Psychology says deep thinkers don't realize the reason they feel disconnected from their own life isn't depression - it's that observation became a shelter they forgot how to leave - Silicon Canals

"Most people assume chronic detachment means something is broken. The standard script runs something like this: if you feel numb, if the colours of your own life look muted, if you're watching yourself from across the room at your own dinner table, then something is wrong with your mood, your neurochemistry, your capacity for joy."

"The person who learned, very early, that thinking about an experience was safer than being inside it. The person whose nervous system decided, without consulting anyone, that the observation deck was warmer than the street."

"I spent most of my twenties analysing my own anxiety instead of feeling it, which, looking back, was its own ingenious form of anxiety."

Chronic detachment is frequently misinterpreted as depression or stress, but it can arise from a learned behavior of observing experiences instead of fully engaging in them. Many individuals, including the author, have experienced this disconnection, feeling as if they are watching their lives unfold from a distance. This coping mechanism can become so ingrained that it obscures the path to genuine emotional engagement. The narrative challenges conventional views on mental health, suggesting that not all detachment is indicative of a broken mood or neurochemistry.

Read at Silicon Canals