# Obsessive philosophical thoughts?



## Leigh (Oct 20, 2011)

Ever since I got DP about 7 months ago I have obsessed over philosophical issues pretty much every single day. I've become obsessed with religion, death and the universe (things that I had little to no interest in at all before I developed DP). I've spent hours upon hours watching youtube videos about religion and spirituality, I've read through tons of books by people like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, I'm in the middle of reading through the bible and I'll spend hours sitting bed at night just going over thoughts in my head.

I've heard that obsession over philosphical issues is common in people with DP and DR. Do you have any obsessive thoughts? If so, please do share them.


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## rightwrong99 (Apr 17, 2011)

Leigh said:


> Ever since I got DP about 7 months ago I have obsessed over philosophical issues pretty much every single day. I've become obsessed with religion, death and the universe (things that I had little to no interest in at all before I developed DP). I've spent hours upon hours watching youtube videos about religion and spirituality, I've read through tons of books by people like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, I'm in the middle of reading through the bible and I'll spend hours sitting bed at night just going over thoughts in my head.
> 
> I've heard that obsession over philosphical issues is common in people with DP and DR. Do you have any obsessive thoughts? If so, please do share them.


I got over that. Its a phase, distracting you from your real issues.


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## Guest (Nov 29, 2011)

Leigh said:


> Ever since I got DP about 7 months ago I have obsessed over philosophical issues pretty much every single day. I've become obsessed with religion, death and the universe (things that I had little to no interest in at all before I developed DP). I've spent hours upon hours watching youtube videos about religion and spirituality, I've read through tons of books by people like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, I'm in the middle of reading through the bible and I'll spend hours sitting bed at night just going over thoughts in my head.
> 
> I've heard that obsession over philosphical issues is common in people with DP and DR. Do you have any obsessive thoughts? If so, please do share them.


DP did the same thing to me. I was an Atheist before DP. But immediately after getting DP I started to research into Spirituality and Religion. I think I was looking for an answer.


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## InfiniteDivine (Aug 9, 2011)

DP drastically changes your perception and view that you once held about yourself and the world. It makes perfect sense that one would obsess over philosophical ideation when their once known truth has been rattled so hard. It is, however, just a phase that almost everyone with DP goes through. I used to have it real bad, and it has diminished, though not completely. Eventually as you get more used to DP and the "new" world you are living in, it becomes easier to decide which philosophies are actually helpful and which ones only add unnecessary anxiety to an already difficult situation. Once you get to this point, you begin to obsess less and less, a little bit at a time, until you reach the point where even if you find yourself obsessing, it doesn't quite scare or give the same level of paranoia it once did. It just takes time and some mindfullness on learning how to not get so trapped in obsession and unnecessary philosophical rumination.

Just ask yourself when having a deep philosophical idea, "Does this enhance the way I live in the world, or only make it harder and more confusing?" If it feels empowering, then go with it and hold it as a core belief. If it doesn't sit well, don't take it too seriously.


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## Antinatalist000 (Nov 29, 2011)

Leigh said:


> Ever since I got DP about 7 months ago I have obsessed over philosophical issues pretty much every single day. I've become obsessed with religion, death and the universe (things that I had little to no interest in at all before I developed DP). I've spent hours upon hours watching youtube videos about religion and spirituality, I've read through tons of books by people like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, I'm in the middle of reading through the bible and I'll spend hours sitting bed at night just going over thoughts in my head.
> 
> I've heard that obsession over philosphical issues is common in people with DP and DR. Do you have any obsessive thoughts? If so, please do share them.


The thing I struggle with most is the futility of existence. Life seems to be simply fulfilling our insatiable desires over and over again. Have you ever noticed that once you get the desired thing, whatever it is, the satisfaction of getting it always diminishes with time? Sex is a great example. You get horny, you want to have sex, and you either have an orgasm which is momentarily satisfying that urge, or you don't and you become restless, anxious, and essentially in a state of suffering. So, if you can limit the amount of time it takes to satisfy a desire then basically you would be experiencing pleasure sooner, but that means you would also "suffer" at the same rate. If you follow my point logically you can see that the actual, desired state, is a state of desirelessness. The satisfaction from getting the thing desired is actually more like having a thorn in your foot and wanting to get it out. The pleasure is not pleasure in itself, but actually only a relief from the pain which, in a sense, would be pleasurable comparable to having a thorn in your foot. Sorry that may not have been what you meant, but that's one of the "obsessive" thoughts I have.


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## Devon (Oct 28, 2011)

I"m not sure if it's just a phase... I feel like I've been in an existential crisis for years. I think it is the lack of feeling or our over-analytical minds that just seeks to explain why anything is. If you ask the question 'why?' often enough, you will always end up at some kind of "what is the meaning of life" question. But I agree that it is not constructive. In my view, philosophy must remain a curiosity, and the obssesiveness that we have over it is in no way helpful. Unless you think yourself smarter than anyone in history and can actually solve the great mystery. If I could stop asking why, I swear I'd be happier. I find myself promoting ignorance is bliss these days, and envious of people with faith. But it's like pandora's box...


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## InfiniteDivine (Aug 9, 2011)

Antinatalist000 said:


> The thing I struggle with most is the futility of existence. Life seems to be simply fulfilling our insatiable desires over and over again. Have you ever noticed that once you get the desired thing, whatever it is, the satisfaction of getting it always diminishes with time? Sex is a great example. You get horny, you want to have sex, and you either have an orgasm which is momentarily satisfying that urge, or you don't and you become restless, anxious, and essentially in a state of suffering. So, if you can limit the amount of time it takes to satisfy a desire then basically you would be experiencing pleasure sooner, but that means you would also "suffer" at the same rate. If you follow my point logically you can see that the actual, desired state, is a state of desirelessness. The satisfaction from getting the thing desired is actually more like having a thorn in your foot and wanting to get it out. The pleasure is not pleasure in itself, but actually only a relief from the pain which, in a sense, would be pleasurable comparable to having a thorn in your foot. Sorry that may not have been what you meant, but that's one of the "obsessive" thoughts I have.


Everything you have written here is the foundation of Buddhism. This is one Shakyamuni Buddha's greatest lessons: Desire leads to suffering. If you extinguish desire, you also extinguish suffering. Everything is always in a flux of change and nothing from the outside will ever lead to lasting satisfaction.


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## Antinatalist000 (Nov 29, 2011)

InfiniteDivine said:


> Everything you have written here is the foundation of Buddhism. This is one Shakyamuni Buddha's greatest lessons: Desire leads to suffering. If you extinguish desire, you also extinguish suffering. Everything is always in a flux of change and nothing from the outside will ever lead to lasting satisfaction.


It is becoming more and more clear to me that desire isn't a positive thing, and also the inevitability of desiring as long as one exists. That is why I advocate antinatalism, which basically says that to reproduce and impose life on another being is immoral and unethical. This is founded on the idea that suffering pervades existence and sentient life should cease to exist. It sounds radical, but its really not even a big deal. Don't have kids. Enjoy life, but don't have kids.


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## Jimbo (Mar 23, 2011)

I'd wonder whether a lot of philosophy is helpful for people with DP. A lot of it's about questioning our existence. But this is something that people suffering from DP are already doing 24/7 (least ones like me). Children feel joy that adults will never again know. So yeah maybe it is cruel to give birth to them so they can grow up to something apparently meaningless. But I won't be violent with my children like my parents were with me. If they were somehow genetically disposed to DP I think I'd be seeing signs of it already. So they'll experience a certain joy in their adult lives. I even feel joy myself but only when I'm extremely drunk. It still all seems senseless, cruel and absurd but it's senselessness, cruelty and absurdity become amusing because other humans who I usually feel inferior to are taking this shit seriously rushing around trying to belong to something that doesn't even exist and I'm just laughing at them. Anyway, I see your from Tennesee. Maybe existential angst is going to be the new trend in the heartland and you're simply ahead of the curve. There's a revolution that the coastal elites won't be able suppress, nihilism.


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## SamodrotAgressivoDrot (Nov 16, 2011)

I had many such thoughts once.. They were about god, god's creator, infinity of the universe, aboud soul: if there is no soul in the brain or a body, then who's "I"? That means "I" does not exist, i am just some chemical precess, about colors: there are no colors in physics, only wave-lenghts but we still see them as colors - what is that? maybe we still have a soul, or that is new type of matery or energy..
But that is not a DP-related thing, i have not found it in any official diagnostic criteria of DP
That should mean you have not DP but some other depression-related condition imho



> I got over that. Its a phase, distracting you from your real issues.


that is true..


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## katiej (Jan 21, 2012)

i agree that it is just distracting from real issues... so how did u get over that phase?


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## stillhaventfound (Jan 19, 2012)

Leigh said:


> Ever since I got DP about 7 months ago I have obsessed over philosophical issues pretty much every single day. I've become obsessed with religion, death and the universe (things that I had little to no interest in at all before I developed DP). I've spent hours upon hours watching youtube videos about religion and spirituality, I've read through tons of books by people like Richard Dawkins, Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, I'm in the middle of reading through the bible and I'll spend hours sitting bed at night just going over thoughts in my head.
> 
> I've heard that obsession over philosphical issues is common in people with DP and DR. Do you have any obsessive thoughts? If so, please do share them.


oh my gosh, yes. I was most obsessive before the DP symptoms set in, though, when it was just anxiety and depression--now I'm often too tired to think much about any of that, or to care. but it's still a constant almost-subconscious, never-ending train of thought.


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