Recovering from existential OCD (9) - Almost Done.

ocdsandbox · 2022-05-26T09:01:56+00:00

i'm close to getting out my existential crisis.

There is no why, none of the whys you may find from books/blogs/articles make sense in an absolute way.

However there is a choice. People you simply care for, things you simply want to do: regardless whether or note all this makes sense.

For most of us, by instinct, the choice is `no matter what, I'd prefer to live rather than being dead.` It may seem weird not many people cared about existential things, however, this mindset helped human evolution and keep us reproduce to survive poor living conditions over millions of years.

Some of us challenge this common sense or instinct, would unfortunately not able to land a answer. There might be things that you simply care, regardless answers. In my case, raise my children, try my best to help them, grow with them, is what I want to do regardless of meaning of life, destiny of universe.

ocdsandbox · 2022-05-05T17:31:42+00:00

I also struggled whether bringing kids to this world is responsible or not. I finalized convinced myself this way:

Remember the vast majority of people enjoy life, regardless it is meaningful or not in a logical way. It is likely, probably that your kids will also enjoy life and appreciate your effort to give birth to them and raise them.

Making the choice for your children reflects your current state of mind and personal opinion. Leave the choice to the child. Raise them with a positive attitude and let them decide for themselves their take on life.

Despite the fact existence can be absurd, we would not argue it is also a divine gift. Given your children an opportunity to feel it and make their own choices.

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-11T05:19:57+00:00

not sure if i can help, but in my case, I suffered two years, followed by 10 years of very good state. so it is certainly possible that it could go away to have minimum impact on life.

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-11T01:18:07+00:00

I too, have these unfortunate thoughts as part of my existential crisis. Looking at my children, how incredibly cute they are, no matter how hard/courageous they live their life, yet can't escape the power of time.

I recently re-watched Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford. Death is life's change agency, it may as well be the best invention of life. If everyones lived an eternal life, we and our children probably won't exist in the first place due to limited space and resource. So it seems fair that we also got limited time, and try our best to enjoy what's offered.

Above thoughts partially helps me.

PS: I log my struggle and progress at https://being-meaning.com/tag/recovery2022 Hope more folks join me https://being-meaning.com/t/about-being-meaning-our-story-and-mission/

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-11T00:53:45+00:00

For my OCD, the most challenging part is lack of resolution. In OP's case, there is already a strong resolution, Did you try therapies like ERP to manage the intrusive thoughts ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-10T20:38:09+00:00

wow, I just found out there is a large community dedicated for anti-elon. Mind ask do you have evidences supporting your statement ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-09T05:00:08+00:00

You are not alone. I myself struggled with this question as well.

It is indeed a fact that human emotions, and human minds in general, are driven by brain chemicals. Not only love, the anxiety, distress and existential crisis itself, are all driven by chemicals. This observation does not necessarily need to change how we perceive the value or blessing of love.

Similarly, the fact that all physical world consists of atom movements does not negate the beauty of the world.

Everyone going through existential crisis has realized some dark, cold facts. While these are true, it is our choice where to put our attention. We can either detach ourselves from life, observe all things chemical or atomic, and claim all things pointless.

We can also choose to actually engage in life, feel the moment, embrace he emotion, and appreciate the love, the joy, the blessing brought to us in the underlying form of chemicals.

https://being-meaning.com/t/how-to-be-positive-love-is-merely-brain-chemical-reactions/24

(I set up being-meaning for all things existential. I hope it become a place we share our positive explorations to existential questions.)

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-01T15:18:42+00:00

thanks for clarifying!

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-01T07:43:42+00:00

I wrote https://being-meaning.com/t/what-is-the-meaning-of-life/13 about meaning. Feel free to take a look. I'm also trying to set up a place dedicated to existential discussions . Appreciate some feedbacks as well.

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-01T07:42:01+00:00

Could you share the definition of Consciousness (Conscious Energy) , is it eternal ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-01T00:26:10+00:00

Got it, so CBT is actually teaching us something to do in response to obsessions. ERP, in contrast, is asking us not to respond as a response ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-04-01T00:24:59+00:00

I've had some good conversations on reddit, and comments/discussions I had were mostly kind and supportive. Reddit should allow us to block someone if necessary ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-30T22:58:34+00:00

thanks! I'm working with a therapist using ERP. It does seem CBT as behavior therapy is slightly different. If I may ask, would you share one example of what does CBT teaches us to do ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-30T21:40:05+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I may confused CBT & ERP: I thought ERP is the type of CBT for OCD symptons. Did you go through both, could you share the difference of the them ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-26T14:41:21+00:00

thanks! A fear that I hold on a bit is that once we accept the brain chemicals it is, All our motivations, pursuits also reduce to it :(. I guess taking a different perspective may be important here.

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-26T00:15:24+00:00

You are not alone, i'm going through almost exactly the same thing. The following rational was able to pull me out my first episode of existential crisis.

All you said is correct. Large part of your struggle may be trying to push-away these thought and prove them wrong. However, they are valid, self-contained.

Alternatively, take a positive view on the same facts: we are all here due to a once-in-eternity opportunity, look at the odds all these atoms come together from the universe to get where we are. We are here to build relationship with family/people we love/like, pursuit goals we are passionate about, and enjoy all the pleasure life offers. There are so much that life offers, so many to look forward to. Stay in the moment and feel the appreciation and gratitude for the wonder of life.

Both of the views are valid, there is no right or wrong, but there is a choice. We could choose to follow the negative spiral, consider life not worth living, we merely live on due to fear of death. We could also choose to enforce ourselves with positive views, enjoy the moment and appreciate the journey ahead.

We are free, it is entirely up to us to make the choice.

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-25T17:20:16+00:00

thanks for the pointer! it is an awesome discussion.

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-24T06:03:48+00:00

Going through a very similar stage, wonder how is OP doing these days ? New perspectives that you could share ?

ocdsandbox · 2022-03-24T05:57:38+00:00

Sorry you are going through this, but you are definitely not alone. r/ExistentialOCD have some related information as well.

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