Why is legitimate Existential Crisis confused with depression ?

[MusclesMarinara]

Existentialist's contemplate existence by their very nature, the "struggle to survive" is far from a revolutionary epiphany that they haven't already ruminated on.
Struggling through poverty or disease, and coming out the other end, just leaves one, perhaps, just relieved to be conscious. None of this solves the "problem" if we choose to call it that.

Trying to relate, and empathize with a existentialist is hard going, as they have "seen shit!"

I'll try one more simple answer.
I'm alive because my body is addicted to the chemical process that we call life, much like a junkie with heroin. I just can't stop myself from respiration and metabolism.

Beyond that, I live because Nature is as much about death as it is about life. Nature would kill me if I gave it a window. I live to spite that aspect. I thrive to spite that aspect. I choose to thrive so well that I pass that energy on to other living things to help them thrive.
The idealist in me yearns to create Utopia for all.

 

[Harmonica]

I think a lot of existential angst is just because modern life is not satisfying for people. We're tribals. There are too many people to accept them all into the tribe, so we're constantly jammed in with a horde of strangers..

Good point. Being constantly surrounded by a bunch of strangers is exhausting.

 

[Deleted member 409801]

I think the problem here is that you just haven't faced a problem yet that "could get the best of you." That doesn't mean that such a problem isn't out there.

An apt analogy is an MMA fighter who wins a few fights and thinks he's invincible. Then he gets KOd.

We're all gonna get " ko'd "eventually, so what is to be gained by sitting on the sidelines ruminating on the knowledge that it'll eventually......one way or another come crashing down?

There's a massive difference between simply pondering these things and allowing them to paralyze you. By doing nothing because it means "nothing "you somehow manage to make your little slice of " nothing " even less than it had to be. Worst case scenario and one would think you'd at the very least just try to maximize your visceral pleasure during your stay here.

Do you take vacations ever? Do you make an effort to enjoy yourself, or do you sit in your hotel room and let the knowledge of the fact that you've gotta return to work next week rob you of enjoyment? I'm guessing you don't .Maybe try extrapolating that idea into the rest of your life.

 

[Deleted member 409801]

I spent a looong time lost on that path. If I stay high or drunk all the time I don't have to think. If I can't think, then no despair.

Hey Mike, Are you on any prescribed drugs for your depression? I'm sure you know being drunk and high ( as much as most of us enjoy being so) isn't helping with your particular problem. Could you muster the strength to abstain, or even abstain and try to get on appropriate meds? Maybe meds wouldn't be necessary if you made some lifestyle changes. Heavy exercise has wonderful effects on the brains chemistry.

I guess what I'm saying is that just because you have a quantifiable and legitimate problem doesn't mean you shouldn't try stack the odds of overcoming it in your favor. You brought up cancer and the sickle cell earlier. I'd be willing to bet that very few people with cancer are willing to accept that prognosis without a fight. Granted , I think any compassionate person can see why the nature of depression precludes its victims from always making the seemingly logical choice.

Either way , I hope you're able to find some happiness in life man.

 

[ShinkanPo]

Lol at sherdog philosophy, where the answer to depression and despair is always to, like, stop thinking like that.

What a revolutionary concept, I'm sure it's never ever occurred to anyone with depression. For fucks sake.

Depression is really confusing some times I want to die some times I am so just mad at things.

 

[Coffee79]

I think it's logical to shutdown without purpose. It could be asked: How do so many people continue to energetically move forward even without any substantial reason to do so?
Is that not a worthwhile question, the irrationality of human behavior?

One might even say that the OP is being an authentic human being while the rest are just pretenders.

I have often thought I was born in the wrong planet/body/species as it awes me how people go through the motions everyday. Either they are incapable or unwilling to acknowledge the ultimate futility of their actions and lives. That isn't to say I don't wish to be like them, as they do seem happier. I would say it's ignorance on their part, but perhaps more a fear of going as deep into the rabbit hole as I have.

 

[ShinkanPo]

You have a lot of shitty posts.

Its his "Purpose"

 

[Coffee79]

This has been a really awesome thread for me - I've read all 13 pages worth. Thanks, everyone. What I'll think I'll have to do is this:

Accept that life is utterly meaninglessness, but accept that since I will won't live forever and there is nothing after, I will simply do whatever I can to make myself as emotionally, physically, and mentally happy as possible. I might as well train my mind (if possible) to stop asking these questions and just live for the moment. Be Here Now, I suppose, the only option for me.

 

[MusclesMarinara]

This has been a really awesome thread for me - I've read all 13 pages worth. Thanks, everyone. What I'll think I'll have to do is this:

Accept that life is utterly meaninglessness, but accept that since I will won't live forever and there is nothing after, I will simply do whatever I can to make myself as emotionally, physically, and mentally happy as possible. I might as well train my mind (if possible) to stop asking these questions and just live for the moment. Be Here Now, I suppose, the only option for me.

Perhaps here in lies the difference. I am not willing to accept that my life is utterly meaningless.

 

[Yellowking]

TS, you are correct. You aren't really classically clinically depressed, although your existential crisis is draining you. No one can give you meaning, and a lot of things that give others meaning just aren't doing it for you. Nothing wrong with that. In my opinion you should make some major changes though, you haven't seen enough or experienced enough to feel like there isn't anything out there for you, those things that would be meaningful for you.

So it isn't the job, the house, the "perfect" woman. Those things aren't cutting it. Maybe it's time to consider getting rid of them. You aren't going to find what you need if you keep doing the same things. Maybe you need to move to another part of the world, work on a project or a cause that you've always wanted to but have held back on. Sell it all for what you can, hit the road and trust yourself to make it work. Find the kind of life that makes you happy.

 

[45ACP]

Almost finished reading every page of this thread and man, a few of you are really just insufferable assholes.

You know what depression has taught me? Empathy. When you struggle yourself, it gives you an appreciation for the struggles of others that can't be gained or learned any other way.

And we were doing so well last week helping out CM's pup. Am disappoint.

There's a lot of good advice in here about finding your purpose. I read a book last year that helped me a lot. It's called Cure For The Common Life: Living in Your Sweet Spot by Max Lucado. It's somewhat heavy on the Christianity, but imo is a useful read for non-believers nonetheless. The one line that stuck out the most to me out of the whole book was specifically about finding your own, individual purpose. It basically said to look back through your life and find something that always came so naturally to you that it was hard for you to understand why others had difficulty with it.

There are more than a few of you doing a great job in this thread. You probably know who you are, and to you I say, "thanks".

TS, just get out there and start trying new things. Maybe something will stick. Helping others in some form is a great way to find purpose. What are you good at? Are there any things you've always thought you'd like to do/see but haven't?

 

[Kirin]

Just don't think about it. That seems to be what's causing most of your problems.

 

[Phlog]

I have often thought I was born in the wrong planet/body/species as it awes me how people go through the motions everyday. Either they are incapable or unwilling to acknowledge the ultimate futility of their actions and lives. That isn't to say I don't wish to be like them, as they do seem happier. I would say it's ignorance on their part, but perhaps more a fear of going as deep into the rabbit hole as I have.

Or,

Most people don't give a fuck about such questions because such questions have no impact on their day to day lives.

The meaning of life imo, is its purpose, it's reason d'etre (sp?):reproduction. If you want to believe there is another meaning that's up to you.

I saw the hand wringing questioning part of my life (ie the maladaptive part) behind me with age, structured MDMA and hallucinogen use and finally training and competing in kickboxing.

I still question but existential concerns do not bother me because they are little more than a fascinating curiosity.

 

[Scott Parker 27]

I've been in/out of of therapy for a several years. At face value, I have a very good life; good job, lovely girlfriend, great family, great up bringing, and good friends. I'm 36 years old.

But around the age of 25, I began feeling exhaustion with life - in that I started asking myself, Is this it ? Work, sex, meet with buddies, hang out with girlfriend, rinse and repeat ? I began looking into the religions, and frankly, they're all 100% BS so please don't bother by telling me Try Jesus.

I don't believe in God or an afterlife - this is it. I have a few more decades on this planet and I'm bored out of my mind. I used to drink - a lot. But even that has lost its appeal. Television shows that I watched with earnest in my youth seem boring. TV really does suck these days - no heart or plot. Once in a rare while I'll find a movie that I can really get lost in without looking at my smart phone every three mins such as Sideways or The Big Lewbowski.

I've been diagnosed as having mild depression/anxiety/OCD and I have taken the meds. But they ultimately don't work because all they do is suppress my emotions. Inside, the haunting reality of the meaningless of life keeps striking me in the face and I feel as lost, confused, bored, and frustrated as ever.

I keep telling the doctors the same thing: I'M NOT DEPRESSED. I'M UTTERLY BORED WITH LIFE ! They keep telling me the latter is a false conclusion of the former, but I just don't buy it.

I don't value needing a big car, or house. I enjoy my job but after a while it's all routine. I feel all I'm doing is just wasting my time until I am no longer. That's what we all do. And if you're going to tell me Go volunteer or do charity, THAT'S NOT REAL MEANING. That's, again, something I'm just doing because I ultimately have no idea why I exist, why the Universe exists, or why there is not nothing.

And there it is: WHY IS THERE NOT NOTHING ? Why is there anything ? Until this question can be answered, how I can possibly be asked to care about anything else ?

Like the band LARD says, "Mate, Spawn, and Die". That's pretty much all there is to it.

 

[MusclesMarinara]

The deer doesn't question why he wakes in the morning or why he has to suffer through the cold and starving winters. He simply does. But such is the way life goes.
The best he will ever be is a deer. You have the opportunity for much more.

 

[Timetravel_0]

There's a "movement" called deliberate living. It's where instead of coasting through life, going through the motions, you live with a purpose. Everything you do is deliberate and is with a purpose.

 

[Mike]

Hey Mike, Are you on any prescribed drugs for your depression? I'm sure you know being drunk and high ( as much as most of us enjoy being so) isn't helping with your particular problem. Could you muster the strength to abstain, or even abstain and try to get on appropriate meds? Maybe meds wouldn't be necessary if you made some lifestyle changes. Heavy exercise has wonderful effects on the brains chemistry.

I guess what I'm saying is that just because you have a quantifiable and legitimate problem doesn't mean you shouldn't try stack the odds of overcoming it in your favor. You brought up cancer and the sickle cell earlier. I'd be willing to bet that very few people with cancer are willing to accept that prognosis without a fight. Granted , I think any compassionate person can see why the nature of depression precludes its victims from always making the seemingly logical choice.

Either way , I hope you're able to find some happiness in life man.

I cut out drugs and cut back some with drinking. The hard part is the addict mindset just pops up elsewhere.


I got back on meds, but they didn't seem to be helping much. I recently stopped taking them because I was always exhausted, to the point where I was having a hard time studying.


I'm just trying to focus on passing my classes for right now. I would agree feeling like crap all the time leads to pretty bad judgement, that's the hardest part.


Thanks for the kind words.

 

[ShinkanPo]

I cut out drugs and cut back some with drinking. The hard part is the addict mindset just pops up elsewhere.


I got back on meds, but they didn't seem to be helping much. I recently stopped taking them because I was always exhausted, to the point where I was having a hard time studying.


I'm just trying to focus on passing my classes for right now. I would agree feeling like crap all the time leads to pretty bad judgement, that's the hardest part.


Thanks for the kind words.

Depression meds can make you feel exhausted?

I am on SSRI Prodin, I have been taking that since last august and at times I feel I don't want to wake up and yeah about the drinking thing I have been sober since August but every now and then I feel like I want to drink a few glasses.

 

[Guestx]

We're all gonna get " ko'd "eventually, so what is to be gained by sitting on the sidelines ruminating on the knowledge that it'll eventually......one way or another come crashing down?

There's a massive difference between simply pondering these things and allowing them to paralyze you. By doing nothing because it means "nothing "you somehow manage to make your little slice of " nothing " even less than it had to be. Worst case scenario and one would think you'd at the very least just try to maximize your visceral pleasure during your stay here.

Do you take vacations ever? Do you make an effort to enjoy yourself, or do you sit in your hotel room and let the knowledge of the fact that you've gotta return to work next week rob you of enjoyment? I'm guessing you don't .Maybe try extrapolating that idea into the rest of your life.

I don't disagree with most of what you say here. And I personally do a decent job of avoiding paralysis in my life. But happiness always seems elusive and joy is something I rarely find. I guess the thing that keeps me going is the hope--however thin--that things will be different one day. I guess it's that hope, however irrational, that keeps me from falling into total despair.

But if I didn't have that hope--and the OP sounds like he doesn't have it--I have no idea what my reaction would be.

 

[Guestx]

I have often thought I was born in the wrong planet/body/species as it awes me how people go through the motions everyday. Either they are incapable or unwilling to acknowledge the ultimate futility of their actions and lives. That isn't to say I don't wish to be like them, as they do seem happier. I would say it's ignorance on their part, but perhaps more a fear of going as deep into the rabbit hole as I have.

I've had thoughts that are kind of along those lines. An analogy that I've used in the past is that I live on a planet that's all mine. No one else inhabits it with me because I don't understand or connect with anyone else well enough for them to live on this same planet. My friends and family are on their own planets--and sometimes on the same planet with each other--and those planets are in orbit around mine. My closer friends/family are closer in their orbit, while the more of a stranger someone is the farther out they are in the universe.

I'd love to have the closeness that would come along with having someone on the same planet but I don't think that's possible at this point.