life passing by way too fast

[danivsdani]

hey guys i'm 24 and i've been having this mild and weird obsession with the passage of time for almost 3 years. i was sitting with my little brother one night because he was terrified to sleep alone at the time (he's inherited the anxiety poor baby) and i got this intrusive thought about how fast time flies. my little sister had just graduated and it was creeping me out that we only had one kid left in school and it was the end of another school year already. the thought has come and gone a lot since then. i'm just worried i'll wake up and be 100 one day and be like WOW look at all these years i wasted and it all feels like yesterday. this causes me to worry about aging which i know is so goofy at only 24 but i can't help it. i can't believe i'm already 24. the saying is "time flies when you're having fun" but i am NOT having any fun. agoraphobia has kept me in the house for the past year. since i quit high school i feel like i've been doing the exact same thing for 7 years with the exception of one year. 7! years. this depresses me. have any of you had these thoughts? are any of you 100 and you can tell me by that time i won't feel the same?

[Ingenious]

What you're doing is simply what everyone does at some point in their lives, and some more than others: Worry that life is passing you by. I don't see this as anything other than normal, in fact, it could be argued that stopping and appraising your life in this way is better than not doing so. Why? Because you can make plans, have a think about where you want your life to go to.

The important thing is that the past and to some extent the future doesn't really matter. The past is already gone, we all live in the present and from here anything is possible, and the future has not happened yet! We are all equal in that respect - whether we are 20, 40 or 100. If you can try and focus on the present and not the past (or the future), you'll open lots of doors. However, that is an ability that often comes with age and experience. In the meantime, I am sure just about everyone at your age had these same worries :)

[Acidomoduso]

You reminded me of this song... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vhtpAIbIpQ

Although it's quite a morose song, i always remember this line in the song... "Oldness comes with a smile to every love-given child".

I felt exactly the same way as you do. 24, 30 (hated turning 30), 40 (didn't mind that so much). I'm now 41 and i remember things in my life like they only happened last week (but strangely cannot remember what i actually did last week!! :blink:).

Time - we can't stop it; we can only make the best of it!
You CAN quote me on that! :D

[danivsdani]

thank you guys :)

[lauz_lea]

I had this exact same obsession years ago when I had my first "episode". I was 15/16 yrs at the time and couldn't stop obsessing over how fast time went, and like you just kept thinking that before I know it I'll wake up and I'll be a pensioner. I couldn't stop obsessing about how fast the 15/16 years of my life had gone by, and how fast each day passed. I'd wake up each day thinking that in the blink of an eye it'd be evening and I'd be getting back in bed. I suffered a lot with DP and DR during that period of my life too and obsessed about a lot of things, ultimately all leading to the age old "meaning of life" question.

You're not alone in the thoughts you are experiencing, and it will pass, many anxiety and OCD sufferers use the term "existential" (sp) to describe this kind of thought/worry/obsession, and it's often caused by a realisation of how quickly we or our loved ones have grown up, we're all used to hearing the phrase "it seems like only yesterday" - well it was, just not today's yesterday, and whilst you may worry that time will go so fast that waking up old feels as though it could be tomorrow, it will, but it won't be today's tomorrow. I had to keep telling myself that over and over, and reminding myself that I can't change the passage of time - a day is always going to be 24hrs long, no matter how fast it feels.

[danivsdani]

thank you lauz_lea that is really good advice. the existential stuff is the worst because it's impossible to find people to talk you through it because you feel like either they won't understand or they will be frightened. that bit about "just not today's yesterday" is actually really comforting. if i count all of the yesterdays it puts into perspective how much time has actually passed and it feels further away not just like yesterday.

[lauz_lea]

You're very welcome. It's very hard for people who haven't experienced the existential thoughts to understand how they can really mess with your head. They're very deep thoughts and questions and worries that make you feel like you're spirraling into the centre of the universe, but if all of histories most intelligent minds couldn't come up with the answers, we won't either.

[PanchoGoz]

I've had terrible existential questioning from my anxiety - remember that different people worry about different things and that something like cancer and tumours will worry one person just as much as existential questioning worries the next - whatever floats your boat!
You worry about these things because you are a deep intelligent person, try to channel that energy into something else, instead of dwelling. You will forget about this feeling one day, try not to sit and think about it :)

[grotbags]

I am always obsessing over time.

This might be triggering so don't read if you're feeling sensitive


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But I obsess over space (as in the universe) a lot as well, which is very mind boggling.
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I can't believe I've wasted a decade to agoraphobia. I will get so gutted when I start getting wrinkles, as it's triggered such an age phobia for me. I am just thankful that I get asked for ID a lot. I know I look young still. This is one compensation for me and long may it last!!

[danivsdani]

someone told me the other night that there is NO WAY i'm 24 lol lord i'm already old enough to be told i don't look it? this person also said once you get past a certain age everything seems to accelerate. complete stranger. didn't even mention this obsession with time or anything. kinda creepy lol.

that's part of it grotbags i can't believe i've wasted so much time being the way i am. i've missed out on so much. i wonder if age phobia is a common thing with agoraphobia. or the existential stuff. perhaps it's because we're missing huge chunks of our lives? where other people have teenage memories, then college, then jobs i have nothing. that sounds depressing lol but i'm alright right now i promise.

panchogoz this is so true. i'll have forgotten about this and begin thinking about other ridiculous things eventually. as a worrier it seems like our brains are just trying to find the worst situations that we cannot get out of. time? i really cannot escape that. there is absolutely nothing i can do about it. i'm really thinking about channeling all this into something creative.

lauz_lea that is one thing i need to remember. i'll never have any of the answers so i probably shouldn't even bother. if i could just convince the thinker of this.

[Jenwales]

Yes!
I'm 23.
I worry that I'll never achieve my dreams, that I don't do enough to achieve them. I worry about not spending enough time with those I love and about them ... you know... going away..
I try and live for today but then I end up giving myself so much to do I'm not relaxing. I am in work and thinking what a waste of my time
It's not healthy at all!:weep:

[PanchoGoz]

danivsdani, I think you've touched on something there, we fear things we can't escape (claustrophobia), so existential anxiety is about time, existance...these are things we cannot escape! Ever! An interesting thought, I like it!

[anita82]

I am turning 30 this year and I am scared and upset. I don't know when I got so old! I have had panic/anxiety since I was 12. I still feel/act like a 20 year old! I wish I got asked for I.D. I am obsessed with keeping wrinkles at bay. I dont even like it if I have to squint in the sun. c