Metaphysical Solipsism - Struggling

[legend4lyf]

Yeah, I went down the rabbit hole and it's hard climbing back up. I question the existence everything, including my own body. At the moment, I question if anything exists when I go into deep sleep. Silly, but unfalsifiable. And then I start asking if anyone really exists at all. It's difficult to talk to people and maintain eye contact. Help!!

[Scissel]

Yes, very hard to climb from out of the dark spots. I also struggle with looking people in the eye but even though our eyes are the window to our soul and when we don't look people in the eye they thing we are prey ... best to look at that place between both eyes and they don't know what you're doing. I use that one myself so try it, please.

We're here for you 24/7 but know sometimes replies are slow coming here nowadays.

Best of luck and I hope you will feel better soon.

Sal

PS: Oh and what is real or not; remember, perception IS reality. Wink We are all merely a blip in the tide so make it count for yourself.

[Anglo]

I'm so happy you posted this thread. I'm sad that you're experiencing something so difficult, but I'm very reassured that I'm not the only one going through this at the moment.

I used to love exploring ideas surrounding the mind, existence, reality, etc. and I'm heartbroken that it scares me so much now. I feel very vulnerable and on edge so often lately. I don't really want to say what has highlighted this latest bout of severe anxiety but it's quite difficult getting through the day without at least some period of overwhelming anxiety.

You're not alone. Neither am I. I hope you're doing well.

[Scissel]

^^I hope you start to feel better soon.

[legend4lyf]

Hey Anglo. Yeah, it's challenging to do anything really man. I have family members and they are wondering what's up with me and I've stopped communicating with them and it's just depressing when I meet anyone. I'm always obsessing if they have minds or not. I mean I'm no different. Then I realize that I'm just a normal human being who was born, was once a kid and now an adult. Aging just like everyone else. And I have no good reason to doubt the existence of other minds in the first place since. Everything I learnt is from this life. I have no innate knowledge of anything. All reason, logic, rationality, math etc could only have been possible when I learnt a language and studied throughout my life. And that knowledge was obtained using my sense organs. I have no good reason to doubt the external world. Sure, I can never directly experience what it's like to be someone or something else, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist or are some construct of my mind. It's not enough to conclude solipsism. But again, I realize this, but then have to reason myself through it again the next day when I starting doubting. Vicious cycle

[Anglo]

It is. Are you similar to me where you can talk yourself through it, understand everything logically, yet that doesn't always translate into calming your mind?

[legend4lyf]

Yes, indeed. It's hard to deal with. I tried hugging my family members and I feel nothing sometimes and that makes me depressed. Nothing excites me anymore either. I try using good arguments and reason, but to no avail. It's hard atm

[Anglo]

It sounds it. You and me both, brother. Have you spoken to a professional about it to see what insight they have? I'm still on a waiting list to see a therapist (shock, I know) but it's absolutely something I'll be bringing up with them. It ranges from uncomfortable to terrifying, and it's certainly not something I want to carry with my throughout my life. I wouldn't be surprised if you felt the same.

[Sparkle1984]

I know exactly how it feels - I went through a phase of being obsessed about solipsism when I was 19. Here's how it came about and also how I overcame it:

I have experienced derealisation several times in my life, and it's a horrible feeling, especially when you start worrying about existential things. The first time I had it, I was only 8 or 9 years old. Thankfully it wore off after about a month, but then when I was 12 it happened again towards the end of my first year at high school (during the summer term).


When I was 19 years old I went through a phase of solipsism (in my specific case, I was worrying that I might be the only person in the world, and that everyone and everything is a figment of my imagination). This was the most extreme derealisation that I'd ever experienced.


I was just sitting there one day when I was 19 and I was on holiday, waiting to go to the bathroom, when suddenly this awful thought came into my mind, "What if the whole world and everything/everyone in it is all a dream? All a figment of my imagination."


That really scared me. The thing is, I'm still not exactly sure what triggered that thought to come into my mind. It happened when I was on holiday with my friend, and my friend's grandmother wanted to go to the toilet. I let her go first, even though I needed to go too. As I was sitting in the bedroom, waiting for her to come out of the toilet, that's when the scary thought came into my mind. I started to think that maybe I should have gone to the toilet first, because my friend's grandmother might not actually exist anyway. (I know that last bit sounds really funny, but back then it was really scary for me).


The thing is, I had done several things in the past to help other people, but never until that day did I have a scary thought like that come into my mind.


From that day, I started to worry about it a lot. This obsession carried on for the rest of spring 2003 and the first half of summer. It took me several months before I got over it completely.


I started to search on the internet, and it was only then that I found that there was a word for my feelings - solipsism. Closely related to it is the "brain in a vat" philosophy. Also, the film The Matrix scared me, as it dealt with the topic of everything being controlled by a computer and not really existing.


Fortunately, as the months went on, the feelings of solipsism gradually wore off. Every day I would try to look for evidence to disprove solipsism. For example, if you really were the only person in the world, then it must mean that you created everything yourself, including famous writing such as Shakespeare plays, famous pieces of classical music etc. I definitely wouldn't have been capable of creating those things in my own mind. So, for me, this disproved the theory of solipsism. I do still think about it occasionally, but nowhere near as much as I used to. I didn't have any more anxiety episodes for a few years. Years later, when I had my next anxiety episode, it was about a different theme.


Looking back, I think the reason why it came about could be because I was studying hard for my first ever university exams - I was in the first year of my degree course at the time, and I was told that I had to pass all my exams in order to move on to the second year of my course. I do now believe that the nerves and pressure could have contributed to me developing obsessive thoughts.


I hope this helps you. The obsession will die down eventually.

[legend4lyf]

Hi, thanks for replying guys. I ask myself if I'm God (as that's what Metaphysical Solipsism implies), who or what is preventing me from knowing this ultimate truth? Because I don't remember hiding this information from myself. If my mind is preventing me from knowing this, then clearly there is a concept of a divided self - that which knows, and then that which doesn't. The godly self has ensured that I will not ever come to an answer about who I am and what the nature of reality really is.

To be honest, sure, I can't disprove this 100%, but it's so ridiculous that it's stupid. But it's so stupid, that it's such a bitch that it remains unfalsifiable. Just not worth your time. And if my Godly self has done this, why would it even let me wonder about Solipsism at all. Why even go down that waste of a time rabbit hole.

I dismiss solipsism because it's just plain stupidity based off of an axiom - I think, therefore I am.