would the correct reality please stand up?

I'm sure everyone has had the experience of being so absorbed by a book or a movie that they start to feel like they are in the character's situation. [right? back me up here.] while that feeling is part of what makes the book or movie so good, it can also be pretty unsettling. I was watching the movie Memento last night, completely engrossed by the story and by the lead guy's condition where he couldn't remember anything. About an hour into the movie a friend called on the phone. I pause the movie and start talking to him, but realize that I am completely incapable of keeping up my end of the conversation because I can't seem to shift out of movie-mind-mode and back into reality (or at least not fast enough to form coherent sentences). In fact, I was so disoriented that I started wondering if I had my own memory problems. "What's going on here? Who am I talking to? How did I get here?" Muy creepy. I'm pretty sure my friend thought I'd been drinking, 'cause that's how off my brain felt.

anyways, I've had this experience before, though not usually to this degree. I had to stop reading Vonnegut books for a few years because I was getting so sad and cynical by reading them. And I've read other books where I'll be so absorbed by it that I start worrying about the character's problems in my own daily life. how jacked up is that? is it the telltale signs of schizophrenia or just a well-written story? books, films, music--they're powerful. they can affect my mood and alter my thinking like no drug ever could. escapism is nice, but reality is better. it's nice to exist within it on occasion.