Reassurance, Please. Solipsism Themed Issue

I think OCD is the most relevant forum for this. I'm new here and atressing out pretty bad right now so I hope this is the right place and all.

When I was about 10 year old, I started with panic attacks and anxiety. Looking back, there were signs before then but... I didn't get any help until finally when I was 17. Mainly, I would become terrified that I was alone in the world and other people were a halicination or an illusion, or whatever I'd come up with that week. At 18 - 19, with medication and CBT I got significantly better.

Now, at nearly 21, it seems like coming off my mediation was a bit of a mistake. Had to go back on it this week, after days worth of constant anxiety and absolubte panic (though these episodes didn't generally have any relation to the obsessive thoughts).

Solipsistic and existential ideas being the whole 'am I alone in the universe? Are other people hallucinations?' area of philosophy. I've done a lot of research on the subject of philosophy over the years, and rational me had come to understand what the idea of it being 'technically impossible' to prove anything actually meant, and why solipsist ideas weren't actually a real possibility. The person I am when I'm anxious still doesn't really comprehend that very well, and constantly feels anxious about it regardless of what I 'know', rationally.

I suppose I'm not looking for help or attempts to get rid of those thoughts with this thread, I tend to just get frustrated; it's something you need to come to your own conclusions on. It's just that every time I see people discussing this issue, they tell me they've been suffering with this particualr brand of obsessive thoughts for a few weeks, or months, almost always less than a year. This has been a pretty consistent subject of my anxiety for something like 10 years. This isn't the only thing my anxiety causes me an issue with, but I'm just wondering if anyone has managed to be distressed over one idea, particualrly a philosophical one, for such a long time before?

hi :) i'm sorry you're going through this. i've had exactly the same fear and it really sucks. i did the same thing as you when i had this fear- i found just about every argument against solipsism there is, and read over them multiple times. i'm not going to talk about any of those because i'm sure you'll have read all of them, but one (really quite obvious) thing i will say is that there are a lot. and most of them are pretty compelling. i dont think i ever found one good argument in favour of solipsism, in fact the only thing it really has going for it is that you can't disprove it.

of course just because you can't disprove something, doesn't make it true. i can't prove there isn't pink unicorn that follows me around which is simply invisible to the naked eye and undetectable by any scientific instrument, but since there is absolutely no evidence for that idea there's no point giving it any thought. same goes for solipsism. you just have to learn to see it as an intellectual exercise, a sort of logical loophole.

you have to stop looking for answers. nothing will ever satisfy your desire for conclusive proof that solipsism is not true. don't fight it, just let it be there. and after a while the thoughts will become less frequent, and you will realise that despite the fact the thought is disprovable, you don't feel you need to disprove it. it just won't seem possible anymore, if you see what i mean.

i can't really offer any insight on the last part of you're post, about having the same fear for such a long time. i worried about the solipsism thing on and off for over a year but i think the longest i ever worried about it without it going away was about 3 months, which seems like nothing in comparison to you and i am genuinely sorry you have been suffering with this for so long. what i would say though is it that i really believe it doesn't matter how long the idea has bothered you, you can still recover from it. i think one of the scariest aspects of the whole solipsism thing is that you feel 'stuck' in it. the idea of being trapped by doubt is scarier than the idea itself somehow. but i promise you, you're not stuck. everytime you start to feel anxious over solipsism, just remind yourself it's an only one philosophical idea, one out of thousands, and an ill-evidenced one at that. tell yourself it's not worth your attention, and move on to something else. i know it seems impossible if you've being worrying about it for so long, but i am 100% confident that one day the idea will not trouble you anymore.

also another thing i found useful is to find something to focus on when you feel anxious. find something that really engages you. i don't know if you play an instrument but i used to find that playing the piano helps. just anything that distracts you. and then you will calm down, and you can look at the thought in a more objective, rational way.

hope that helps :) please feel free to message me if you want to talk xx

Hi, I actually came across this thread on google (I had a pretty bad ocd day today too)
I've also had ocd over solipsism and other similar issues like death, conspiracies, etc, for a while, 6-7 years now and I've also lurked other people's posts about this type of ocd for a bit. In my experience, many people do have anxiety for weeks months, but there are also plenty who have had it for years like us, sometimes decades even. I don't think it's fair to generalize based on a small number of internet posts anyway lol
In any case there's also a question of intensity. Sometimes my ocd is so intense that I have trouble doing basic things (for example walking to a place might take 30 min to an hour where it usually takes me 10) but usually it's just a minor intrusive kind of thing. There are many kinds of ocd so of course all these factors are involved

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dhevix

...Mainly, I would become terrified that I was alone in the world and other people were a hallucination or an illusion...

---

Does it matter if it is, would it make any difference at all if everything else around your conscious mind is, say, a computer-based 3D animation? I think not, in ordinary life it wouldn't make much difference.

That said I wondered about this too when I was about 10-11 years old, and have since realized that lots of people have thoughts like that at one point or another. Like Stephen Hawkings probably; I heard he hosted a time-travellers party but nobody came (the invitation to the party was sent out after it had happened).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by randomforeigner

Does it matter if it is, would it make any difference at all if everything else around your conscious mind is, say, a computer-based 3D animation? I think not, in ordinary life it wouldn't make much difference.

That said I wondered about this too when I was about 10-11 years old, and have since realized that lots of people have thoughts like that at one point or another. Like Stephen Hawkings probably; I heard he hosted a time-travellers party but nobody came (the invitation to the party was sent out after it had happened).

---

it would make a huge difference. i want to experience with my loved ones.... how can i do that if they arent conscious like me? i want them to experience too... also whats the point if nothing is real...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk