just doesn't exist. These experiences leave her confused about who she really is, and quite often, she feels like an "actress" or simply, "a fake.”
― Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self
― Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self
“Trapped within the confines of his mind, he is too aware of every thought passing through it, as if he were outside, looking in. At night he often lies awake ruminating endlessly about what’s wrong with him, about death, and about the meaning of existence itself. At times his arms and legs feel like they don’t belong with his body. But most of the time, his mind feels like it is operating apart from the body that contains it.”
― Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self
― Feeling Unreal: Depersonalization Disorder and the Loss of the Self
“As time goes by, especially in the last few years, I’ve lost the knack of being a person. I no longer know how one is supposed to be. And an entirely new kind of ‘solitude of not belonging’ has started invading me like ivy on a wall.”
― Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector
― Why This World: A Biography of Clarice Lispector
Fatema’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Fatema’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Fatema
Lists liked by Fatema

















