Hello all,

You'll have to excuse me if I ramble in this post, but this will be my first foray into examining my mental health online, and I feel like I must give you the full picture.

Around this time last year, I first experienced what I can only describe as "derealisation", a sort of perpetual brainfog or "waking dream" sensation. I can recall with perfect clarity the instance I noticed it for the first time: I was outside in the garden playing with my dog, and as I sat down in the grass to rest, I suddenly became aware of this feeling of not quite being there, as if there was something wrong with my eyes, or I couldn't "feel" correctly.

I still have it today, and some days I notice it more than others, but I've had it for so long that it almost feels normal. I feel disconnected from my surroundings, as if I am walking through some bizarre solipsist construct; that I struggle to focus, not visually, but mentally, as if I am looking at everything from behind a pane of clouded glass or cotton wool.

It's definitely not debilitating, but I feel as if the old me is dead and I am now simply an automaton going through the motions.

I've had this examined, too: about the first time I started experiencing it, my doctor chalked it down to hypochondria (another seriously major issue for me), especially because I knew the term "derealisation"; after a series of low points over the following months, in January, I was so convinced that I had a brain tumour that I opted for an MRI scan which revealed nothing but very mildly inflamed sphenoid sinuses, a diagnosis that every doctor since has dismissed unconcernedly. It is certainly true that I constantly have a blocked nose, ears that click when I swallow and oftentimes, a dull, non-specific (hardly painful) headache, but I can't imagine they could be responsible for something as intangible as a dissociative disorder.

After that, I went to two sessions of psychotherapy, but they weren't helpful. I was recommended relaxation techniques, and that was pretty much it.

So, that's my story. Does anyone else experience derealisation (as opposed to depersonalisation - I'm the one that feels real, everything else does not) and if they do, how have they coped or treated it? A cure would be good, too.