There aren’t many of us who can imagine our lives changing in an instant. But many years ago, journalist, Nathan Dunne found that this was his reality. He contracted an illness called depersonalisation, a misunderstood and highly mysterious condition, as this book highlights.
When Nothing Feels Real is Dunne’s first book. But, he manages to achieve quite a difficult feat; he describes this complex illness using rather simple language. In doing so, putting a spotlight on this much-maligned disease.
Depersonalisation is estimated to be affect approximately 1% of the population. And, whilst it is getting diagnosed increasingly, it is not a well known disease by any stretch of the imagination. In his book Dunne discusses the illness with a series of different experts from different medical fields, including neuroscience and psychology.
When Nothing Feels Real describes the event that took place in London in 2008 when Dunne was a student. He was happy insofar as he was loved up and in a new relationship with a girl called Maria. But that changed after they took a spontaneous midnight swim. Following this incident everything changed as Dunne lost his sense of self. He was incredibly detached and didn’t recognise things that were previously second-nature to him. It affected his whole life and his grasp of reality.
In the book, Dunne details his quest to treat the disorder, something which included many doctors’ visits, a return to Sydney, and his experiences having Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation known as rTMS, to help activate different brain neurons.
When Nothing Feels Real is a book that should deliver some solace to those individuals battling with this illness. It is a very intimate account of how one man was lost and the many different challenges he endured over the years. It will make you appreciate that you shouldn’t take good health for granted; and it is a reminder that our good health can all change in the blink of an eye. Scary stuff.
THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
When Nothing Feels Real by Nathan Dunne is out now through Murdoch Books. Grab yourself a copy from your local bookstore HERE.
