Deep, philosophical thoughts.

[smithha92]

hi everyone,

Im only new to this, but i am 18 years old and have had bad anxiety for a couple of months as a result of a major life stress. i feel as though i am recovering now slowly with help from mindfulness exercises.
however, I still have deep, philosphcal thuoghts about life that i struggle to get out of my head. some of them aare ridiculous such as, "what if this isn't real" etc.

Does anyone else have this, or have any suggestions?

thanks

[ThePhoenix]

hi everyone,

Im only new to this, but i am 18 years old and have had bad anxiety for a couple of months as a result of a major life stress. i feel as though i am recovering now slowly with help from mindfulness exercises.
however, I still have deep, philosphcal thuoghts about life that i struggle to get out of my head. some of them aare ridiculous such as, "what if this isn't real" etc.

Does anyone else have this, or have any suggestions?

thanks

The mindfulness exercises are great and its all good for helping you relax but you have to steer clear of the "what if" thinking. That will get you no where!

[Paul Dooley]

I think we all have such moments throughout life, but you're probably experiencing them even more than normal, both because of your anxiety, and because of your age. You're starting to "wake up" to life and that can be a little scary.

In the end, at least I've found, it's pretty much a waste of time to spin your wheels about things like "reality" and the meaning of life and all that.

You'll never find out, and neither will anyone else. Which is OK. Just live and experience as much as you can, with an eye toward being positive.

My most important tip would be this: Remember that you are what you think, so be careful of the thoughts you foster, because it's your thoughts that will turn into reality.

Best Wishes.

[thistleburden]

Hey, I am 24 and had a similar bad anxiety pile up after graduating from art school and having this big travel plan with a girl that fell through.

I have been getting better too and went through these periods of mood swing and thinking philosophically too. Ahahaah, it probably doesn't help that I've READ so much philosophy during my art school degree and some of it does leave you a bit down but there are some good upbeat ones. I read your thread title and thought "OOOOOH! SOMEONES TALKING ABOUT PHILOSOPHY!" but....sadly no, you're just doing a Descartes thing, which I was never interested in ahahh.

But yeah, I get that too, sometimes thinking "oh, is this real?" and it's such a stupid question. Of course it's all real and you are real and sometimes you can feel spacey and all that but it's just thinking "it was real before anxiety, it's still real now and it always will be real."

I agree with Paul Dooley that you just got to think positive and it does help, it all helps. But I don't agree with the wording of "thinking negatively can become a reality" because that's something that you don't want to add to a list of things to worry about, and just exorcize that from your mind you know?

Read some Simon Critchley, he's a great philosopher ahahah, he says that we all have a drive to utopia and creation and beauty. Even those who think negatively still have the ability to beauty and utopia so just don't think down! :D

also, try and stay away from the forum ahhaha, it's just full of panic and panicers talking to paniced people isn't that helpful. Supportive, but sometimes it just worries you more you know? they have to figure things out a bit better

[Silachoo]

I have the same feelings, i wonder if anything is real, like i know i can feel and see all of it through my senses, but i know "I think therefore I am" but i question if an ything or anyone else is real. Its weird...and i worry that because I wonder this I am delusional. Any thoughts?

[Itzomi]

In the end, at least I've found, it's pretty much a waste of time to spin your wheels about things like "reality" and the meaning of life and all that.

You'll never find out, and neither will anyone else. Which is OK. Just live and experience as much as you can, with an eye toward being positive.

Brilliant advice. Love it.


My most important tip would be this: Remember that you are what you think, so be careful of the thoughts you foster, because it's your thoughts that will turn into reality.


I agree with the other poster - that just fosters even more anxiety. It's kind of like those that tell you, "Stress kills!!" Um, gee, thanks - now I get to worry about my worrying!! If someone can't help but worry about having cancer, for example, that statement will make them wonder if they are in the process of developing cancer just by thinking about it. It then becomes a vicious cycle, because it's like telling someone, "Whatever you do, don't think about pink elephants!!" Of course, that is exactly what they're going to think about, and the more they try not to, the more they will. "Or elses" aren't really helpful for the obsessive.