For further guidance and tools in your recovery journey, have a look at my website and course: www.spiritcoaching.be/en/product/dpdr-existential-anxiety-recovery-course/
“The worst thing is I didn’t want to die because I was afraid of death but the fear itself was so bad that i didn’t wanna live either” I felt this shit in my core. It’s like you spend everyday in a sort of twilight zone between life and death, pushed there by the intense fear of both.
Being a human is one of the most stressful things. I look at my cat a lot and wonder what it would be like for him being so chill and relaxed with 0 knowledge that he will die one day. Must be nice
What I wish is that sometimes I wasn't born in the US where this knowledge is thrown on to you. It seems it's so much preparation and in turn fear of death that it pretty much takes away the aspect of faith if you're SO afraid to die that you go to all these lengths. Where my people come from they are very religious and happy people and it takes them far in life, all around the globe. Me, I'm just a faithless, frightened, fickle, finished human being in the sense that I'm broken. Our big brains, both a blessing and a curse, same as knowledge. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.
I have lived a really painful mental crisis in the past and i am still healing , for everyone reading this , there is hope . Life is less scary than it seems
When you said that you had in your head that you had figured something out about life and it will never be same again. God it felt soo relieving that I am not alone in experiencing this!
@@traumainducing3529 he means invite the strange intruder that is lurking outside, in for supper. Sit down with them, get to know them so you can no longer see it as strange and a threat.
@@mahmoudalsaraf2119 the dpdr stopped but the thoughts and anxiety remained. the physical dpdr senesations in reflection was not the worse of it. the thoughts and their affect were. i have somewhat getting better - but really i just gave it time - smahed loads of vitamins and put up with 24/7 exstential OCD until i could handle the scary thoughts - almost like numbing yourself. people react in different ways- experiment with what alleviates the pain and just repeat that - as futile as it feels at first
Almost recovered completely from existential anxiety, DPDR and a bit of ocd now. My advice : it’s all about perspective. Look at things from a different angle. Stay hopeful!!
When you said "we are going to die" I literally had an internal meltdown. I now know what my main fear is. Well I knew the whole time I guess. Its going to be really hard to invite this into my life. But thank you so much for this video! Update: 5 days later and I am feeling much better. I finally got out of the thought loops and am focused on my life again. I've been dealing with this crisis for 6 months. Acceptance is the cure!
My biggest fear is that my depersonalization will eventually turn into something worse. My loved ones feel like strangers to me sometimes and it scares me so much I feel delusional. I was normal before this, spiritually inclined and aware. My awareness turned into DPDR quickly and I’m in month three. Thank you for this video. I am trying to face these fears head on.
@@ivanvukoja7654 exactly but one thing you can do is that learn to accept the feelings and thoughts, that they can't harm you. Thank them that they were their today and they are just junk thoughts and do not need your attention.
@@ivanvukoja7654 I've read that if you have ocd and you are freaking out about developing schizophrenia then it's PROBABLY just normal ocd logic. Just think that you are anxious about leaving the lights on so you chek the lights again and again then you are relived that lights are off. thats ocd. so when you scare of schizo, you check yourself to see if you are developing something and then you relief for a while. which is a classic ocd thing.
I’m into my seventh month of extreme existential anxiety and it’s gotten better, a lot better. Just want assure others out there that I too thought I had no hope, that suicide was my only option which completely crippled me, I was stuck in my room afraid of the world. Every morning I’d wake up and compulsively check on how I am feeling and it was all the same, dread and fear, which lead to full out depression, I was afraid that there was nothing left to do in the world, that I had completed life, that I’m experiencing something I was never meant to experience. Symptoms of dpdr set in quickly which only exaggerated my situation, on top of all the cognitive mess and stress I now started to actually feel that reality isn’t what it always seemed to be, which scared the hell out of me. Friends and family became distant and at times completely foreign, it’s hell, a lonely hell. The first three months I could hardly sleep, 3 hours a night max, from which I arose with a panic attack. I couldn’t imagine that a human being could feel this way, my previous life felt so far away, my experience felt impossible. In the aftermath I developed strange fears, fears of the current moment for example, I was afraid of my own existence, the mere fact that I am here and that I am moving forward in time. I often get these terrible hyperrealizations that I exist and that the world exists and that I’m now in it.. just terrible. These scare me to this day. But even in the midst of this hell, I’d catch moments of peace, that were hard to trust but are so good that you hold on to them, they reminded me that life could be different, even though when I felt horrible that felt impossible to believe.. what drove my anxiety was a compulsion to figure everything out in life, my purpose here, the nature of everything and so on.. with time you recognize that you didn’t live like this previously, and you don’t have to now. Besides, when you drop the problem, there seems to be no problem at all, life just clarifies, that is the state of mind I chose to trust.. you don’t have to figure everything out, you don’t have to do anything, you need you own care and patience, what you are dealing with is a disregulated brain.. create a routine and stick to it, exercise, eat better, but don’t push yourself too much, it might feel like restarting life a bit, which only makes sense after what you’ve gone through. Your sense of clarity and peace will return to you and it will stay for longer and longer periods of time, until it won’t leave you again, but this is a process with ups and downs, don’t expect to feel good all the time, and when you don’t, accept it, it will pass.. I’m currently recovering aswell…
We’re you scared to be you and questioned why you were you and were you happy just exsisting? Basically scared that you wearnt comfortable being you in the world! Confidence in yourself at 0 because that’s what I’m going through atm
@@ChrisJakeman can’t say that I have recovered man, I’m kinda at a stand still honestly… I have mild existential anxiety, which is manageable, the thing I can’t seem to shake is hyper awareness of my own consciousness, I feel like nothing but my experience is real, or that I’m just the next thought or experience that arises in me… which scares me a lot.. ATM I’m trying to manage my anxiety so it goes away completely, hopefully the dpdr will follow
@@ChrisJakeman yeah I definitely questioned why I was me and why am I like the way I am instead of any other way… I questioned everything man.. it sucks
I would like to add something. You are not your thoughts. They do not control you. As the conscious mind goes through life it creates the ego which becomes the way you view yourself in the material world. Depersonalisation is almost like an ego death, it’s a feedback loop that reacts to shocks to the nervous system. It is designed to calm you down and give you clarity. If you fight it you’ll create more anxiety and it’ll perpetuate the DP and it’ll feel like it’s getting worse. Once you understand that DP can either be a positive or negative feedback loop depending on your understanding of it, it becomes less frightening. It will allow you to reflect on yourself and begin a healing process. Meditation allows you to be aware of blockages in the consciousness-mind-body system. Any frightening images you see when you meditate Is the fear characteristic of your ego self trying to take control. Do not refuse it’s existence but don’t let it control you. Laugh at the fear.
You are absolutely right! Dpdr to me was my Spiritual Awakening without me even knowing it! I do believe however that it is not ego death because then you wouldnt feel so much Anxiety and resistance but it is in fact an awakening as you mention! Thank you for your comment 😊
@@jbjb6897 hey I hope all is well with you. Your ego will return. It will be the same but more different and humble. Well mines did. You have to allow your mind (ego) to return back to what I knows on its own. Once you are able to do so…you can remold it and make it much better as you journey through your life. You can’t force it back. It comes back on its own term. Like memories of yourself (fun times) etc. it will return. Let it return on its own.
@@jbjb6897 You're okay. You're safe. Your ego is there. You are still exactly the same as before. You have just started having a fear of being 'empty' or not having an ego, you have started kind of obsessing over it, but a phase like this is normal, it will go away. Be cool with life and everything will feel ok, you don't have to do anything.
The first two days of my existential crisis were the worst days in my life (albeit so far I suppose). It really felt like I woke up and that I was the only one, I mourned for the deaths of my family, friends, and myself even though we’re all still pretty young. Such thoughts that I’m fighting and while I’ve started to improve I hope to recover just like you ❤
This is exactly how i feel when you say you feel like you’ve unlocked something and discovered something you weren’t supposed to know. I feel the same way and I’m afraid I’ll never look at the world and live my life the same way i used to ughhh
Hey there! Sorry to hear that you're feeling like that. If you're looking for something to help you out, I'm doing a recovery course on the 24th and 25th of july! If you click on the link in the description you can find more info there. Best of luck!
It’s so strange for me because I’m so afraid of death. Of the end of me. That I will be gone. I won’t be experiencing anything anymore. Just nothingness. But I also have absolutely no desire to live forever.
Yeah I got that too. It goes away. You don’t stay perpetually stuck in fear of eternal life and nothingness. I should also mention that it’s impossible to feel the same way all the time (including fearful and depressed).
I went through dpdr, with mainly existential fears in the end of 2019. I did a lot of research and trail and error. What Robin is teaching is the same concept I used to beat the thoughts. Face the monster. When the thoughts came into my mind I would tell me thoughts "you can be here if you want, I don't care, but I'm going on with my life anyway." Don't fight it, let it be there and take away it's power. Stand up to it. This is the best dpdr video I've ever seen. Great job Robin, your helping so many people.
@@siim605 Be consistent. In the beginning it is hard because the thoughts are scary and you want to go back to your natural feeling of fear. Once you embrace the thoughts and feelings over time you will no longer be afraid when they do come up. When you take away their power it doesn’t matter how often they come up because you’ve trained yourself that it doesn’t bother you. Also try when the thoughts come up relax every muscle in your body and focus on anything else, but yet don’t try to force the thoughts out. Let them leave on their own. When you do that you are training your mind that the thoughts are nothing to worry about and overtime they quit coming up. Be brave, show that monster who’s boss.
@@freeflow1402 yes. The more you want it to go away makes it stick around. You have to “give yourself permission” to feel it and let it be there. For example start with for the next 20 minutes you are going to not care if the feeling is there or not. Then build up to longer time periods
@@Brandon-ir7ws I have literally given up or even forgot about my DPDR for weeks at a time. It just doesn't work for me. I've had *very mild* relief from only two things - exercise, and xanax.
thank u so much, I‘m only 20 years old and going through this. You feel like you have to live with it now & it seems so impossible to not think about it. you even start reminding yourself constantly. I sometimes even feel like I‘m going crazy and wish to have my life before this back. you really did give me hope
@@ashleighstark4804it started with me when I was a preteen. Dealt with it my whole life. Some years better than others. I’m now 56. I kept to myself quite a bit about how I felt. Nothing was identifiable back then. I’m glad younger generations can receive help that I couldn’t.
ever since i got pregnant my anxiety/ocd got 10x worse and i started having existential ocd (which i've never had before) my thoughts aren't about questioning if im real. they're more towards being freaked out that i am real and that we exist. i can't even look up at the sky anymore without getting a panic attack about how we're just in a floating rock in space. it's seriously taking over my life.
OMG I thought I was the only one. I have this and it freaks me out the more I pay attention to the thought. I even freak out of how we are created. It crazy how OCD picks on her brains. Smh...
It is really impressive that existential ocd is always described in the same way. I have exactly the same symptoms. Depression is always described and felt differently.
Thank you I’m currently having an existential crisis and extreme fear of what happens after we die. I feel so hopeless. I’m going to try meditating on my thoughts.
Hi Dillan, sorry to hear you are struggling with this. Meditation really helped me a lot, and also the book 'fear' by Thich Nhat Hanh' I would love to suggest you. If you ever need personal help in overcoming your anxiety you can contact me on Instagram. Good wishes to you!
I have the same situation! Been 1 year and its start from the morning and wont stop. I cant even sleep more than 4 hours night. Whats your situation now?
@@anttilehtinen3593 mulla on ihan sama ollut että ei 4 tuntia enempää saa unta, ja illal ajatukset ei lakkaa. Nämä kaikki johtuu ahistuksesta ja se ahistus johtuu ajatuksista jota me syötetään itellemme ja ne ajatukset on tunteellisesti niin raskaita että me vähän kun blinkataaan ulos kehosta. Paras vaihto on seratoniin takaisin oton estäjät koska ne estää ahistuksen tunteen ja laittaa ajatukset normaali suoralle. tai sitten on että lopetat ajattelemasta turhaa paskaa ja alotat treenaamisen.'
Samat ajatukset aamusta iltaan ja kun se pelko tulee siitä, että kaikki vaan päättyy niin en nää syytä jatkaa elämää kun lopputulos on sama et kaikki vaan pyyhkiytyy. Olin 6kk ssri:llä eikä niistä ollu apua
I realized one day that I would be in my body for the rest of my life and look through my eyes in the first person for the rest of my life and it broke me. I hope I can recover.
4:10 to 4:21 THIS, I think about this everyday, it's been about 3 months since I started having existential crisis, constant panic attacks and feelings of Depersonalization and derealization and I always tell myself, "even if I get out of this, reality won't feel the same as it used to." And it's the worse feeling I've ever experienced, like when someone spoils you a movie you were about to watch and you try to convince yourself that what they said isn't real, it's kinda a dumb example, but it's the best way I can describe it. Thank you for this video! It feels good to know that i'm not going insane and that many people experienced or are still experiencing the same things as me.
@@habboseries1234 thank you so much for asking, I am feeling better. I can say that I got through that bad period of time and that I feel alive again, I didn't expect to be able to make those feelings disappear completely, but it worked and I'm actually living way more freely than before hahah. Again thank you lots for asking, and I hope you're doing well!
@@GiovyLoving I still have the feeling to know something people don't and life still feels like... empty. But i try to manage my stress, my anxiety and with time the symptoms tend to be more acceptable and lower (sorry for my bad english i'm french). I hope that you'll be fine in your life in the future, thank you :)
@@habboseries1234 the only thing I can tell you that really helped me getting through that is to convince yourself that you want to feel well, ignore all the thoughts and distract yourself with music, read or go out with friends, ignoring and pretending that those feelings weren't there really helped me and I hope it will help you as well. Also don't worry about your English I'm Italian hahah. If you ever need help or advice just reply to my comment I will be more than welcome to help you out
Thank you Robin. The exact moment when I stopped fighting with my thoughts and accept that I can't control everything the DR dissappeared automatically. That's the key, accept and stop the racionalization of everything :)
@@jakobmeyers8492 Knowing that thoughts are just that. If you fear your thoughts it's a pull back! Also accepting things that are out of our control and try to enjoy life while being vulnerable!
This is relatable. When I think about me being on a planet and the void that is the universe despite the trillions of stars that inhabit it and my local human affairs/relationships I freak the fuck out internally.
I really resonate with your story, I felt seen and i hope you feel the same way too. I tottally understand that the only cure is acceptance, I've been thinking about that recently too, however, I'm finding myself in state of denial, I just don't want to accept that existence has no purpose and meaning of it all. I hope someday I will get to accept the reality of existance, but it feels littearly impossible right now. I still refuse to accept it and by consecuence I'm depressed all day.
Robin, this is amazing! I recently got through existential anxiety and honestly I believe we ALL experience “existential anxiety/depression” at points in our lives. It was when I got grounded in mindfulness and my faith (Catholicism/spirituality) that I was able to come out of my fears! 💪🏽💙🙏🏽 Going inside yourself is so important! I believe all anxiety/depression stems from existential fears, and as a hopeful therapist, I hope to help others work through these fears! Amazing video, I saved it!🤗🙌🏽
im 13 and getting these thoughts and they're very hard to live with, it started with just getting them when i stay up late at night, now it's 24/7, this video helped me actually, we should just accept the fact that we're all gonna die anyway, there's no point in figuring out how life works, just live your life the way you want and don't worry too much about it because it won't matter anyway, and you won't reach anywhere, another thing that helped me go through this phase is my belief in god, my belief in an afterlife which i started doubting during this phase, im so happy these thoughts started to decrease now, all i gotta do is live my life how i want, and not worry about things ill never reach, enjoy life while it lasts bois, peace
Correct mate. Im 34 and have same results, you just need to accept all that shit. If you will feel bad, depression or anxious - please ask your parrent to find you a therapist. Your problem solvable (and was solve personally by me at my 23 years and at my 33 year). So just want you to know - solution of your fear exist.
I'm crying so hard watching this 😢 I've been in therapy for so long, my therapists told me to fight my anxiety and I always thought its not the right way. And you completely get me.
I remember the exact moment it started, I was just taking a shower and suddenly everything clicked. I realized that I’m just existing here on this earth and it just all scared me so much. I’ve had anxiety about death for a while but it has suddenly gotten so bad. I’m always fearing that I’m not real and everyone is fake and everything is just a simulation. I’m scared of forgetting everything and dying. Nothingness and eternity scare me so much. I’m only 13 so I don’t really know how to cope with this myself. I hope that one day I will overcome everything that’s happening to me right now.
This is the most relatable video I’ve ever seen in my 26 years of life. I really really struggle with many existential crisis from time to time. It’s like I almost wish I was dumb and ignorant and never thought that deep to the point the I realised I’m a mortal being that will in fact die at some point and I have so little control in knowing what will cause that death, let alone when. I feel powerless sometimes and the stresses of daily life don’t make it better cause it feels like suffering for no reason. Everything feels pointless. But at the same time I know that as pointless as it seems wondering what people 10.000 years ago were doing, I wouldn’t be here alive if it wasn’t for my ancestors survival, at least for a while. It’s soooo weird to think about it, all the time. It leaves me exhausted. It feels good to see videos like this and see the comment section and be like ‘wait, I’m not the only human being that has ever question this thing’ cause it feels like that sometimes. You see everyone coping so well with their existence and you are like ‘what’s wrong with me?’. If the body always dies why do we have all these insanely complex organs like the immune system to keep us healthy and alive? Like… is survival the meaning of life? Is it to keep living things alive? I don’t get it. Like everything in nature keeps pointing in the direction. Is the fear of death not a rational thing? I was so happy as a kid when I didn’t think about this stuff, but like you said once you fall into this trap of being conscious of your mortality, everything changes and it’s never the same again. I will try to follow your advice.
It doesn't make any sense asking yourself questions like "what is the meaning of life". One of the most relaxing quotes I heard was from my therapist who told me: "life just happens". And it is the truth: life just happens, it has meaning and it doesn't at the same time. It doesn't really have a purpose, but it also has one at the same time.
Thank you for this. I am 27 and as of late my chronic anxiety has become full blown nightly existential crises where I’d get so emotional and distressed that I’d need to use physical grounding techniques just to try and sleep, otherwise I’d stay up until 7 in the morning and sleep during the day. I’ve always been terrified of the concept of death, especially since my family and teachers kept telling me how someday my parents would leave me all alone and I’d need to learn how to fend for myself, even when I was a very young child. It gave me a massive chronic fear which has gradually gotten worse. Now I am ok with the concept of death, since I believe in reincarnation, but the idea of completely losing one’s consciousness after death is morbidly terrifying, along with the constant feeling like my life is “borrowed time”. I always feel guilty relaxing, but too stressed to get much work done, then feel worse because of that. It’s a vicious cycle. Thank you. It really helps knowing that I am not alone and there is someone else that has been through this.
@@EnlightenedSchmuck Either way, the idea that one will lose their entire sense of self and perhaps not ever have a single thought following the death of the brain is chilling. People can contemplate life after death all they wish, but the truth of the matter is that nobody really knows what happens. It could be peaceful and a paradise, but it could also be absolute nothingness and everything just....ends. I like to think it's something more spiritual and pleasing in nature. That's how I choose to get through the day. However, the existential dread of it all comes crashing down on occasion. :/
@@SnepSquad Birth and death are two sides of the same coin... one implies the other; they are basically one and the same thing. So if there is no reason to fear birth, then why should there be any reason to fear death? It's just a transition from this form to another form - nothing more, nothing less. "What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the rest of the world calls a butterfly." - Some wise dude -
What is so bad about not having an individual sense of self? Where there is no individuality, there is noone to bemourn the lack thereof. See what I mean? (I can only imagine how utterly amazing it must be to live life as a tree... having no sense of self, probably no sense of space and time, nothing to worry about and nothing to do but to simply stand there and exist? Man, that must be the LIFE!) As for lack of existence after death, don't worry... existence won't go anywhere. By definition, non-existence does not exist. So there is simply no way that existence will ever stop existing; it is just not possible! And since existence (a.k.a. reality) is really all there is and _can_ be, nothing can ever truly be lost. After all, where should it go? The simple fact is that there is nothing outside of this existence where anything could disappear to. There's nothing but THIS right here - everlasting existence itself, which is your true essence.
Guys don't be scared just make yourself busy everyday and you will soon forget and remember try not to remember those things believe in god and give all your problems to god. And also your loved ones might be the one who will make you feel good and some tips from me dont use any screens like mobile pc anything and meditate to calm your innerself and also when some thoughts comes in you mind forget it do something else like drawing or talk with someone in phone SPECIALY GO OUTSIDE STAY OUTSIDE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE and you can see outside from your window cmon guys you can do it i am with ya'all :D
I'm 19 and for the past 4 days I've felt very panicked and derealized, worrying about Descartes and Solipsism and whether or not the people around me are real and conscious. There are periods when I feel normal and I can look at Solipsism and almost laugh at it, but then I slip back into the "delusions" I guess you could call them. What you said about feeling like you've learned something about the world that will never be the same feels very familiar. It feel like I'll never be able to see the people around me as real people again. Even though logically, at my core, I don't believe that. I understand that the people around me are just as real as me, but there's this consistent doubt in my mind that nothing I see or believe is real. Thank you for this.
i’m 19 too going through the same thing, i went through it at 16 too. been on antidepressants that helped it but right now i’m needing to up the dosage and hopefully i’ll be back. you’re not alone.
@@metaman1455 I've gotten much better now! I still get the thoughts sometimes and get a nightmare every once in a while but I'm 80% back to normal. I ended up in a psych ward for a week and then had 2 months of daily group therapy, but I think what helped the most was being around other people my own age. I was very isolated after 2 years of COVID and only really spent time with my mom. A few weeks around a bunch of other young people got me back on track pretty well. In my case it ended up being OCD. The best treatment is exposure and response prevention, basically sitting with the thoughts and not trying to fight them. Eventually your brain stops focusing on them so much and they fade.
First time going through this was when I was 23, I'm 33 now. It comes and goes it never really goes away but it gets better eventually. Last time I had this feeling was 3 years ago and it's back this December thinking about existential stuff. I'm confident I'll get through this again, it's really important to talk it out with someone or talk reason to yourself. It feels like a hell you cannot escape from but it'll pass. Acceptance is key and seek knowledge and try to work on things, maybe find new hobbies or learn something new. Life is a scary mystery but it's not your job to figure out something that can't be solved.
I just experienced a panic attack similar to yours in the airport. Everything felt so fake. It was almost like i snapped out of it and entered a different realm of existence just outside of the real one. Thank you for sharing your POV!
I’m very happy that I found people who have experienced this as well and to have learned that it’s not just me and that I’m not going crazy, thank you so much for sharing. You all have helped turn my life around.
Stress comes from resistance and to solve that you need acceptance! Super good way of saying it, remind me of stoicism how you do not worry of things outside of your controll. Im not afraid of death, ive already recognized that its just a part of nature, how do i wish to fight nature? The only anxiety and stress i feel is that im afraid i wont live my life how i want to! Something i’ll have to figure out myself
im have been experiencing exactly what you described for some time now and panicking about it. i have always been a very driven and naturally ambitious and optimistic person and suddenly there is no motivation for anything. I wake up scared, being alone is scary, and In fact I can't ubderstand how I ever lived so at peace with life before. Watching this video and reading the comment section made me feel so much better even if momentarily and I am so set on practicing new habits including meditation. Thank you SO very much for making this video, which in some way made me accept this fear a bit more already, and for making me believe I can move on and live a peaceful life like I did before this crisis. Sending you all a lot of love, you are not alone ❤
@@habboseries1234 hey, I am happy to say I do! I was even a bit surprised to get this notification. I do not feel like that anymore. I started things like therapy and meditation and very slowly I began coming out of that scary place. If you are going through something similar, I promise you it gets better, although I do remember feeling like I would never be able to live life the same way again. But I'm here and I'm okay. :)
@@nunocalderone I'm so happy to learn that you're fine. The first panic attacks occured 2 months ago and now i start being more peaceful. I started praying god and learning about religions and i start feeling happy again. Thank you very much for your answer, i hope for you durable happiness.
I have been struggling with this so much lately. I found your video to be so helpful. When you said “I am taken care of” and “everything is always exactly the way it is supposed to be” wow, just exactly the words I needed to hear. Thank you so much!!
Ive been struggling with this since my dad died. Its been 3 years and i cant get out of this hell. Thank you. I feel pretty alone, its crazy to me that others are seemingly unaware of all our impending irrelevance
Hi ❤️ I'm sorry about your dad... That must have been a tough thing to process. I know it feels really isolating, but know that you're not alone and that there's a way out of it as well. I have so much content here on UA-cam that might help you get some more assistance on your journey. I hope you feel better soon ❤️
I seem to have a fear of dp which gives me the anxiety itself. The way I figured out how to describe it with my therapist is like I'm "searching for the symptoms" or "searching for the anxiety". Because when you feel yourself and not like you're depersonalized, you don't notice it, you just exist, fine as can be. So I will be sitting there going about my business, not depersonalized or anxious, but then it might cross my mind, and suddenly my thoughts are: scared that I am depersonalized, "do I feel real right now?" , looking at myself in the mirror to see if I recognize myself, etc.. Its like I am fine but when I start thinking about it and searching for it and searching for the symptoms, THEN I actually get really anxious and convince myself I AM depersonalized. It's exactly like what you described, when you get anxious about dp and fear it, it actually makes everything worse.
You just described EXACTLY how I have been feeling. I'm so terrified to dissociate that I'll engage in compulsions like looking at my hands to make sure that I "feel real."
When the thoughts about our existence started, it made me feel super anxious. The thoughts persisted for two or three weeks and then suddenly nothing seemed real to me anymore. Neither myself, nor my parents or friends. It was so scary and gloomy and I used to think what it could be that made me feel this way. I was anxious about having anxiety and end up getting an anxiety attack, it was like a vicious loop that I was into. But as the time passed, I started to feel better, though I still feel I am not back to my 100% but I can feel the improvement in myself. And after seeing this video, I am feeling really really good that it's not just me who is experiencing this. I thought I'll be diagnosed with any life ending disease. I hope everyone to get better and come out of this. After all, we all are in this together!!
I’ve been dealing with this exact feeling. I’ve been praying and researching everything to give me peace and your videos have helped me so much. Thank you. Your content is truly and answered prayer. Thank you for sharing and making me feel less alone🤍
What's incredible to me, in my experience was that despite all my reading, of research of wisdom of anything to help, what finally changed me was almost ...unnamable. It was as if something washed over me one day..a calm that spread like a soothing gentle wind all the way to my core of my soul. It felt like God touched me. There was no fear. No anxiety. No anything in any part of me for that day. Once I felt it and knew it myself to exist, I have never been anxious or depressed again since. In 10+ years. I just recall the feeling.
@@SolidSiren I pray this happens to me one day. I've been a Christian most my adult life and believe in God but have this underlying deep fear that none of it's real or it's all a simulation and I'm supposed to feel like there is a God. I pray that one day God will touch me in a similar way so my soul can know peace. Thanks for sharing your story. It gives me hope.
Robin, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this video because I feel like you are living in my head. What you said about fear of death and existence at the same time it’s exactly how I feel. I have terrible anxiety because of these existential thoughts leading to depression and this video gave me hope I can get better! ❤️
Dear Irina, I'm so sorry to hear that you currently feel the same way I did. I know It's a very scary time for you but trust me when I say you will get over it. I really suggest you to start looking at what's happening as a spiritual awakening and start to look up meditations. The book 'Fear' by Thich Nhat Hanh also helped me out a lot! Sending you much love
Thanks a lot for the advice, Robin! It’s painful but I have faith it will go away and be happy again. It’s really hard to enjoy things in this state, before questioning the purpose of everything, my life was normal and beautiful 😓❤️
Yes I know... But it will be alright! If you are ever in need of personal coaching you can always go to my website www.spiritcoaching.be Its still in Dutch for the moment but you can contact me through the whatsapp link there if you would like to plan a free intake session 😊
A month back, I smoked pot alone and i had an existential trip about who I am, how small I'm living, about reality. I was overwhelmed and i thought i figured life out. I thought i found a new perspective of life. A week back i did pot again and felt the world is not real and i questioned the big bang, quantum mechanics and dark matter and God. I thought I was unraveling nature's filtres and life itself. But yesterday i drowned in it and saw my life in third person perspective and soon it became cosmic horror, couldn't fathom the loop of thoughts. Even after the high these thoughts persisted. I'm still feeling same, now there is a word for this thing DPDR, I'm much relieved, i will snap back to pure beauty of raw life, I will feel life again and cherish the beauty of it. God please take me back to my raw life and don't give me any enlightenment. This episode will forever change the perspective of spirituality for me. I might not try any substance, the cost of existential crisis and cosmic horror snapping back is too high.
You are not alone. For the last 2 years, existential crisis and dread has been haunting me to a point where i have to search for these types of videos once in a while. İ know its scary, but you are not alone and we are in this together my friend💗
i was high alone, having an existential crisis and i eventually came up wit a solution😂😂😂 to love everyone and everything idk how, i forgot the rest shouldve wrote it down. it just made sense for me which calmed me down in the end since i found the "answer"
Back 8 months later, and it happy to say I've found some great grounding techniques and assembled a DPDR self help playlist (including yours!!) that is helping lots of people with the same things. You helped me on my journey through this, and now despite little bits here and there, I've mostly recovered. Thank you so much for your help and contributions to improving lives! ♥️
That's amazing Skylar! I'm so so happy for you. How amazing that you've created a playlist! Do you mind sharing it below here in case people need it? 😊
I’ve been having issues with this ever since I internalized the concept of death as a child. Imagine a seven year old who can’t explain their feelings any better than “I don’t want to die”, and all the grownups around them soothe them by saying “oh you’re so young and healthy, you don’t have to worry about that!” Except that I did, because I knew one day it would happen, even if that day was far far away. It went away for a while in my early twenties, but in the past few months it’s come back with full force.
Hey y’all - wanted to add that I’ve been going through the same thing. However if your obsessing over Existential questions & thoughts all hours of the day & it’s interfering with your life - it may be OCD (Existential OCD as a subtype). There is treatment for this - ERP, mindfulness, etc that can really help - very much in-line with the suggestions in this video. I highly suggest looking into this with a therapist in order to deal with your Existential suffering head on. I was/am just like most of you here ‘wanting my old life back’ & feeling like ‘I have a secret’. It makes sense that we might feel this way - however it becomes OCD/a problem when it is nonstop looping through our minds & impacting every aspect of our life. That is faulty brain wiring/chemical imbalance & may be a sign that you have OCD. Hope this helps anyone searching for help!
Chemical imbalance is nonsense. Existential dread is the truth, that’s why it feels so deep and you never really recover. You can medicate yourself and distract yourself but it doesn’t change the facts of life.
This is me! I had DPDR when I smoked medical weed with THC. Hat was 3 years ago. It triggered my ocd and I’ve lived with it for 3 years. It’s gotten better with help of my therapist who specializes in OCD. I’m starting TMS treatments to help me get it more under control.
I'm scared of the fact that I'm a human or sometimes I don't believe that and I can't believe that people or anything here is real and most of the time they scare me and the fact that I have a mind and a body freaks me out THANKS IT HELPED ME
The bottom line is this, we all know that existential thoughts are nothing new to us. Every single human being is aware and definitely has had these thoughts in their lifetime. The reason people without anxiety can live through these thoughts is because they let their mind flow and don’t get caught up and ruminate on thoughts. Once you break the anxiety cycle of ruminating and start accepting these thoughts will become minimal as your nervous system starts desensitizing from the anxiety cycle. And you can still have these thoughts but the ruminating and the spiraling will become lesser and lesser. This may sound easier said than done but it has worked so far for me as when I get these thoughts I let the anxiety sit with me, and try to distract my mind to get rid of these thoughts and let the mind flow, almost like saying to yourself “let’s think of this now” or just redirecting on something that gives me joy.
Thank you so much. I’m currently reading Sartre’s Nausea and it describes the feeling of being overly aware of existence perfectly, but it kinda left me even more hopeless so far. This makes a lot of sense though and I will practice presence and acceptance!
I’m starting to find out my anxiety/Panic is being triggered from sinus issues and lack of good oxygen flow to brain. This makes my existential thoughts/DR worse. And I’ve found that clearing my sinus issues and treating the pressure has calmed me down and brought me back to reality almost every time. So if anyone has sinus issues or deviated septum causing airway blockage, consider you DR/DP being triggered from anxiety driven by these sinus issues. Chronic Sinusitus is a big reason!! Hope everyone recovers!
Hey, i;ve had blocked nose and sinus pressure for years, makes me feel disoritated, confused and drowsy. Youre the first person that's mentioned this as being part of the reason. Please tell me how youve cleared them and treated the pressure. There's no clear info online. Thank you!
@@MsYellowturtle well I have a deviated septum and need a nose adjustment/surgery, so for me Amoxicillin is helping me clear up my passages temporarily… until then I’ll have to deal with it and hopefully surgery resolves my confusion
@@MsYellowturtle well I got hit in the nose awhile back but never really bothered me, until I started getting breathing and sinus issues and ENT told me it was deviated and recommended surgery
It would be really really good if ' existential crises ' could be accepted as a real thing with its own diagnostic characteristics and various methods to effectively handle it . I lived with it my whole long life thinking I was the only one who had particular thoughts/ feelings . It was only finding various videos on UA-cam that made me realize that I was not the only one . Peace and Love everyone ✌️🕊️.
this is SO relatable; i don't think I've heard my experience be articulated so clearly!! honestly just knowing that others feel this way is so helpful and makes it less isolating. I was having pretty regular existential anxiety attacks as you put it. it was derealization and depersonalization! thank you so much for this video, it's honestly been so helpful! it's so strange how existential dread is such a universal, yet simultaneously, isolating experience.
Just wanted to thank you for this and I am glad to have found your channel. Currently going through my own existential crisis with intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Send everyone struggling at the moment my regards and hope you all find peace and contentment. ❤.
Thank you so much ❤ i didnt understand what was happening and nobody seem to understand me , now i feel at peace, to anybody going through this, trust me it will go away, maybe not very fast but it will, you are not crazy.
One of my scariest symptoms is feeling like I have a secret to life or like I figured something out. And a part of me truly believes I have… and I don’t want to lose that knowledge, but at the same time I do realize how stupid I sound. Did this feeling go away for you or do you still feel like you “have a secret” like you said??
omg i couldnt put it into words but you did so beautifully haha. ive never heard anyone mention that feeling before. if you have any more information about it, like a psychological term or something, please do share!
This is a really good description , as i feel asif most people don’t want to admit this to themselves as they would as you say , realise how stupid they sound , however some people ignore it , I feel asif I am different from the billions of other and previous humans and that i won’t end up 6 feet in the ground dead with nobody caring about me and the world just never stopping but then I’m zipped out of my head back into my body knowing I’m there’s no way out
Every word you said I felt deeply, you've helped so many people by just this video. This might sound dumb asf but I'm 15, experiencing this and you're the only person i've found that talked about it so freely. Thank you
I'm also 15, and I'm experiencing overwhelming emotions, hopelessness, loss of control, isolation, negative self-talk, catastrophizing, emotional numbness, fear of judgment, physical symptoms, racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, escape fantasies, self-doubt, and desperation. I really wish that I never existed. 😢 I wanna leave this house. I'm tired of everyone.. I wish I could share all the things, but I can't + my English isn't that well.
I understand exactly how you feel I feel the same way.. it's so tiring and much worse when we're under 18 bc we can't leave her or take matters on our hands.. Remember it won't always be this way, only a little while longer!!! We will be able to chose what to do with our lives and heal!! I do believe that the thought of wishing we never existed will go away, I don't know why I still do @@deadslight
Thank you so much! I relate to much of what you are talking about. Struggling with panic, existential questions and dread, and constantly feeling like I'll never be ok. You're tips of acceptance and not fighting the fear are super important and helpful. Thank you very much for this video! 🙏🙏
I recently had a very bad experience with psychedelics that made my nihilism that was usually in the background totally front and center. its been ruling my day to day and keeps me up at night. My main fear is that the life ive worked so hard for will one day be taken away from me, someday my body will betray me and all the pain ive survived will be for nothing. I realized more recently that this comes from a place of love. I love living, i love the person im with, I love myself. I dont want that to stop, i dont want to leave them behind. even the idea of reincarnation isnt much help as it still means at best im starting over. I wont have the people i have, i wont even remember them. I think i started typing for a purpose, but ive lost it now... I guess im just venting. I know all the ways to cope with these fears and anxiety, but the truth remains the truth.
Thank you so much for this video. It describes what ive been going through over the past 6 months due to marriage and financial issues. Feels like things dont make sense sometimes, and i find myself questioning everything. The constant state of low level anxiety is brutal, feels like my mind can't rest sometimes. Happily, it comes and goes, but I've also noticed that the current state of the world also has an impact on me. Seems like a bleek future ahead of us, so staying positive can be a challenge. Anyone else finding this as well?
Thank you for the video.i am also having a existential crisis and it’s making me question everything.I am sitting doing my usual things and than it hits me and I am thinking like”what are we doing here and what are those people who I am speaking to”they seem not real and I don’t understand why they look the way they look. It’s very scary a hope I will come through this and live a happy life.thank you for the video it helps🙏🏻❤️
I’ve suffered with existential anxiety my whole life. The fear of death has been ever-present, and I dread the ‘permanent nothingness’ that occurs when we die. The funny thing is, it’s so deeply entrenched into my personality, that if I was ever ‘cured’, I would be unrecognisable. I know this sounds like limited thinking, but there is no way I could ever lose my existential thoughts - I don’t think I (or any of us) have the capacity to change so fundamentally in this way. Instead, I use my anxiety to fuel my purpose. OK, I realise I have a limited amount of time. So what do I do? There’s no objective purpose - what should I follow? The self awareness of my ‘condition’ has given me such motivation and such a grip on life that I’m desperate to squeeze as much as possible out of it. I’m desperate to learn and experience as much as I can about this fascinating and beautiful experience. I want to experience and hear about other people’s experiences too - that is my fascination. I want to learn as much as I can so I can not only help myself, but so that I can help and inform others. Of course, most people want rid of anxiety because it comes with some horrendous feelings. However, I’ve learned to live with it, and let it fuel me. Existential anxiety is a fundamental part of me - the fact that I became aware of it and embraced it changed my life and has given me the strongest zest for life I ever could have.
I'm pretty sure that some people's brains get a certain kick or "high" from the fear of unknown and even tho it's torture for us, the brain gets it's high off the fear and adrenaline and discomfort Like some sort of weird addiction! I'm very much the same as you, and I don't think I can ever change either. It was during learning about astrophysics that I learnt about how big universes are and how nothingness and black holes millions of times bigger than the sun etc and it broke my brain and I got dpdr for around a year and never ever able to stop my questions😢
@@kassiep yep people really do, I find it so strange and as you say, it’s like torture for us! It’s so difficult, it’s something we have to live with and try and channel in the best way we possibly can
@@theos_thoughts I wish I could be more positive about it like you can. For me it makes my reality feel unreliable and unpredictable aswel as my brain being unpredictable and unreliable so I feel almost constant fear and have no trust in almost anything. Everything feels both large and small at the same time
@@kassiep it’s incredibly difficult, and in no way would I want to make you think that I’m always positive and I can always channel it positively. And what works for me may not work for others, and that’s OK. It’s a constant battle. But I just remind myself of the overall picture, of my purpose, of my goals. I try to embrace the suffering as best as I can as I feel like that’s the only thing we can do - is to fight back. It’s not easy to find the solution, even if there is one - just about embarking on a journey of self-awareness to help you understanding your capabilities and how you can best manage your situation. It’s not easy, but it’s possible - it’s the only journey we must embark on.
I wish this video would have come across my feed sooner. I also studied philosophy in college and experienced the same existential anxiety you are describing. Something about dedicating your time to getting answers on life’s biggest questions and not coming up with any satisfying ones is terrifying. Thank you for making this video. It feels so good to hear someone else talk about this. Hope you are doing well.
Urgh it’s exhausting, mine switches themes and I fall in to the trap every time and my last theme seems so insignificant 😅 I went from having existential thoughts 24/7 for 3 months to literally shrugging my shoulders at the thought of it now
I got existential anxiety listening to your anxiety triggers in the beginning of the video. I munched on these edibles and they gave me the WORST existential anxiety of my life, going on 4 months now. I sincerely thought I was in the matrix (still kind of do). But what’s been helping me with my existentialism (source another YT video) is thinking about the fact that 1) I am real, and I am here NOW. & 2) that love is real and that I have friends and family that I love and love me. And those two facts help to ground and center me when I start freaking out. I really need to get some therapy, hopefully with this new job I can make something happen. And with regards to what you’re saying in your video lady, another thing that has helped me too, with my anxiety, is using the past to ask myself if I’ve been in a similar situation before, what was the outcome & like you say to face it and take deep breathes. The pre-anxiety anxiety is worse than the anxiety itself.
5 months? Oh how beautiful. Im in it for 25 years since i was 12. No mindfulness ever helped me. Thank you anyway. It doesnt matter. I too tried to block feelings with substances. I hope this state lf yours continue while you age and life get so complex. Oh so complex
this helped me so much, the way you described looking at this monster (anxiety/dpdr) and asking it, “what is it?” rather than running away or asking it to go away really put things into a better perspective for me. i searched up videos to help with dpdr and everything else was basically telling me that it’s never going away or that it’s untreatable etc. but this really brought me hope as well as peace. i will definitely use the advice you gave in this video, thank you so much.
You're welcome Em! ❤️ If you're looking for something to help you recover, I'm doing a live course at the end of juli! You can register or contact me on my website at www.spiritcoaching.be/en if you're interested in joining!
I am 46, and have had a life of abuse and suffering, in one way or another. I can literally remember contemplating life, as early as the age of one and a half, in my playpen. I still suffer everyday. Looking for answers even, Google, can't answer. And truly, feeling like, the only way you can truly get your answers, is through death, itself.
Lately, I've been experiencing the worst anxiety I've ever had. Ever since I was a kid I always had intrusive thoughts and obsessions that got worse the more attention I gave them. Eventually, I mobed on from these fears, but literally last week I had the most terryfying thought I'd ever had: What if no one around you is real? At first, I could reason with the thought and tell myself that it didnt matter, I still had my loves ones and friends to support me. But then, I thought, what if they don't really care about me? What if they are playing a role in some bigger reality? What if I'm the only real person with actual feelings? This left me crying and distressed for days. My family troed calming me down, and it worked, but I couldnt get the thought out of my head. Are they really comforting me? Is my entire life a lie? This was the most horryfying, depressing possibility my undiagnosed ocd had ever considered. I really want to be at peace with it. Accept the fear. But I love the people I care about too much to accept that they could be betraying me. It's devastating. Today has ironically been a much better day for me. Still, I wanna focus on the present and being there for everyone but I am honestly very scared.
same, i actually was able to cry for the first time since entering this episode. i feel so disconnected from humanity, but this made me feel so much less alone. as much as i don’t wish this on other people, it’s comforting to know that it’s not just me
As you were describing I felt a lump in my throat because I had the same experience 2 years back I somehow got out of it but it was so scary that I stopped meditations and even now meditation and yoga brings that same fear of going back into existential dread thank you for posting it makes me feel less alone in this struggle ❤
THANK YOU for this video. I went through something like this about 5 years ago and I'm going through it again. Hoping I can beat this again. THANK YOU.
Hi Shey! You're so welcome 😊 thanks for your comment! Sorry to hear that you're struggling again. I'm doing a live recovery course on the 24th and 25th of July if you're interested! www.spiritcoaching.be/en/product/live-2-day-existential-anxiety-dpdr-recovery-course-25-7-21-1-8-21-online/ Best of luck to you!
Something similar is happening to me. It started with anxiety about small things and then I had depersonalization and thoughts about not being real started to bother me to the point where the depersonalization got worst and I started to have panic attacks being hyper aware of the fact that I’m here and stuck and I’m going to wake up everyday. But then I have this weird feeling that makes me feel like I’m going crazy, like this is a dream and I will wake up and be normal or this isn’t my life and those thoughts drive me insane and the thing that also worries me is that I’ll be stuck like this forever. I’ve also had multiple panic attacks on the fact that “I actually belive life is a dream am I going crazy” I can tell the difference between dreams and reality but when I wake up I have this strange feeling on unfamiliarity about everything, like I can’t believe this is my family or my life, and it feels like the world is a dream or I’m in a box. And the worst thing is the doubt whether I’m going crazy or I believe it or not. It’s terrible I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I feel trapped and I can’t enjoy things anymore, and my memories feel distant like this isn’t life or this isn’t me, especially when I recall memories. And it worries me because I’m only 15 and I feel like I’ll be stuck like this forever with this anxiety. Not to mention it hurts when I’m around my family and I can’t enjoy time with them thoughts like “this isn’t real” or “they aren’t real” come through my mind. I just wish I could get out and have my normal life back. Life feels unfamiliar and scary Edit: things have gotten way better ^^ I’ve enjoyed life and those scary feelings have gone away for the most part. I do still struggle with dpdr because I’m used to the feeling now. Since I’m used to it, I’m not as scared. Yes it’s difficult to accept but it will happpen. I still am kinda dissociated since that day but that era was so traumatizing that it probably left some sort of after affect on my brain or something or altered my brain I’m not sure. But it does get better trust me🤍
You are so young. Please seek professional help you’re going crazy, it is just a normal response of the brain to intense fear or trauma. It responds dissociating itself to protect you from harm. And it can become a loop of feeling scared of being scared. I hope you’re able to recover and live a normal life.
Hey, I know this is really late but I just want to let you know that I'm almost 15 like you and have been going through exactly what you just described, for the past month or so. I really hope everything is okay for you now. These thoughts are scary as shit, it feels like you're completely detached from reality, like you're losing yourself. I hope we'll all be able to get through this.
Thank you! I’m currently having an existential crisis about life and what I want to do with my life. You seem like such a wonderful person and I wish you peace and happiness 😊
THANK U SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO. knowing that im not alone in this and knowing that ill be able to be happy again is so comforting. hearing u talk abt how u thought that you had some huge realization abt life seriously took away this isolated feeling ive been having. again thank you!
@@robinschindelka2117 Did you struggle with an existential crisis? I'm recovered from DP and feel myself again but i'm much more aware of the futility of our existence. Like us humans are so insignificant if the grand scheme. Did you just accept that fact and get over it? 😂😅
@@motomon9848 how many times did it take ? Did you feel like you were empty inside your body ? Did you feel like in an existential crisis ? Nothing had like a meaning ? Can you answer these questions lol i know i’m really annoying
Wow, thank you so much for this video it really saved me. After taking an edible I had a horrific month where i was constantly anxious that nothing was real which made gave me dpdr and kept making it worse which made my anxiety worse. Though after listening to your video i faced the anxiety and i feel free and so much better. Thank you
Thanks for articulating this experience so well, and I'm so pleased you have recovered. You are spot on to focus on stress reduction and acceptance as the solution. All I would add is that stress reduction takes different forms. I find exercise helps enormously, as does quiet time away from the kids. Meditation not so much, but breathwork can give me some release in really difficult times. And hugging my wife is great for releasing oxytocin. But as you say, don't focus on answering the questions, focus on how you respond to the questions.
In order to get over existential dread you have to delude yourself to the worldly things... there's no way out truly as no one ever forgets existential issues
For further guidance and tools in your recovery journey, have a look at my website and course: www.spiritcoaching.be/en/product/dpdr-existential-anxiety-recovery-course/
I still skeptical, but this was the best pep talk I've had in a while.
“The worst thing is I didn’t want to die because I was afraid of death but the fear itself was so bad that i didn’t wanna live either” I felt this shit in my core. It’s like you spend everyday in a sort of twilight zone between life and death, pushed there by the intense fear of both.
Exactly how i feel
excactly what i feel
That hit home with me as well.
What I'm going through now. It's exhausting.
Same
Being a human is one of the most stressful things. I look at my cat a lot and wonder what it would be like for him being so chill and relaxed with 0 knowledge that he will die one day. Must be nice
I think about this a lot too. It makes me feel better that at least someone (or in this case something) isn’t struggling.
Wow.. i also look at dogs and cats and practically wish i was one, instead of this anxiety-ridden human.
What if they do, they just don't care or they are aware and face their fears.
They don't have to work for this fake social concept we invented called money, in which poeple literally die over lmao
What I wish is that sometimes I wasn't born in the US where this knowledge is thrown on to you. It seems it's so much preparation and in turn fear of death that it pretty much takes away the aspect of faith if you're SO afraid to die that you go to all these lengths. Where my people come from they are very religious and happy people and it takes them far in life, all around the globe. Me, I'm just a faithless, frightened, fickle, finished human being in the sense that I'm broken. Our big brains, both a blessing and a curse, same as knowledge. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.
I have lived a really painful mental crisis in the past and i am still healing , for everyone reading this , there is hope . Life is less scary than it seems
When you said that you had in your head that you had figured something out about life and it will never be same again. God it felt soo relieving that I am not alone in experiencing this!
watch shaan kassam it helped me recover.
@@hayliestrickland989 are you fully recovered are you able to feel emotions again?
@@Tymless09 not the person you asked but I experienced this and I could recover and yes you feel emotions again. 7 months later How are you feeling?
Are you struggling with solipsism?
@@kajii1793 did you deal with solipsism?
You have to accept the anxiety/DPDR/existential thoughts and not fight them. They won't hurt you and will pass.
Can you explain how please?
@@traumainducing3529 he means invite the strange intruder that is lurking outside, in for supper. Sit down with them, get to know them so you can no longer see it as strange and a threat.
@@traumainducing3529 how r u?
@@Fartosaurus What steps did you take to get rid of it and how long did it take to recover from it?
@@mahmoudalsaraf2119 the dpdr stopped but the thoughts and anxiety remained. the physical dpdr senesations in reflection was not the worse of it. the thoughts and their affect were. i have somewhat getting better - but really i just gave it time - smahed loads of vitamins and put up with 24/7 exstential OCD until i could handle the scary thoughts - almost like numbing yourself. people react in different ways- experiment with what alleviates the pain and just repeat that - as futile as it feels at first
Almost recovered completely from existential anxiety, DPDR and a bit of ocd now. My advice : it’s all about perspective. Look at things from a different angle. Stay hopeful!!
Thank you for this beautiful comment! Congradulations on your recovery 😊
Thom are you living life normally as it fades away? My problem is the swaying symptom don't know how this will go away.
@@ME-jf7ho I live my life pretty normally yes. Still have some rough days for sure of. I never had anything like a swaying symptom tho.
@@thomfresch3607 have you recovered?
Thank you so much for this reassurance
It’s even scarier if you think you’ll experience psychosis after your DPR episode. It’s just anxiety and that’s all you have to remember it will pass
When you said "we are going to die" I literally had an internal meltdown. I now know what my main fear is. Well I knew the whole time I guess. Its going to be really hard to invite this into my life. But thank you so much for this video!
Update: 5 days later and I am feeling much better. I finally got out of the thought loops and am focused on my life again. I've been dealing with this crisis for 6 months. Acceptance is the cure!
Hey how are you now ?
My biggest fear is that my depersonalization will eventually turn into something worse. My loved ones feel like strangers to me sometimes and it scares me so much I feel delusional. I was normal before this, spiritually inclined and aware. My awareness turned into DPDR quickly and I’m in month three. Thank you for this video. I am trying to face these fears head on.
Did u experience not to know ur self in the mirror or photos?
I can relate to this 100% that the fear of dpdr turning into something worse is pretty scary.
I know the feeling..being always aware and scared that my OCD will turn to bipolar or schizophrenia or something else..
@@ivanvukoja7654 exactly but one thing you can do is that learn to accept the feelings and thoughts, that they can't harm you. Thank them that they were their today and they are just junk thoughts and do not need your attention.
@@ivanvukoja7654 I've read that if you have ocd and you are freaking out about developing schizophrenia then it's PROBABLY just normal ocd logic. Just think that you are anxious about leaving the lights on so you chek the lights again and again then you are relived that lights are off. thats ocd. so when you scare of schizo, you check yourself to see if you are developing something and then you relief for a while. which is a classic ocd thing.
I’m into my seventh month of extreme existential anxiety and it’s gotten better, a lot better. Just want assure others out there that I too thought I had no hope, that suicide was my only option which completely crippled me, I was stuck in my room afraid of the world. Every morning I’d wake up and compulsively check on how I am feeling and it was all the same, dread and fear, which lead to full out depression, I was afraid that there was nothing left to do in the world, that I had completed life, that I’m experiencing something I was never meant to experience. Symptoms of dpdr set in quickly which only exaggerated my situation, on top of all the cognitive mess and stress I now started to actually feel that reality isn’t what it always seemed to be, which scared the hell out of me. Friends and family became distant and at times completely foreign, it’s hell, a lonely hell. The first three months I could hardly sleep, 3 hours a night max, from which I arose with a panic attack. I couldn’t imagine that a human being could feel this way, my previous life felt so far away, my experience felt impossible. In the aftermath I developed strange fears, fears of the current moment for example, I was afraid of my own existence, the mere fact that I am here and that I am moving forward in time. I often get these terrible hyperrealizations that I exist and that the world exists and that I’m now in it.. just terrible. These scare me to this day.
But even in the midst of this hell, I’d catch moments of peace, that were hard to trust but are so good that you hold on to them, they reminded me that life could be different, even though when I felt horrible that felt impossible to believe.. what drove my anxiety was a compulsion to figure everything out in life, my purpose here, the nature of everything and so on.. with time you recognize that you didn’t live like this previously, and you don’t have to now. Besides, when you drop the problem, there seems to be no problem at all, life just clarifies, that is the state of mind I chose to trust.. you don’t have to figure everything out, you don’t have to do anything, you need you own care and patience, what you are dealing with is a disregulated brain.. create a routine and stick to it, exercise, eat better, but don’t push yourself too much, it might feel like restarting life a bit, which only makes sense after what you’ve gone through. Your sense of clarity and peace will return to you and it will stay for longer and longer periods of time, until it won’t leave you again, but this is a process with ups and downs, don’t expect to feel good all the time, and when you don’t, accept it, it will pass.. I’m currently recovering aswell…
We’re you scared to be you and questioned why you were you and were you happy just exsisting? Basically scared that you wearnt comfortable being you in the world! Confidence in yourself at 0 because that’s what I’m going through atm
It feels like I have written your comment. Hope you are feeling better now. I am in my 6th month of dpdr. I have hope it will pass.
@@NationalPK how did you recover
@@ChrisJakeman can’t say that I have recovered man, I’m kinda at a stand still honestly… I have mild existential anxiety, which is manageable, the thing I can’t seem to shake is hyper awareness of my own consciousness, I feel like nothing but my experience is real, or that I’m just the next thought or experience that arises in me… which scares me a lot..
ATM I’m trying to manage my anxiety so it goes away completely, hopefully the dpdr will follow
@@ChrisJakeman yeah I definitely questioned why I was me and why am I like the way I am instead of any other way… I questioned everything man.. it sucks
I would like to add something. You are not your thoughts. They do not control you. As the conscious mind goes through life it creates the ego which becomes the way you view yourself in the material world. Depersonalisation is almost like an ego death, it’s a feedback loop that reacts to shocks to the nervous system. It is designed to calm you down and give you clarity. If you fight it you’ll create more anxiety and it’ll perpetuate the DP and it’ll feel like it’s getting worse. Once you understand that DP can either be a positive or negative feedback loop depending on your understanding of it, it becomes less frightening. It will allow you to reflect on yourself and begin a healing process. Meditation allows you to be aware of blockages in the consciousness-mind-body system. Any frightening images you see when you meditate Is the fear characteristic of your ego self trying to take control. Do not refuse it’s existence but don’t let it control you. Laugh at the fear.
You are absolutely right! Dpdr to me was my Spiritual Awakening without me even knowing it! I do believe however that it is not ego death because then you wouldnt feel so much Anxiety and resistance but it is in fact an awakening as you mention! Thank you for your comment 😊
How can I get my ego back to life? When I look in the mirror, I look soulless that I feel like someone else.
@@jbjb6897 bro same
@@jbjb6897 hey I hope all is well with you. Your ego will return. It will be the same but more different and humble. Well mines did. You have to allow your mind (ego) to return back to what I knows on its own. Once you are able to do so…you can remold it and make it much better as you journey through your life. You can’t force it back. It comes back on its own term. Like memories of yourself (fun times) etc. it will return. Let it return on its own.
@@jbjb6897 You're okay. You're safe. Your ego is there. You are still exactly the same as before. You have just started having a fear of being 'empty' or not having an ego, you have started kind of obsessing over it, but a phase like this is normal, it will go away. Be cool with life and everything will feel ok, you don't have to do anything.
The first two days of my existential crisis were the worst days in my life (albeit so far I suppose). It really felt like I woke up and that I was the only one, I mourned for the deaths of my family, friends, and myself even though we’re all still pretty young. Such thoughts that I’m fighting and while I’ve started to improve I hope to recover just like you ❤
This is exactly how i feel when you say you feel like you’ve unlocked something and discovered something you weren’t supposed to know. I feel the same way and I’m afraid I’ll never look at the world and live my life the same way i used to ughhh
Hey there!
Sorry to hear that you're feeling like that. If you're looking for something to help you out, I'm doing a recovery course on the 24th and 25th of july! If you click on the link in the description you can find more info there.
Best of luck!
Hey how do you feel now ? Are you cured ? How did you do to cure ?
The comment section is like a group therapy session. Everyone is getting to know that they are not alone.
It’s so strange for me because I’m so afraid of death. Of the end of me. That I will be gone. I won’t be experiencing anything anymore. Just nothingness. But I also have absolutely no desire to live forever.
Strange you can't choose both. I'd say get involved with Jesus my friend.
Yeah I got that too. It goes away. You don’t stay perpetually stuck in fear of eternal life and nothingness. I should also mention that it’s impossible to feel the same way all the time (including fearful and depressed).
I went through dpdr, with mainly existential fears in the end of 2019. I did a lot of research and trail and error. What Robin is teaching is the same concept I used to beat the thoughts. Face the monster. When the thoughts came into my mind I would tell me thoughts "you can be here if you want, I don't care, but I'm going on with my life anyway." Don't fight it, let it be there and take away it's power. Stand up to it. This is the best dpdr video I've ever seen. Great job Robin, your helping so many people.
I tried that for several years, didn't work.
@@siim605 Be consistent. In the beginning it is hard because the thoughts are scary and you want to go back to your natural feeling of fear. Once you embrace the thoughts and feelings over time you will no longer be afraid when they do come up. When you take away their power it doesn’t matter how often they come up because you’ve trained yourself that it doesn’t bother you. Also try when the thoughts come up relax every muscle in your body and focus on anything else, but yet don’t try to force the thoughts out. Let them leave on their own. When you do that you are training your mind that the thoughts are nothing to worry about and overtime they quit coming up.
Be brave, show that monster who’s boss.
Did you had very light body and floating sensation
@@freeflow1402 yes. The more you want it to go away makes it stick around. You have to “give yourself permission” to feel it and let it be there. For example start with for the next 20 minutes you are going to not care if the feeling is there or not. Then build up to longer time periods
@@Brandon-ir7ws I have literally given up or even forgot about my DPDR for weeks at a time. It just doesn't work for me. I've had *very mild* relief from only two things - exercise, and xanax.
thank u so much, I‘m only 20 years old and going through this. You feel like you have to live with it now & it seems so impossible to not think about it. you even start reminding yourself constantly. I sometimes even feel like I‘m going crazy and wish to have my life before this back. you really did give me hope
Hey did you ever get better man? I’m 19 i feel like I’m going insane
@@Ludicrousgixxer Omg im 19 too! How are you doing now?
I started feeling it when I was 19 I’m 26 now and still feel it. It comes in waves throughout my life
How are you doing now
@@ashleighstark4804it started with me when I was a preteen. Dealt with it my whole life. Some years better than others. I’m now 56. I kept to myself quite a bit about how I felt. Nothing was identifiable back then. I’m glad younger generations can receive help that I couldn’t.
ever since i got pregnant my anxiety/ocd got 10x worse and i started having existential ocd (which i've never had before) my thoughts aren't about questioning if im real. they're more towards being freaked out that i am real and that we exist. i can't even look up at the sky anymore without getting a panic attack about how we're just in a floating rock in space. it's seriously taking over my life.
how are you doing now?
I’m in postpartum and mine has gotten 20x worse also ! I am trying Zoloft but it has made me develop existential ocd !
did you get any better ?
@@zeekeshaemusic hey. How are you doing now? I went through this too. Recovered 80% of the existential stuff.
OMG I thought I was the only one. I have this and it freaks me out the more I pay attention to the thought. I even freak out of how we are created. It crazy how OCD picks on her brains. Smh...
It is really impressive that existential ocd is always described in the same way. I have exactly the same symptoms. Depression is always described and felt differently.
Thank you I’m currently having an existential crisis and extreme fear of what happens after we die. I feel so hopeless. I’m going to try meditating on my thoughts.
Hi Dillan, sorry to hear you are struggling with this. Meditation really helped me a lot, and also the book 'fear' by Thich Nhat Hanh' I would love to suggest you. If you ever need personal help in overcoming your anxiety you can contact me on Instagram. Good wishes to you!
Found the anwser what happens?
I have the same situation! Been 1 year and its start from the morning and wont stop. I cant even sleep more than 4 hours night. Whats your situation now?
@@anttilehtinen3593 mulla on ihan sama ollut että ei 4 tuntia enempää saa unta, ja illal ajatukset ei lakkaa. Nämä kaikki johtuu ahistuksesta ja se ahistus johtuu ajatuksista jota me syötetään itellemme ja ne ajatukset on tunteellisesti niin raskaita että me vähän kun blinkataaan ulos kehosta. Paras vaihto on seratoniin takaisin oton estäjät koska ne estää ahistuksen tunteen ja laittaa ajatukset normaali suoralle. tai sitten on että lopetat ajattelemasta turhaa paskaa ja alotat treenaamisen.'
Samat ajatukset aamusta iltaan ja kun se pelko tulee siitä, että kaikki vaan päättyy niin en nää syytä jatkaa elämää kun lopputulos on sama et kaikki vaan pyyhkiytyy.
Olin 6kk ssri:llä eikä niistä ollu apua
I realized one day that I would be in my body for the rest of my life and look through my eyes in the first person for the rest of my life and it broke me. I hope I can recover.
I hear you. It's devastating.
4:10 to 4:21 THIS, I think about this everyday, it's been about 3 months since I started having existential crisis, constant panic attacks and feelings of Depersonalization and derealization and I always tell myself, "even if I get out of this, reality won't feel the same as it used to." And it's the worse feeling I've ever experienced, like when someone spoils you a movie you were about to watch and you try to convince yourself that what they said isn't real, it's kinda a dumb example, but it's the best way I can describe it.
Thank you for this video! It feels good to know that i'm not going insane and that many people experienced or are still experiencing the same things as me.
Hey, how do you feel now ? Do you feel better ?
@@habboseries1234 thank you so much for asking, I am feeling better. I can say that I got through that bad period of time and that I feel alive again, I didn't expect to be able to make those feelings disappear completely, but it worked and I'm actually living way more freely than before hahah. Again thank you lots for asking, and I hope you're doing well!
@@GiovyLoving I still have the feeling to know something people don't and life still feels like... empty. But i try to manage my stress, my anxiety and with time the symptoms tend to be more acceptable and lower (sorry for my bad english i'm french). I hope that you'll be fine in your life in the future, thank you :)
@@habboseries1234 the only thing I can tell you that really helped me getting through that is to convince yourself that you want to feel well, ignore all the thoughts and distract yourself with music, read or go out with friends, ignoring and pretending that those feelings weren't there really helped me and I hope it will help you as well. Also don't worry about your English I'm Italian hahah. If you ever need help or advice just reply to my comment I will be more than welcome to help you out
Thank you Robin. The exact moment when I stopped fighting with my thoughts and accept that I can't control everything the DR dissappeared automatically. That's the key, accept and stop the racionalization of everything :)
but how did you do it?
@@jakobmeyers8492 Knowing that thoughts are just that. If you fear your thoughts it's a pull back! Also accepting things that are out of our control and try to enjoy life while being vulnerable!
just finding out that other ppl have experienced exactly what im currently dealing with is such a relief i could cry.
This is relatable. When I think about me being on a planet and the void that is the universe despite the trillions of stars that inhabit it and my local human affairs/relationships I freak the fuck out internally.
This also happens with mee
this made me feel better because the same happens to me, i start freaking out internally and my body physically tries to smap me out of it
I really resonate with your story, I felt seen and i hope you feel the same way too. I tottally understand that the only cure is acceptance, I've been thinking about that recently too, however, I'm finding myself in state of denial, I just don't want to accept that existence has no purpose and meaning of it all. I hope someday I will get to accept the reality of existance, but it feels littearly impossible right now. I still refuse to accept it and by consecuence I'm depressed all day.
Hey how are you now ?
Robin, this is amazing! I recently got through existential anxiety and honestly I believe we ALL experience “existential anxiety/depression” at points in our lives. It was when I got grounded in mindfulness and my faith (Catholicism/spirituality) that I was able to come out of my fears! 💪🏽💙🙏🏽 Going inside yourself is so important! I believe all anxiety/depression stems from existential fears, and as a hopeful therapist, I hope to help others work through these fears! Amazing video, I saved it!🤗🙌🏽
im 13 and getting these thoughts and they're very hard to live with, it started with just getting them when i stay up late at night, now it's 24/7, this video helped me actually, we should just accept the fact that we're all gonna die anyway, there's no point in figuring out how life works, just live your life the way you want and don't worry too much about it because it won't matter anyway, and you won't reach anywhere, another thing that helped me go through this phase is my belief in god, my belief in an afterlife which i started doubting during this phase, im so happy these thoughts started to decrease now, all i gotta do is live my life how i want, and not worry about things ill never reach, enjoy life while it lasts bois, peace
Correct mate. Im 34 and have same results, you just need to accept all that shit. If you will feel bad, depression or anxious - please ask your parrent to find you a therapist. Your problem solvable (and was solve personally by me at my 23 years and at my 33 year). So just want you to know - solution of your fear exist.
I'm crying so hard watching this 😢 I've been in therapy for so long, my therapists told me to fight my anxiety and I always thought its not the right way. And you completely get me.
I’m so sorry, are u better now
U definitely need a new therapist that’s not ok
you need a better therapist, better resources
I remember the exact moment it started, I was just taking a shower and suddenly everything clicked. I realized that I’m just existing here on this earth and it just all scared me so much. I’ve had anxiety about death for a while but it has suddenly gotten so bad. I’m always fearing that I’m not real and everyone is fake and everything is just a simulation. I’m scared of forgetting everything and dying. Nothingness and eternity scare me so much. I’m only 13 so I don’t really know how to cope with this myself. I hope that one day I will overcome everything that’s happening to me right now.
Do you take any medication?
How are you?
Are you better?
This is the most relatable video I’ve ever seen in my 26 years of life. I really really struggle with many existential crisis from time to time. It’s like I almost wish I was dumb and ignorant and never thought that deep to the point the I realised I’m a mortal being that will in fact die at some point and I have so little control in knowing what will cause that death, let alone when. I feel powerless sometimes and the stresses of daily life don’t make it better cause it feels like suffering for no reason. Everything feels pointless. But at the same time I know that as pointless as it seems wondering what people 10.000 years ago were doing, I wouldn’t be here alive if it wasn’t for my ancestors survival, at least for a while. It’s soooo weird to think about it, all the time. It leaves me exhausted. It feels good to see videos like this and see the comment section and be like ‘wait, I’m not the only human being that has ever question this thing’ cause it feels like that sometimes. You see everyone coping so well with their existence and you are like ‘what’s wrong with me?’. If the body always dies why do we have all these insanely complex organs like the immune system to keep us healthy and alive? Like… is survival the meaning of life? Is it to keep living things alive? I don’t get it. Like everything in nature keeps pointing in the direction. Is the fear of death not a rational thing? I was so happy as a kid when I didn’t think about this stuff, but like you said once you fall into this trap of being conscious of your mortality, everything changes and it’s never the same again. I will try to follow your advice.
It doesn't make any sense asking yourself questions like "what is the meaning of life".
One of the most relaxing quotes I heard was from my therapist who told me: "life just happens". And it is the truth: life just happens, it has meaning and it doesn't at the same time. It doesn't really have a purpose, but it also has one at the same time.
Hey how do you feel now ?
Thank you for this. I am 27 and as of late my chronic anxiety has become full blown nightly existential crises where I’d get so emotional and distressed that I’d need to use physical grounding techniques just to try and sleep, otherwise I’d stay up until 7 in the morning and sleep during the day.
I’ve always been terrified of the concept of death, especially since my family and teachers kept telling me how someday my parents would leave me all alone and I’d need to learn how to fend for myself, even when I was a very young child. It gave me a massive chronic fear which has gradually gotten worse. Now I am ok with the concept of death, since I believe in reincarnation, but the idea of completely losing one’s consciousness after death is morbidly terrifying, along with the constant feeling like my life is “borrowed time”. I always feel guilty relaxing, but too stressed to get much work done, then feel worse because of that. It’s a vicious cycle.
Thank you. It really helps knowing that I am not alone and there is someone else that has been through this.
Well, it's not the case that you are losing consciousness after death... rather consciousness is losing "you" ;o)
@@EnlightenedSchmuck Either way, the idea that one will lose their entire sense of self and perhaps not ever have a single thought following the death of the brain is chilling. People can contemplate life after death all they wish, but the truth of the matter is that nobody really knows what happens. It could be peaceful and a paradise, but it could also be absolute nothingness and everything just....ends.
I like to think it's something more spiritual and pleasing in nature. That's how I choose to get through the day. However, the existential dread of it all comes crashing down on occasion. :/
@@SnepSquad Birth and death are two sides of the same coin... one implies the other; they are basically one and the same thing. So if there is no reason to fear birth, then why should there be any reason to fear death? It's just a transition from this form to another form - nothing more, nothing less.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the rest of the world calls a butterfly."
- Some wise dude -
@@EnlightenedSchmuck it’s not death exactly that scares me, but rather the lack of oneself, lack of individuality, thought, and existence.
What is so bad about not having an individual sense of self? Where there is no individuality, there is noone to bemourn the lack thereof. See what I mean? (I can only imagine how utterly amazing it must be to live life as a tree... having no sense of self, probably no sense of space and time, nothing to worry about and nothing to do but to simply stand there and exist? Man, that must be the LIFE!)
As for lack of existence after death, don't worry... existence won't go anywhere. By definition, non-existence does not exist. So there is simply no way that existence will ever stop existing; it is just not possible! And since existence (a.k.a. reality) is really all there is and _can_ be, nothing can ever truly be lost. After all, where should it go? The simple fact is that there is nothing outside of this existence where anything could disappear to. There's nothing but THIS right here - everlasting existence itself, which is your true essence.
Guys don't be scared just make yourself busy everyday and you will soon forget and remember try not to remember those things believe in god and give all your problems to god. And also your loved ones might be the one who will make you feel good and some tips from me dont use any screens like mobile pc anything and meditate to calm your innerself and also when some thoughts comes in you mind forget it do something else like drawing or talk with someone in phone SPECIALY GO OUTSIDE STAY OUTSIDE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE and you can see outside from your window cmon guys you can do it i am with ya'all :D
I'm 19 and for the past 4 days I've felt very panicked and derealized, worrying about Descartes and Solipsism and whether or not the people around me are real and conscious. There are periods when I feel normal and I can look at Solipsism and almost laugh at it, but then I slip back into the "delusions" I guess you could call them. What you said about feeling like you've learned something about the world that will never be the same feels very familiar. It feel like I'll never be able to see the people around me as real people again. Even though logically, at my core, I don't believe that. I understand that the people around me are just as real as me, but there's this consistent doubt in my mind that nothing I see or believe is real. Thank you for this.
i’m 19 too going through the same thing, i went through it at 16 too. been on antidepressants that helped it but right now i’m needing to up the dosage and hopefully i’ll be back. you’re not alone.
How are you doing, anything help?
How are you doing now?
@@metaman1455 I've gotten much better now! I still get the thoughts sometimes and get a nightmare every once in a while but I'm 80% back to normal. I ended up in a psych ward for a week and then had 2 months of daily group therapy, but I think what helped the most was being around other people my own age. I was very isolated after 2 years of COVID and only really spent time with my mom. A few weeks around a bunch of other young people got me back on track pretty well.
In my case it ended up being OCD. The best treatment is exposure and response prevention, basically sitting with the thoughts and not trying to fight them. Eventually your brain stops focusing on them so much and they fade.
I need.to.know as well@@metaman1455
First time going through this was when I was 23, I'm 33 now. It comes and goes it never really goes away but it gets better eventually. Last time I had this feeling was 3 years ago and it's back this December thinking about existential stuff. I'm confident I'll get through this again, it's really important to talk it out with someone or talk reason to yourself. It feels like a hell you cannot escape from but it'll pass. Acceptance is key and seek knowledge and try to work on things, maybe find new hobbies or learn something new. Life is a scary mystery but it's not your job to figure out something that can't be solved.
I just experienced a panic attack similar to yours in the airport. Everything felt so fake. It was almost like i snapped out of it and entered a different realm of existence just outside of the real one. Thank you for sharing your POV!
I’m very happy that I found people who have experienced this as well and to have learned that it’s not just me and that I’m not going crazy, thank you so much for sharing. You all have helped turn my life around.
Stress comes from resistance and to solve that you need acceptance! Super good way of saying it, remind me of stoicism how you do not worry of things outside of your controll.
Im not afraid of death, ive already recognized that its just a part of nature, how do i wish to fight nature? The only anxiety and stress i feel is that im afraid i wont live my life how i want to! Something i’ll have to figure out myself
Yeah! Same here! I do not fear « Death » one bit! But the biggest dread I have is living a life that is totally meaningless.
I’m going through this and DP but after watching this an seeing I’m not alone. I thank you so much
You're going to be okay, just keep working and trusting that things happen for a reason ❤️
You okay now??
@jayhiscock7910 how do you feel now
@@AT-wp8rihey how do you feel now
@@habboseries1234 99% recovered
im have been experiencing exactly what you described for some time now and panicking about it. i have always been a very driven and naturally ambitious and optimistic person and suddenly there is no motivation for anything. I wake up scared, being alone is scary, and In fact I can't ubderstand how I ever lived so at peace with life before. Watching this video and reading the comment section made me feel so much better even if momentarily and I am so set on practicing new habits including meditation. Thank you SO very much for making this video, which in some way made me accept this fear a bit more already, and for making me believe I can move on and live a peaceful life like I did before this crisis. Sending you all a lot of love, you are not alone ❤
Hi do you feel better now?
@@habboseries1234 hey, I am happy to say I do! I was even a bit surprised to get this notification. I do not feel like that anymore. I started things like therapy and meditation and very slowly I began coming out of that scary place. If you are going through something similar, I promise you it gets better, although I do remember feeling like I would never be able to live life the same way again. But I'm here and I'm okay. :)
@@nunocalderone I'm so happy to learn that you're fine. The first panic attacks occured 2 months ago and now i start being more peaceful. I started praying god and learning about religions and i start feeling happy again. Thank you very much for your answer, i hope for you durable happiness.
I have been struggling with this so much lately. I found your video to be so helpful. When you said “I am taken care of” and “everything is always exactly the way it is supposed to be” wow, just exactly the words I needed to hear. Thank you so much!!
Ive been struggling with this since my dad died. Its been 3 years and i cant get out of this hell. Thank you. I feel pretty alone, its crazy to me that others are seemingly unaware of all our impending irrelevance
Hi ❤️ I'm sorry about your dad... That must have been a tough thing to process. I know it feels really isolating, but know that you're not alone and that there's a way out of it as well. I have so much content here on UA-cam that might help you get some more assistance on your journey. I hope you feel better soon ❤️
@@robinschindelka2117 thank you so much for your kind words and providing us all a space to know we are not alone ❤️
I seem to have a fear of dp which gives me the anxiety itself. The way I figured out how to describe it with my therapist is like I'm "searching for the symptoms" or "searching for the anxiety". Because when you feel yourself and not like you're depersonalized, you don't notice it, you just exist, fine as can be. So I will be sitting there going about my business, not depersonalized or anxious, but then it might cross my mind, and suddenly my thoughts are: scared that I am depersonalized, "do I feel real right now?" , looking at myself in the mirror to see if I recognize myself, etc.. Its like I am fine but when I start thinking about it and searching for it and searching for the symptoms, THEN I actually get really anxious and convince myself I AM depersonalized. It's exactly like what you described, when you get anxious about dp and fear it, it actually makes everything worse.
This^^
@Yeah ohhh me too I don't actually contemplate suicide but sometimes I get so scared that I might be if that makes sense
You just described EXACTLY how I have been feeling. I'm so terrified to dissociate that I'll engage in compulsions like looking at my hands to make sure that I "feel real."
@Anna Geise have you recovered yet?
I do the exact same thing
When the thoughts about our existence started, it made me feel super anxious. The thoughts persisted for two or three weeks and then suddenly nothing seemed real to me anymore. Neither myself, nor my parents or friends. It was so scary and gloomy and I used to think what it could be that made me feel this way. I was anxious about having anxiety and end up getting an anxiety attack, it was like a vicious loop that I was into. But as the time passed, I started to feel better, though I still feel I am not back to my 100% but I can feel the improvement in myself. And after seeing this video, I am feeling really really good that it's not just me who is experiencing this. I thought I'll be diagnosed with any life ending disease. I hope everyone to get better and come out of this. After all, we all are in this together!!
What type of existential thought u think about....
I’ve been dealing with this exact feeling. I’ve been praying and researching everything to give me peace and your videos have helped me so much. Thank you. Your content is truly and answered prayer. Thank you for sharing and making me feel less alone🤍
What's incredible to me, in my experience was that despite all my reading, of research of wisdom of anything to help, what finally changed me was almost ...unnamable. It was as if something washed over me one day..a calm that spread like a soothing gentle wind all the way to my core of my soul. It felt like God touched me. There was no fear. No anxiety. No anything in any part of me for that day. Once I felt it and knew it myself to exist, I have never been anxious or depressed again since. In 10+ years. I just recall the feeling.
@@SolidSiren I pray this happens to me one day. I've been a Christian most my adult life and believe in God but have this underlying deep fear that none of it's real or it's all a simulation and I'm supposed to feel like there is a God. I pray that one day God will touch me in a similar way so my soul can know peace. Thanks for sharing your story. It gives me hope.
Robin, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for this video because I feel like you are living in my head. What you said about fear of death and existence at the same time it’s exactly how I feel. I have terrible anxiety because of these existential thoughts leading to depression and this video gave me hope I can get better! ❤️
Dear Irina,
I'm so sorry to hear that you currently feel the same way I did. I know It's a very scary time for you but trust me when I say you will get over it. I really suggest you to start looking at what's happening as a spiritual awakening and start to look up meditations. The book 'Fear' by Thich Nhat Hanh also helped me out a lot! Sending you much love
Thanks a lot for the advice, Robin! It’s painful but I have faith it will go away and be happy again. It’s really hard to enjoy things in this state, before questioning the purpose of everything, my life was normal and beautiful 😓❤️
Yes I know... But it will be alright! If you are ever in need of personal coaching you can always go to my website www.spiritcoaching.be
Its still in Dutch for the moment but you can contact me through the whatsapp link there if you would like to plan a free intake session 😊
@@robinschindelka2117 omg Robin it would be amazing! I would be forever grateful as I am really struggling at the moment! thank youuu! 🙏🏼❤️
Perfect! Just hit me up and then we can talk further 😊
A month back, I smoked pot alone and i had an existential trip about who I am, how small I'm living, about reality. I was overwhelmed and i thought i figured life out. I thought i found a new perspective of life. A week back i did pot again and felt the world is not real and i questioned the big bang, quantum mechanics and dark matter and God. I thought I was unraveling nature's filtres and life itself. But yesterday i drowned in it and saw my life in third person perspective and soon it became cosmic horror, couldn't fathom the loop of thoughts. Even after the high these thoughts persisted. I'm still feeling same, now there is a word for this thing DPDR, I'm much relieved, i will snap back to pure beauty of raw life, I will feel life again and cherish the beauty of it. God please take me back to my raw life and don't give me any enlightenment. This episode will forever change the perspective of spirituality for me. I might not try any substance, the cost of existential crisis and cosmic horror snapping back is too high.
Hey do you feel better now ? It’s been 1 year
You are not alone. For the last 2 years, existential crisis and dread has been haunting me to a point where i have to search for these types of videos once in a while. İ know its scary, but you are not alone and we are in this together my friend💗
Could you please tell me what type of questions do you have ?
i was high alone, having an existential crisis and i eventually came up wit a solution😂😂😂 to love everyone and everything idk how, i forgot the rest shouldve wrote it down. it just made sense for me which calmed me down in the end since i found the "answer"
Back 8 months later, and it happy to say I've found some great grounding techniques and assembled a DPDR self help playlist (including yours!!) that is helping lots of people with the same things. You helped me on my journey through this, and now despite little bits here and there, I've mostly recovered. Thank you so much for your help and contributions to improving lives! ♥️
That's amazing Skylar! I'm so so happy for you. How amazing that you've created a playlist! Do you mind sharing it below here in case people need it? 😊
@@robinschindelka2117 of course!! Its ua-cam.com/play/PLLJYuBgviqU_BQ9j2IhfjA7ADknro3_f6.html
I’ve been having issues with this ever since I internalized the concept of death as a child. Imagine a seven year old who can’t explain their feelings any better than “I don’t want to die”, and all the grownups around them soothe them by saying “oh you’re so young and healthy, you don’t have to worry about that!” Except that I did, because I knew one day it would happen, even if that day was far far away. It went away for a while in my early twenties, but in the past few months it’s come back with full force.
Hey y’all - wanted to add that I’ve been going through the same thing. However if your obsessing over Existential questions & thoughts all hours of the day & it’s interfering with your life - it may be OCD (Existential OCD as a subtype). There is treatment for this - ERP, mindfulness, etc that can really help - very much in-line with the suggestions in this video.
I highly suggest looking into this with a therapist in order to deal with your Existential suffering head on. I was/am just like most of you here ‘wanting my old life back’ & feeling like ‘I have a secret’. It makes sense that we might feel this way - however it becomes OCD/a problem when it is nonstop looping through our minds & impacting every aspect of our life. That is faulty brain wiring/chemical imbalance & may be a sign that you have OCD.
Hope this helps anyone searching for help!
Oh & thanks for the video! Well done & very relatable when you don’t think anyone else can possibly be going through the same thing.
Scrupolosity & Intolerance to Uncertainty
hi Amelia, can I get in contact with you?
Chemical imbalance is nonsense. Existential dread is the truth, that’s why it feels so deep and you never really recover. You can medicate yourself and distract yourself but it doesn’t change the facts of life.
This is me! I had DPDR when I smoked medical weed with THC. Hat was 3 years ago. It triggered my ocd and I’ve lived with it for 3 years. It’s gotten better with help of my therapist who specializes in OCD. I’m starting TMS treatments to help me get it more under control.
I'm scared of the fact that I'm a human or sometimes I don't believe that and I can't believe that people or anything here is real and most of the time they scare me and the fact that I have a mind and a body freaks me out
THANKS IT HELPED ME
I'm so happy I found this, I'm ready to cry, I'm so glad I'm not alone
You're not alone!
@@robinschindelka2117 Thank youu!! uwu 🧡🧡☕☕
The bottom line is this, we all know that existential thoughts are nothing new to us. Every single human being is aware and definitely has had these thoughts in their lifetime. The reason people without anxiety can live through these thoughts is because they let their mind flow and don’t get caught up and ruminate on thoughts. Once you break the anxiety cycle of ruminating and start accepting these thoughts will become minimal as your nervous system starts desensitizing from the anxiety cycle. And you can still have these thoughts but the ruminating and the spiraling will become lesser and lesser. This may sound easier said than done but it has worked so far for me as when I get these thoughts I let the anxiety sit with me, and try to distract my mind to get rid of these thoughts and let the mind flow, almost like saying to yourself “let’s think of this now” or just redirecting on something that gives me joy.
Thank you so much. I’m currently reading Sartre’s Nausea and it describes the feeling of being overly aware of existence perfectly, but it kinda left me even more hopeless so far. This makes a lot of sense though and I will practice presence and acceptance!
I’m starting to find out my anxiety/Panic is being triggered from sinus issues and lack of good oxygen flow to brain. This makes my existential thoughts/DR worse. And I’ve found that clearing my sinus issues and treating the pressure has calmed me down and brought me back to reality almost every time. So if anyone has sinus issues or deviated septum causing airway blockage, consider you DR/DP being triggered from anxiety driven by these sinus issues. Chronic Sinusitus is a big reason!! Hope everyone recovers!
Hey, i;ve had blocked nose and sinus pressure for years, makes me feel disoritated, confused and drowsy. Youre the first person that's mentioned this as being part of the reason. Please tell me how youve cleared them and treated the pressure. There's no clear info online. Thank you!
@@MsYellowturtle well I have a deviated septum and need a nose adjustment/surgery, so for me Amoxicillin is helping me clear up my passages temporarily… until then I’ll have to deal with it and hopefully surgery resolves my confusion
@@TWolfyG hope you get better soon. How did you know you had a deviated septum by the way?
@@MsYellowturtle well I got hit in the nose awhile back but never really bothered me, until I started getting breathing and sinus issues and ENT told me it was deviated and recommended surgery
Do you have allergies? I feel like taking benedryl helped with the anxiety some.
Meditation I thought was silly but since doing it it’s a game changer for starting my day.
It would be really really good if ' existential crises ' could be accepted as a real thing with its own diagnostic characteristics and various methods to effectively handle it . I lived with it my whole long life thinking I was the only one who had particular thoughts/ feelings . It was only finding various videos on UA-cam that made me realize that I was not the only one . Peace and Love everyone ✌️🕊️.
this is SO relatable; i don't think I've heard my experience be articulated so clearly!! honestly just knowing that others feel this way is so helpful and makes it less isolating. I was having pretty regular existential anxiety attacks as you put it. it was derealization and depersonalization! thank you so much for this video, it's honestly been so helpful! it's so strange how existential dread is such a universal, yet simultaneously, isolating experience.
Just wanted to thank you for this and I am glad to have found your channel. Currently going through my own existential crisis with intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Send everyone struggling at the moment my regards and hope you all find peace and contentment. ❤.
How are you doing now
@@NuPuhblik-fk8vzhow about you
Thank you so much ❤ i didnt understand what was happening and nobody seem to understand me , now i feel at peace, to anybody going through this, trust me it will go away, maybe not very fast but it will, you are not crazy.
One of my scariest symptoms is feeling like I have a secret to life or like I figured something out. And a part of me truly believes I have… and I don’t want to lose that knowledge, but at the same time I do realize how stupid I sound. Did this feeling go away for you or do you still feel like you “have a secret” like you said??
omg i couldnt put it into words but you did so beautifully haha. ive never heard anyone mention that feeling before. if you have any more information about it, like a psychological term or something, please do share!
This is a really good description , as i feel asif most people don’t want to admit this to themselves as they would as you say , realise how stupid they sound , however some people ignore it , I feel asif I am different from the billions of other and previous humans and that i won’t end up 6 feet in the ground dead with nobody caring about me and the world just never stopping but then I’m zipped out of my head back into my body knowing I’m there’s no way out
This is exactly how I have been feeling. It's great to know that I'm not alone.
@Lora hey I know this is a really old comment but it you haven't I'd suggest looking up "solipsism", it might be similar to what you're experiencing.
Me too
Every word you said I felt deeply, you've helped so many people by just this video.
This might sound dumb asf but I'm 15, experiencing this and you're the only person i've found that talked about it so freely.
Thank you
I'm also 15, and I'm experiencing overwhelming emotions, hopelessness, loss of control, isolation, negative self-talk, catastrophizing, emotional numbness, fear of judgment, physical symptoms, racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, escape fantasies, self-doubt, and desperation. I really wish that I never existed. 😢
I wanna leave this house. I'm tired of everyone.. I wish I could share all the things, but I can't + my English isn't that well.
I understand exactly how you feel I feel the same way.. it's so tiring and much worse when we're under 18 bc we can't leave her or take matters on our hands..
Remember it won't always be this way, only a little while longer!!!
We will be able to chose what to do with our lives and heal!! I do believe that the thought of wishing we never existed will go away, I don't know why I still do @@deadslight
Thank you so much! I relate to much of what you are talking about. Struggling with panic, existential questions and dread, and constantly feeling like I'll never be ok. You're tips of acceptance and not fighting the fear are super important and helpful. Thank you very much for this video! 🙏🙏
I recently had a very bad experience with psychedelics that made my nihilism that was usually in the background totally front and center. its been ruling my day to day and keeps me up at night. My main fear is that the life ive worked so hard for will one day be taken away from me, someday my body will betray me and all the pain ive survived will be for nothing. I realized more recently that this comes from a place of love. I love living, i love the person im with, I love myself. I dont want that to stop, i dont want to leave them behind. even the idea of reincarnation isnt much help as it still means at best im starting over. I wont have the people i have, i wont even remember them. I think i started typing for a purpose, but ive lost it now... I guess im just venting. I know all the ways to cope with these fears and anxiety, but the truth remains the truth.
I saw this and starting bawling. I didnt realize this was a thing, I felt sooo alone before, now im so much more hopeful❤
You're fine...what do you feel?
Thank you so much for this video. It describes what ive been going through over the past 6 months due to marriage and financial issues. Feels like things dont make sense sometimes, and i find myself questioning everything. The constant state of low level anxiety is brutal, feels like my mind can't rest sometimes.
Happily, it comes and goes, but I've also noticed that the current state of the world also has an impact on me. Seems like a bleek future ahead of us, so staying positive can be a challenge.
Anyone else finding this as well?
Thank you for the video.i am also having a existential crisis and it’s making me question everything.I am sitting doing my usual things and than it hits me and I am thinking like”what are we doing here and what are those people who I am speaking to”they seem not real and I don’t understand why they look the way they look. It’s very scary a hope I will come through this and live a happy life.thank you for the video it helps🙏🏻❤️
How are you feeling now?
I am so happy I’m not the only one who has gone through this
I’ve suffered with existential anxiety my whole life. The fear of death has been ever-present, and I dread the ‘permanent nothingness’ that occurs when we die. The funny thing is, it’s so deeply entrenched into my personality, that if I was ever ‘cured’, I would be unrecognisable. I know this sounds like limited thinking, but there is no way I could ever lose my existential thoughts - I don’t think I (or any of us) have the capacity to change so fundamentally in this way. Instead, I use my anxiety to fuel my purpose. OK, I realise I have a limited amount of time. So what do I do? There’s no objective purpose - what should I follow? The self awareness of my ‘condition’ has given me such motivation and such a grip on life that I’m desperate to squeeze as much as possible out of it. I’m desperate to learn and experience as much as I can about this fascinating and beautiful experience. I want to experience and hear about other people’s experiences too - that is my fascination. I want to learn as much as I can so I can not only help myself, but so that I can help and inform others. Of course, most people want rid of anxiety because it comes with some horrendous feelings. However, I’ve learned to live with it, and let it fuel me. Existential anxiety is a fundamental part of me - the fact that I became aware of it and embraced it changed my life and has given me the strongest zest for life I ever could have.
I'm pretty sure that some people's brains get a certain kick or "high" from the fear of unknown and even tho it's torture for us, the brain gets it's high off the fear and adrenaline and discomfort Like some sort of weird addiction! I'm very much the same as you, and I don't think I can ever change either. It was during learning about astrophysics that I learnt about how big universes are and how nothingness and black holes millions of times bigger than the sun etc and it broke my brain and I got dpdr for around a year and never ever able to stop my questions😢
@@kassiep yep people really do, I find it so strange and as you say, it’s like torture for us! It’s so difficult, it’s something we have to live with and try and channel in the best way we possibly can
@@theos_thoughts I wish I could be more positive about it like you can. For me it makes my reality feel unreliable and unpredictable aswel as my brain being unpredictable and unreliable so I feel almost constant fear and have no trust in almost anything. Everything feels both large and small at the same time
@@kassiep it’s incredibly difficult, and in no way would I want to make you think that I’m always positive and I can always channel it positively. And what works for me may not work for others, and that’s OK. It’s a constant battle. But I just remind myself of the overall picture, of my purpose, of my goals. I try to embrace the suffering as best as I can as I feel like that’s the only thing we can do - is to fight back. It’s not easy to find the solution, even if there is one - just about embarking on a journey of self-awareness to help you understanding your capabilities and how you can best manage your situation. It’s not easy, but it’s possible - it’s the only journey we must embark on.
I wish this video would have come across my feed sooner. I also studied philosophy in college and experienced the same existential anxiety you are describing. Something about dedicating your time to getting answers on life’s biggest questions and not coming up with any satisfying ones is terrifying. Thank you for making this video. It feels so good to hear someone else talk about this. Hope you are doing well.
Ocd'ing over DPDR is a nightmare.
Right? It seem you can't get out of it. Its invisible and its everywhere
It gets better, I did this every day foe 2 years until I got exhausted from it and it started getting better
Urgh it’s exhausting, mine switches themes and I fall in to the trap every time and my last theme seems so insignificant 😅 I went from having existential thoughts 24/7 for 3 months to literally shrugging my shoulders at the thought of it now
I got existential anxiety listening to your anxiety triggers in the beginning of the video.
I munched on these edibles and they gave me the WORST existential anxiety of my life, going on 4 months now. I sincerely thought I was in the matrix (still kind of do). But what’s been helping me with my existentialism (source another YT video) is thinking about the fact that 1) I am real, and I am here NOW. & 2) that love is real and that I have friends and family that I love and love me. And those two facts help to ground and center me when I start freaking out. I really need to get some therapy, hopefully with this new job I can make something happen.
And with regards to what you’re saying in your video lady, another thing that has helped me too, with my anxiety, is using the past to ask myself if I’ve been in a similar situation before, what was the outcome & like you say to face it and take deep breathes.
The pre-anxiety anxiety is worse than the anxiety itself.
okay this is where im going to come back to if need reassurance i actually feel connectedto you
5 months? Oh how beautiful. Im in it for 25 years since i was 12. No mindfulness ever helped me. Thank you anyway. It doesnt matter. I too tried to block feelings with substances. I hope this state lf yours continue while you age and life get so complex. Oh so complex
This was such an authentic and thorough description of precisely how you dealt with it. Thank you so much. Great work
The only video that actually helped me out
this helped me so much, the way you described looking at this monster (anxiety/dpdr) and asking it, “what is it?” rather than running away or asking it to go away really put things into a better perspective for me. i searched up videos to help with dpdr and everything else was basically telling me that it’s never going away or that it’s untreatable etc. but this really brought me hope as well as peace. i will definitely use the advice you gave in this video, thank you so much.
You're welcome Em! ❤️ If you're looking for something to help you recover, I'm doing a live course at the end of juli! You can register or contact me on my website at www.spiritcoaching.be/en if you're interested in joining!
I am 46, and have had a life of abuse and suffering, in one way or another. I can literally remember contemplating life, as early as the age of one and a half, in my playpen. I still suffer everyday. Looking for answers even, Google, can't answer. And truly, feeling like, the only way you can truly get your answers, is through death, itself.
I RELATE WITH THIS SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO! 💕💕💕💕💕
You're welcome! 😊
Lately, I've been experiencing the worst anxiety I've ever had. Ever since I was a kid I always had intrusive thoughts and obsessions that got worse the more attention I gave them. Eventually, I mobed on from these fears, but literally last week I had the most terryfying thought I'd ever had: What if no one around you is real? At first, I could reason with the thought and tell myself that it didnt matter, I still had my loves ones and friends to support me. But then, I thought, what if they don't really care about me? What if they are playing a role in some bigger reality? What if I'm the only real person with actual feelings? This left me crying and distressed for days. My family troed calming me down, and it worked, but I couldnt get the thought out of my head. Are they really comforting me? Is my entire life a lie? This was the most horryfying, depressing possibility my undiagnosed ocd had ever considered. I really want to be at peace with it. Accept the fear. But I love the people I care about too much to accept that they could be betraying me. It's devastating. Today has ironically been a much better day for me. Still, I wanna focus on the present and being there for everyone but I am honestly very scared.
DUDE THIS IS CRAZY THIS IS HOW I FEEL
same, i actually was able to cry for the first time since entering this episode. i feel so disconnected from humanity, but this made me feel so much less alone. as much as i don’t wish this on other people, it’s comforting to know that it’s not just me
@@s2000s7 dude same it’s such a strange feeling. Like you literally feel like an alien
@@bigshart5884 yeah for real. It’s like I’m observing normal human behavior and I can’t experience it. So annoying
As you were describing I felt a lump in my throat because I had the same experience 2 years back I somehow got out of it but it was so scary that I stopped meditations and even now meditation and yoga brings that same fear of going back into existential dread thank you for posting it makes me feel less alone in this struggle ❤
Same I can't do meditation or yoga it triggers my anxiety
THANK YOU for this video. I went through something like this about 5 years ago and I'm going through it again. Hoping I can beat this again. THANK YOU.
Hi Shey! You're so welcome 😊 thanks for your comment!
Sorry to hear that you're struggling again. I'm doing a live recovery course on the 24th and 25th of July if you're interested! www.spiritcoaching.be/en/product/live-2-day-existential-anxiety-dpdr-recovery-course-25-7-21-1-8-21-online/
Best of luck to you!
Hearing that I need to hug my fears helped a bunch, be aware that fears are normal and embracing them is the best thing you can do
Something similar is happening to me. It started with anxiety about small things and then I had depersonalization and thoughts about not being real started to bother me to the point where the depersonalization got worst and I started to have panic attacks being hyper aware of the fact that I’m here and stuck and I’m going to wake up everyday. But then I have this weird feeling that makes me feel like I’m going crazy, like this is a dream and I will wake up and be normal or this isn’t my life and those thoughts drive me insane and the thing that also worries me is that I’ll be stuck like this forever. I’ve also had multiple panic attacks on the fact that “I actually belive life is a dream am I going crazy”
I can tell the difference between dreams and reality but when I wake up I have this strange feeling on unfamiliarity about everything, like I can’t believe this is my family or my life, and it feels like the world is a dream or I’m in a box. And the worst thing is the doubt whether I’m going crazy or I believe it or not. It’s terrible I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I feel trapped and I can’t enjoy things anymore, and my memories feel distant like this isn’t life or this isn’t me, especially when I recall memories. And it worries me because I’m only 15 and I feel like I’ll be stuck like this forever with this anxiety. Not to mention it hurts when I’m around my family and I can’t enjoy time with them thoughts like “this isn’t real” or “they aren’t real” come through my mind. I just wish I could get out and have my normal life back. Life feels unfamiliar and scary
Edit: things have gotten way better ^^ I’ve enjoyed life and those scary feelings have gone away for the most part. I do still struggle with dpdr because I’m used to the feeling now. Since I’m used to it, I’m not as scared. Yes it’s difficult to accept but it will happpen. I still am kinda dissociated since that day but that era was so traumatizing that it probably left some sort of after affect on my brain or something or altered my brain I’m not sure. But it does get better trust me🤍
You are so young. Please seek professional help you’re going crazy, it is just a normal response of the brain to intense fear or trauma. It responds dissociating itself to protect you from harm. And it can become a loop of feeling scared of being scared. I hope you’re able to recover and live a normal life.
Hey, I know this is really late but I just want to let you know that I'm almost 15 like you and have been going through exactly what you just described, for the past month or so. I really hope everything is okay for you now. These thoughts are scary as shit, it feels like you're completely detached from reality, like you're losing yourself. I hope we'll all be able to get through this.
@@outdatedcakesIt started when I was 14. If you want any advice let me know!
@@jimmartin3849 how did you get out of it? Or did it at least get better with time?
Please tell me you feel better now?? Cause this is me now
I wish I would have came across your video sooner. Thank you. I’ve never met anyone that thought like I did. In a way it brings me peace.
you literally narrated my whole entire story.... from all the philosophy to being spiritual, meditation, etc
That's crazy! Did you get anxious from existentialism especially?
@@robinschindelka2117 hello, could I talk to you somewhere?
@@МартиненкоМаксим-р4ъ hi, yes you can. You can go to my website www.spiritcoaching.be and there is a link to my whatsapp!
Thank you! I’m currently having an existential crisis about life and what I want to do with my life. You seem like such a wonderful person and I wish you peace and happiness 😊
That is so sweet! Thank you so much 😊🥰
How are you? Im currently suffering from it
@@mikechrist9699hey how are you now ?
THANK U SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO. knowing that im not alone in this and knowing that ill be able to be happy again is so comforting. hearing u talk abt how u thought that you had some huge realization abt life seriously took away this isolated feeling ive been having. again thank you!
Your story mirrors mine. You explained it very well.
Thank you! Hope you are alright 😊
@@robinschindelka2117 Did you struggle with an existential crisis? I'm recovered from DP and feel myself again but i'm much more aware of the futility of our existence. Like us humans are so insignificant if the grand scheme. Did you just accept that fact and get over it? 😂😅
You’re perfectly describing my exacts thoughts
This is exactly what I'm going through i think dpdr makes the existential obsessions worse because they feel more real
I feel like this must be a personality type! Our brains must be wired a certain way. Its like we hijacked our brains to live in fear. Its so brutal
So incredibly spoken. I’m excited to try and start accepting my fears
Hey do you feel better now ?
I do 😊
@@habboseries1234 but it did take awhile
@@motomon9848 how many times did it take ? Did you feel like you were empty inside your body ? Did you feel like in an existential crisis ? Nothing had like a meaning ?
Can you answer these questions lol i know i’m really annoying
@@motomon9848 i’m happy to know that you feel better now
Wow, thank you so much for this video it really saved me. After taking an edible I had a horrific month where i was constantly anxious that nothing was real which made gave me dpdr and kept making it worse which made my anxiety worse. Though after listening to your video i faced the anxiety and i feel free and so much better. Thank you
Thanks for articulating this experience so well, and I'm so pleased you have recovered. You are spot on to focus on stress reduction and acceptance as the solution. All I would add is that stress reduction takes different forms. I find exercise helps enormously, as does quiet time away from the kids. Meditation not so much, but breathwork can give me some release in really difficult times. And hugging my wife is great for releasing oxytocin.
But as you say, don't focus on answering the questions, focus on how you respond to the questions.
In order to get over existential dread you have to delude yourself to the worldly things... there's no way out truly as no one ever forgets existential issues