No sense of self

Who am I? I have little idea. I know what I am interested in, and I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, and what I like and dislike. I am often told that I am a very articulate and self-aware person.

However, most of my life has been an act. I have internalised multiple personas over the years, pretending to be someone I am not, regardless of whether this someone is real or a figment of my imagination. As an extreme example, once, when I was at school, I imitated the precise way a girl pouted her lip. I ended up pouting my lip, and must have looked quite ridiculous.

I try and imitate hair styles, dress styles, speech patterns, actions, almost anything. Sometimes this is very conscious, sometimes it is almost unconscious, but I am always aware that I am playing a part. Even when I am alone in my bedroom, I act 'through' others. Even my interests are often dictated by someone else, someone I admire or want to be like. It feels like I have no autonomy or 'self' that I can call my own; everything is stage managed.

My interests currently come and go, but I am only interested in one area of a subject, and find it hard to generalise my interest to related fields. I have always had this problem, but I am more aware of it now; it means that I find it hard to plan my life, decide what I want to do, and what I want to achieve in life.

I also get obsessed with certain people, and live my life 'through' them, often in fantasy.

Can anyone else relate to this lack of self, identity confusion?

Parents
  • I have a similar problem, except that I've never tried to imitate the personas that can take over at any time.  It is totally involuntary and I just wish I could switch it off.   I absolutely hate it.  It feels like I'm in that person' s body looking through their eyes,  speaking in their voice etc.  I despair of it because the meanness of the mean personas can come out in me.  Maybe mine is slightly different?  I don't really know. 

    My psychologist named this as 'no sense of self' and noted that this was pretty common in Aspergers.  

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  • I have a similar problem, except that I've never tried to imitate the personas that can take over at any time.  It is totally involuntary and I just wish I could switch it off.   I absolutely hate it.  It feels like I'm in that person' s body looking through their eyes,  speaking in their voice etc.  I despair of it because the meanness of the mean personas can come out in me.  Maybe mine is slightly different?  I don't really know. 

    My psychologist named this as 'no sense of self' and noted that this was pretty common in Aspergers.  

Children
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