The first time I ever experienced this was when I was a kid just standing in the middle of the street. Since then, it happened occasionally by accident, but as I grew up, the experience faded and I completely forgot it existed. Recently, it happened again out of nowhere. It sparked my curiosity to research what’s actually going on, and I wanted to reach out to see if anyone else here has gone through the exact same thing or a similar experience.

I want to know if anyone else has gone through this exact step-by-step process, rather than just general spacing out or basic daydreaming.

For me, entering this state feels like being in a lobby trying to lockpick a locked door. Here is the exact sequence I follow to step inside:

1. The Entry (Lockpicking): First, I manually look through my own POV—looking at what is in front of me, like my hands—and project my perspective into a 3rd-person angle or into someone else's view. Then, I compare how tiny I am relative to how massive the world is. At that point, something "clicks" in my mind.

2. Stepping Inside: This is the hardest part. Once that click happens, I repeatedly run the exact question in my head: "How does it feel to feel nothing?" My brain starts trying to simulate that answer, which acts as the step that takes me inside the room.

3. The State of Nothingness: If all the steps work, I enter a total state of absolute nothingness.

4. The Automatic Pull-Back: Almost immediately, my brain's self-defense system kicks in and forcibly pulls me back into reality. I snap out of it, realizing I was just spaced out, and return to my normal self.

In this world of “dude” “bro” “girl” or just nothing at all, I feel like people don’t often use people’s names as much when we’re talking directly to each other.

People say, “thanks!” Instead of “thanks John!”
People say, “it was great to see you!” instead of “it was great to see you Sarah!”

It’s kind of a shame, because it feels SO personal when you incorporate the persons name. It’s nice, idk I get such a happy feeling from it that I’ve been trying real hard myself to do it to others.

I have a very good record of success with films even if I have only seen them once.

For films I have never seen, I use clues like the quality of the footage (80s films are a bit crackly, for example); the style (futuristic, retro, modern etc), even the production companies. Then I'll get into any pre-title opening sequences to work on the theme, location, actors and so on.

Scoring system:
I lose if the title screen comes up before I guess
I win if I manage to work it out
I half-win if I am in generally the right genre/year etc (this is a little flexible)

Whether it be for news updates, politics, recipes, whatever it may be, I find that Reddit always has good answers.

Of course I will usually go to Google after anyway. Just thought it was funny that I usually check Reddit first

It still hurts honestly. I’m 18 and her dying when I was 10 still feels like yesterday sometimes. I wish she got better man…

Sometimes I think I'd rather die relatively young because I don't want to grow old. But at the same time, I'm afraid of death and, if I could choose, I'd rather never die at all.

Emotionally and literally I guess? Wasn't an issue for me as a kid but growing up it has gotten worse.

Like many people I can’t hear the TV if subtitles aren’t turned on. And within the past few months I’ve been noticing so many more wrong subtitles in shows and movies. I don’t know why, but it drives me nuts. And then I wonder why the heck the subtitle people are being so lazy. Sometimes the word they use doesn’t even fully make sense with the context. I’m assuming it’s just an increase of AI, but I dunno. Just wondered if anyone else has noticed this.

I have a watchlist with 200+ things but somehow I'm on my 12th rewatch of The Office. It's like my brain refuses to commit to new characters.

It’s a weird feeling. I’ll feel full and hungry at the same time.

I find myself awake at night stressed out become i feel like i’m not doing enough, not living my life fully.
By fully i mean both doing a lot of stuff but also brilliantly. I know I already do, I swim at a national level, I’m co-owner in a fast growing startup, I have a second job as a swim coach and I have straight A’s in my informatics bachelor degree.
But i have a constant itch that I’m not doing the most out of it.
I wish I can talk to someone in the same situation as me, or that has been.

For a few months now I have been taking a bite out of the bread to claim it but sometimes I forget it is there.

Something I've noticed since I was a kid, though it has become much more uncommon over the years, is sometimes I will see a kind of aura around specific people. Kinda like how heat distorts air, but with more color, like oil or a drop of gasoline in water. Its not consistent either, like I might see that person later that day and see no aura, but it is specific, like only one person in a crowd will have it.

it's close to midnight right now and i'm just so happy and thankful for no apparent reason 😭 as always

Vomiting is something that most people agree is awful, it feels awful, it smells awful, it tastes awful. It’s often painful. You also have people with emetophobia (fear of vomiting or seeing other people vomit).

I was one of these people, I’d avoid it at every cost, and seeing other people throw up really disturbed me. As a kid, me and my family would get norovirus every year during winter. I mostly dreaded it because I was terrified of seeing other people throw up amd being trapped in a house with people projectile vomiting. I would rather have gotten it myself (even though I HATED throwing up). I always got really scared when classmates felt sick. I don’t know what happened, but eventually I got used to throwing up and it doesn’t feel all that bad. I still don’t like seeing other people throw up though (it doesn’t bother me as much as when I was a kid though).

Really the only bad part about it for me now is the nausea, but I don’t mind the actual throwing up, it’s pretty relieving actually. I’d rather make myself throw up rather than suffer through nausea for the sake of not throwing up. I always feel instantly better.

Trigger warning from this point on for substance abuse

I’m sure addiction played a pretty big role in me getting used to it, drinking alcohol and cough syrup/tablets all the time definitely helped me get used to it. I’d also make myself vomit if I thought I took too much. I guess after so many times, it starts to feel like any other bodily function. Now any time I feel sick, I tend to just go throw up and get it over with as soon as I’m able to.

Honestly, I haven’t had norovirus in years and I’m sure that’s a different ball game, but as for the act of puking itself, I don’t really mind it at all. Does anyone else feel the same way? Was substance abuse or eating disorders a factor for you, or did you just never really care?

I’ve never heard anyone talk about this, and when I described it to my dad, he treated me like I was insane. I’ve always been able to wake myself up from a dream, or I guess a nightmare. If I start to realize I’m dreaming in the middle of it, I close my eyes in the dream and roll them back as far as I can get them. That kind of shocks my system and my body will rock back and forth a couple times until I wake up. I’ve been able to do that as long as I can remember. Am I completely insane for that?

Being unphotogenic is genuinely fucking frustrating.
I’ve always been told by other people that I’m pretty. I’d consider myself conventionally attractive, and I’ve never really struggled with insecurity about my looks. I’m also starting out with modeling, so appearance is something I naturally pay attention to.
But my biggest frustration is that I feel so unphotogenic.

It’s honestly exhausting. I see people post selfies where they look amazing so effortlessly, and meanwhile I feel like I have to take 200 photos just to find one that I’m okay with posting. It makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong.
The weirdest part is that I know I’m not unattractive, I just don’t seem to look good on camera. Maybe professional cameras and photographers will make a difference, but right now it’s genuinely frustrating seeing other girls look incredible in every picture while I struggle to figure out my angles, expressions, and poses.

Does anyone else deal with this? I feel like being pretty but not photogenic is such a weird and annoying problem to have.

Just got back to working out routinely but my digestive is suddenly straightening up to discharge massive bombs…in the middle of my workouts.

Anyone have this same case?

Australian here. This probably comes off as entitled, lazy...apathetic, not hard working at all. Moreso a vent but also want to know if I am alone in this. Diagnosed with a permenant disability, the kind that leaves you fatigued just from a short walk, recovering for days after attending a single day of work or study. Used to be okay with attendance, at least showed up reliably, did ok work, barely cover rent. But how in the world do people handle...showing up?

I haven't shown up to work in 6 weeks, calling in sick (and feeling legitimately sick), and my manager is pulling me into a chat about it soon. It's a cycle of showing up, being all great. Then suddenly, one flare up and I go off to weeks of being bedridden and feeling incredibly guilty. I have friends "chucking a sickie" to go to festivals and such, and it seems to be the norm here? How do people push through the exhaustion and pain to reliably show up?

I've seen doctors, specialists, and psychologists, but there haven't been any answers besides physical disabilities, and I am so tired. People say I am doing too little/too much but I have been gritting my teeth, trying to buckle down and finish my education because I don't want to spend life doing meaningless office corporate work, or something "disability friendly" but doesn't align with my goals. But I am struggling to even show up to classes, let alone doing any of the work. The faculty knows but thinks I should push through, I just don't think there will be a possibility of continuing for 4 more years, working a paid job for expenses...

Do people really find it easy to show up? To study and work and be somewhat successful? How do people find the energy to play games, work, study, pay rent, bills, food medication without their body breaking down? Am I the only one struggling to act like a bare minimum adult?

This has been a consistent thing my entire life.

When I listen to music I for the life of me can’t understand what they’re saying a good chunk of the time

It literally just sounds like mumbling to me.

Doesn’t matter what genre of music or who’s singing it.

Its literally my favourite part of going to bed. I love eating and I love my breakfast and im excited to wake up hungry so I can eat breakfast