Anxiety about universe/existence

[Randara]

So I should have learnt by now that looking at news websites (especially BBC) is doing me no good! I keep seeing news stories and they are getting me anxious!

Most recently I have seen one about the Big Bang and I just can't take my mind off it. I didn't read it as just seeing the article title was enough to set me off. I just can't cope with how unpredictable the universe is. I can't get my head around it. I want my filter back where I can just forget about all the big things that are just not worth worrying about!!!

What's really frustrating is that I've had a really good weekend with no anxiety, today I had a great time with my little nieces. luckily I'm going to the doctors tomorrow to finally speak about my anxiety and have a proper discussion about it.

[Haylee.a]

I went through this 7 years ago! It's awful! Just like something weird ticks in your brain and you see earth etc in a whole new huge scary light!!!! If it scares you instead g fascinating you then don't look no further into it and concentrate on your own little bubble!!!! No point in getting freaked out over the universe and how it works etc because it will play nasty tricks on an anxious/depressed mind! Mine started when I decided to ask a friend about global warming! Omg it maded me see the sun in a different light (literelly) lol but yeh I was afraid to go out in the sun because of it!!! Too much for my brain to take in!!!!! So I can totally relate to this!!! X

[Randara]

Thank you for the reply Haylee.a . I plan on doing what you say and not looking into it, I know other fears I've had in the past had gone with time (I end up forgetting about them). Just trying to get the little voice in my head to shut up!

Glad I'm not the only one that's been through this, thank you fx

---------- Post added at 00:55 ---------- Previous post was at 00:08 ----------

I can't help but think what is the point, if everything could end at any moment then what's the point in everything. Been trying to distract myself but it isn't working!

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think thats something to learn to accept about life in general, the only guarantee you have is that it will end. Really we should learn from these things so that we live every moment to it's potential but I think that is very hard when anxiety is kicking you all day long.

It sounds like you are heading down the solipsism route here. There are some long running threads on the OCD board about this with it being an OCD subtype. It might be worth having a read of their advice on how they dealt with it?

Use grounding techniques. Think about things in the here & now.

[uru]

Hi Randara!

What an interesting anxiety! Can I ask you what specifically worries you about the Big Bang?

[Randara]

Morning both, thank you for the replies :)

Urusainaa- I would say it is the fear of what happens at the other end i.e. When the universe stops expanding! It all relates back to my fear of (untimely) death and things I cannot control. I also find it hard to understand how the universe exists, what it exists in and what will exist when it is no more (if that happens). But I also know there is no point worrying about these beause I will never know!

Thank you Terry, I will have a look at those boards. Didn't get much sleep because I kept waking up and feeling anxious, so wasn't in the best mood this morning. However, I took our dog for his morning walk and halfway through I suddenly felt better. I was thinking about how I always have an anxiety attack before something is about to happen (I.e. I have doctors apt today) and it is linked to that. I am hoping it will have passed now but I expect seeing the doctor will probably cause my anxiety to manifest in something! Thank you again Terry, you always have a good perspective on everything.

[uru]

Hi,

thanks for the reply. I don't know if it's helpful and I'm sure you already know this but the universe won't stop expanding. Or, it certainly won't stop in our lifetimes. Our sun will go out well before that.

I find this topic fascinating so it's interesting to me that it scares you. Like "what does the universe exist in?" What a great question. I've heard two ideas about this. One is that it exists in itself, in that the universe is everything and there is nothing outside of it. It expands creating reality as it does.

The other is the multiverse theory. That is that we are one bubble among many bubbles.

[Randara]

Thank you Urusainaa, even though we can't be sure your answers are helpful. Having someone external give an explanation for something makes the fears seem different if that makes sense! I think when I started feeling anxious about it I lost all reason and forgot everything I had ever learnt about the universe, and then my mind began thinking up all sort of things! You have really helped, thank you :)


What did worry me when the anxiety lifted was that I felt so happy and relieved and felt like laughing to myself. I started to feel like I was going mad/having a manic episode. And then naturally it made me feel panicky because I thought that I was going crazy.

[uru]

I sometimes think my anxiety exists separate from what it latches onto. So I become anxious and then my anxiety irrationally seeks out a target. It could be health, it could be war, it could be global warming.

[Randara]

Yeah I feel that way too, it's a pain!

[MyNameIsTerry]

T
What did worry me when the anxiety lifted was that I felt so happy and relieved and felt like laughing to myself. I started to feel like I was going mad/having a manic episode. And then naturally it made me feel panicky because I thought that I was going crazy.

Yes, this is common. We used to talk about this at the walk-in groups too.

What I learnt is that when these periods come you need to learn to accept them for what they are because otherwise you only bring back your anxiety faster than it would return on it's own. Going from 24/7 non stop anxiety to periods where you can feel happier, albeit brief, means escaping from the constant cycle of being in a very bad place and moving towards being better. It's part of the recovery process as I see it.

It feels strange because anxiety has become normal. Core beliefs change to expect us to be anxious all the time so when we don't feel like that we basically get what we had when we started experiencing anxiety, something new that the subconscious doesn't expect and so in kicks anxiety seeing it as a possible threat.

Thanks by the way, I'm just glad if something I say ever helps.

...and your dog is a grounding exercise all on his/her own. Nature is good for mental health issues and pets are brilliant. :woof I just wish I could be more like my dog!

---------- Post added at 11:44 ---------- Previous post was at 11:38 ----------


Hi,

thanks for the reply. I don't know if it's helpful and I'm sure you already know this but the universe won't stop expanding. Or, it certainly won't stop in our lifetimes. Our sun will go out well before that.

I find this topic fascinating so it's interesting to me that it scares you. Like "what does the universe exist in?" What a great question. I've heard two ideas about this. One is that it exists in itself, in that the universe is everything and there is nothing outside of it. It expands creating reality as it does.

The other is the multiverse theory. That is that we are one bubble among many bubbles.

I'm with Men In Black, our universe is just another marble some big alien is playing with. :D

I reckon with this type of worry, turn it into the ludicrous to reduce it's impact...make it a disc on the backs of 4 elephants on the back of a giant turtle, .

Shadows and dust as Oliver Read once famously said in a very good film.

[Fishmanpa]

Hi,

thanks for the reply. I don't know if it's helpful and I'm sure you already know this but the universe won't stop expanding. Or, it certainly won't stop in our lifetimes. Our sun will go out well before that.

I find this topic fascinating so it's interesting to me that it scares you. Like "what does the universe exist in?" What a great question. I've heard two ideas about this. One is that it exists in itself, in that the universe is everything and there is nothing outside of it. It expands creating reality as it does.

The other is the multiverse theory. That is that we are one bubble among many bubbles.

I find this fascinating as well. It's always boggled my mind and I've had an interest in astrology since I was a child. I even own a telescope. My wife and I live in an area that allows us to view the meteor showers and star gaze. I'm the total opposite in that I have no fear at all.

The universe, it's creation, the theories, all of it is really too much to wrap your head around. Perhaps as you said, that's the fear. No control. No real definitive answers. I choose to marvel at the sheer beauty and vastness.

Positive thoughts

[Randara]

...and your dog is a grounding exercise all on his/her own. Nature is good for mental health issues and pets are brilliant. :woof I just wish I could be more like my dog!




I would say the same, but my dog likes to eat fox poop so maybe not... :winks:

Now I'm in a better frame of mind I've been thinking about it all and I totally understand how people find religion. The universe is so uncomprehensible that the only way to explain it is something external. When I was younger I thought the earth was just like a massive game of The Sims or that we were suspended in a snow globe or something like that.