The School of Psychology at NUI Galway is conducting a
research study on people who experience feelings of being disconnected or
detached from themselves and their surroundings. Adults aged 18-25 years old are invited to
participate in the study, with findings hoping to better inform professionals
working within the mental health service.
Recent
research in mental health has identified that it can be common for people to
experience unwanted thoughts and feelings of being more or less whole, or that
the world is less real to them than at other times. This has been found to be a
common phenomenon among the general population, but for some people it may
cause them some distress.
These
experiences can be influenced by stress and fatigue, with most people not
admitting to experiencing feelings of disconnect and detachment, for fear of
being perceived as different or strange. International studies have found that
people are more willing to report these experiences in surveys rather than
disclose it to a doctor.
The study is being carried out by Aoife Ó Laoide, a
Psychologist in Clinical Training at the School of Psychology in NUI Galway,
under the academic supervision of Dr Jonathan Egan, Deputy Director of the
University’s Doctorate Programme in Psychological Science. Ms Ó Laoide is
interested in examining this phenomenon and understanding how psychological
factors, such as childhood experiences, current stress, anxiety, and mood might
interact with these common experiences of feeling disconnected from yourself or
your surroundings.
Miss Ó Laoide
said: “We are seeking people for the study who have ever felt ‘unreal’ or in a
‘dream-like’ state. People who experience a feeling of detachment or
disconnection from themselves and their surroundings. We want to investigate this relatively common
phenomenon that no one wants to admit to, in order to explore how it may impact
on an individual and their overall psychological well-being, with the hope of
informing future clinical practice.”
