A01=Nathan Dunne
ADHD
anxiety
Author_Nathan Dunne
bi-polar disorder
borderline personality disorder
BPD symptoms
burnout
Category=DNC
Category=JMS
Category=VFJQ
Category=VSP
chronic illness
complex PTSD
daydreaming
depersonalisation
depersonalization
depression
derealization
detached from reality
detachment
disconnected from my body
disconnection
dissociation
DSM5
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_health-lifestyle
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_self-help
eq_society-politics
feeling stuck
loss of self
Lost Connections
MDD
medical
mental health
mental illness
mental illness diagnosis
mental illness symptoms
misdiagnosis
OCD
out of body experience
outside myself
overwhelm
post- traumatic stress disorder
psychology
PTSD
self-discovery
stuck in a haze
suicide
trauma response
what is depersonalisation
what's wrong with me
Product details
- ISBN 9781761500770
- Weight: 336g
- Dimensions: 153 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 03 Jun 2025
- Publisher: Murdoch Books
- Publication City/Country: AU
- Product Form: Paperback
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Journalist Nathan Dunne was living the life of his dreams in London until, one evening, he jumped into a lake for a swim. When he emerged, his identity was simply gone. He felt completely lost and in acute, inexplicable pain. He knew who he was supposed to be but had no connection to the person named Nathan. His memories were distant and separate, not his. Everything was unfamiliar. All he felt was terror.
This was the beginning of his experience with depersonalisation, a little-understood and on-the-rise mystery mental illness that causes a person to dissociate from their body and thoughts. It can be chronic and severe but it can also be more everyday and relatable: symptoms include feeling overwhelmed, withdrawing from family and friends, experiencing negative thoughts, being unable to concentrate or perform routine tasks, or feeling outside of yourself.
When Nothing Feels Real is Nathan's quest to find his way through to the other side from the terrifying onset of his illness, the years of misdiagnosis and his long search for an answer and a cure. In the vein of Lost Connections and The Woman Who Changed Her Brain, he expertly weaves in neuroscience, patient experiences and interviews with leading doctors in the field, using himself as a guide to courageously explore the personal, medical, psychological and philosophical issues raised by depersonalisation.
A compelling, deeply personal account, When Nothing Feels Real shines a light on this growing mental illness, helping other sufferers feel more informed and less alone.
'Utterly fascinating...thrilling to be given an insight into an experience of the world that is not just at the end of a particular spectrum, not just 'ordinary' pushed to an extreme, but which exists in what seems like a different category altogether.'
Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
'This book broke my heart but also gave me hope. There is so much yearning here, so much longing to live and to love and to be whole again. This is a brave and beautiful book.'
Mira Bartok, author of The Memory Palace: A Memoir
'This book is a vital and timely exploration of a poorly understood and devastating mental illness, and a powerful meditation on the fragility and resilience of selfhood. It will resonate profoundly with all those who question what it means to be ourselves, and what it is to be human.'
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
'When Nothing Feels Real took a lot of courage to write. It captures the pain and mystery of depersonalisation as well as its art and science.'
Professor Anthony David, Neuropsychiatrist and Director of the UCL Institute of Mental Health
'Nathan Dunne is a writer of such touching sympathies and affinities and generosity and pure gifts of language and mastery of both echoes internal and in the air.'
Cynthia Ozick, author of The Puttermesser Papers and Antiquities
'Dunne's writing is extraordinary, original and rewarding.'
Robert Cottrell, BBC Culture
'Jeepers! That's some illness.'
Peter Goldsworthy
This was the beginning of his experience with depersonalisation, a little-understood and on-the-rise mystery mental illness that causes a person to dissociate from their body and thoughts. It can be chronic and severe but it can also be more everyday and relatable: symptoms include feeling overwhelmed, withdrawing from family and friends, experiencing negative thoughts, being unable to concentrate or perform routine tasks, or feeling outside of yourself.
When Nothing Feels Real is Nathan's quest to find his way through to the other side from the terrifying onset of his illness, the years of misdiagnosis and his long search for an answer and a cure. In the vein of Lost Connections and The Woman Who Changed Her Brain, he expertly weaves in neuroscience, patient experiences and interviews with leading doctors in the field, using himself as a guide to courageously explore the personal, medical, psychological and philosophical issues raised by depersonalisation.
A compelling, deeply personal account, When Nothing Feels Real shines a light on this growing mental illness, helping other sufferers feel more informed and less alone.
'Utterly fascinating...thrilling to be given an insight into an experience of the world that is not just at the end of a particular spectrum, not just 'ordinary' pushed to an extreme, but which exists in what seems like a different category altogether.'
Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
'This book broke my heart but also gave me hope. There is so much yearning here, so much longing to live and to love and to be whole again. This is a brave and beautiful book.'
Mira Bartok, author of The Memory Palace: A Memoir
'This book is a vital and timely exploration of a poorly understood and devastating mental illness, and a powerful meditation on the fragility and resilience of selfhood. It will resonate profoundly with all those who question what it means to be ourselves, and what it is to be human.'
Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women
'When Nothing Feels Real took a lot of courage to write. It captures the pain and mystery of depersonalisation as well as its art and science.'
Professor Anthony David, Neuropsychiatrist and Director of the UCL Institute of Mental Health
'Nathan Dunne is a writer of such touching sympathies and affinities and generosity and pure gifts of language and mastery of both echoes internal and in the air.'
Cynthia Ozick, author of The Puttermesser Papers and Antiquities
'Dunne's writing is extraordinary, original and rewarding.'
Robert Cottrell, BBC Culture
'Jeepers! That's some illness.'
Peter Goldsworthy
Nathan Dunne was born in Brisbane, Australia and grew up in India. After graduating from the University of Sydney with the University Medal, he studied art history at Cambridge University and received a PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London. He has lectured at Harvard and Yale, and also worked for several years at Tate Modern. As a journalist and critic, he has contributed to many publications, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, Slate and Artforum. He now lives in Sydney.
