If you're treated a certain way you become a certain kind of person. If certain things are described to you as being real they're real for you whether they're real or not.
“I don't practise any religion but I am deeply interested in the answers that mankind has come up with to explain the human situation.”
“Of course, the idea of a six months' holiday is enough to make anyone laugh at anything, but I find that besides that I was a good deal harassed and run down, and I am glad to cut off from everything and start fresh. I feel miserably selfish about it all the time.”