Magic Carpet Ride 101

Do you ever feel like you are living someone else's life? Like maybe you are just taking someone else's life out for a test drive and whatever happens to you within this life, ou will have the opportunity to erase it and have a do-over. Well that is how I have been feeling since the beginning of summer, like I am standing in the middle of a hallway stuck while everyone else is rushing by me (sort of what you would see in a movie or tv show to show time lapse) living their lives happily. Am I the only one who feels like this some times or may be all the time?

Obviously, I am not a licensed counselor or doctor so I am not sure if this is the correct word to describe this specific feeling but I came across the word "depersonalization" while I was aimlessly pinning away on Pinterest the other day. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word depersonalization is "marked by periods of feeling disconnected or detached from your body and thoughts. The disorder is described as feeling like you are observing yourself from outside your body or being in a dream." Now like I said earlier, I am not a licensed counselor so I am not diagnosing anyone who has experienced the same symptoms as me, I am simply sharing information I had stumbled upon (no pun intended) on Pinterest the other day.

Unfortunately nowadays, mental illness is viewed as a negative flaw, weakness, or excuse to play victim. I mean say the words out loud, "M-E-N-T-A-L I-L-L-N-E-S-S," now why would the word illness not convince people that someone who struggles with depression, anxiety, bipolar, depersonalization, etc that they are suffering just as much as someone who has been diagnosed with a medical illness like cancer or diabetes.

Do not mistake that statement as I am saying depression is just like cancer because I do not mean it like that at all. My father passed away from cancer in 2005 so I would never consider mental illness is the same as having cancer. Two completely different diseases!

Two different diseases yet both can lead to substance abuse a.k.a. addiction. And not just any kind of addiction, drug and alcohol addiction. You can't hide from it, you can try to avoid it, but eventually, if you keep hanging around it, it will swallow you whole. When you first hear the word addiction, I am sure the image that pops in your mind is 'a homeless person, dirty, sitting next to a dumpster with a needle in your arm or just holding up a sign "begging" for money." Well I hate to burst your bubble and expose Hollywood's obnoxious false perspective of addiction they portray in movies and television shows, but addiction isn't a 'black/white' situation, it is anything but simple. Most think the stereotype is young adults, usually under 30 years old, minority, uneducated and homeless and you can thank the media for such a lovely portrayal of someone is suffering in silence.