"Do you ever experience depersonalisation or derealisation?"

The truth is, I've been experiencing periods of depersonalisation and derealisation for years. It's just that I've only recently realised it's not "normal", after speaking to people who were baffled when I explained my tendency to "disconnect" from the world around me.

My understanding of these things is that they cause you to feel spaced out, or disconnected from the world around you.

It's been a while since I've recounted experiences like this, so I think it's time to go back to my roots a little. A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to go to London, a city I've been falling deeper in love with since my first trip when I was 16.

This was a trip I took in order to rebuild that love after it had been damaged by an incident at the end of my last trip, and it was incredible to fall in love with this magnificent city all over again. Say what you like about London; it may be grubby, but it's beautiful.

During one of the days that I jumped on the tube with my earphones in and got off at a random stop to explore, I noticed something didn't feel right. I was walking through the city, and I was seeing some incredible sights, but I wasn't fully immersed like I usually am. I felt as though I was behind a pane of glass. I was seeing everything, but I wasn't feeling any of it.

I lost a big chunk of the magic of that day to that feeling of disconnection. That is why I know that this isn't "normal", or "healthy". That's a day I'm never quite going to be able to get back.

In the past, derealisation hasn't bothered me. This is simply owing to the fact that I've never been in the middle of a week of independence and pushing my comfort zone when it's struck. Normally when it occurs, I'm just going about my day-to-day life, and it passes without having had an impact.

So whilst this has been going on for as long as I can remember, it's only now that it's become inconvenient.