Has Anyone recover from existential OCD?

I dont know what I would call what I have but I will call it existential ocd. I constantly question whether this world is an illusion or not. Has anybody had similiar thoughts and recovered in the form of no longer fearing/becoming depressed by the thought and possibly finding belief again that life is real and not an illusion?
Thanks so much.

Joe.

Hi, Joe! I used to have thoughts like that when I was a teenager. Are you getting treatment?

you know i've never really been present enough to feel the supposed realness of life, and probably cannot cognize as well as you to become depressed about its illusion. have you read many philosophers about it? they may not have suffered from DIDs but you're in good company if it depresses you. is reality related to meaning?

I believe that part of what can trigger that feeling is the input overload of our society. My son has Aspergers (austistic spectrum) and the lights, noise, sensations of touch, smell, etc...are like on super blast....like being at a carnival and never getting to go home to unwind from the stimulation.

We are inundated with 'reality' TV, media, etc....where 'real' emotions have been mimicked so much that wen we experience them, we wonder who may be 'watching' and not in a paranoid sense, but what you have described..this unrealness..this 'what if I'm just a character in a book or show or something" They even have the movie with Jim Carey - The Truman Show...where his whole life was staged.

My 'grounding' myself has come by limiting my exposure to all this other 'noise'. To simplify. Did you know that just ONE PAGE of the Wall Street Journal has as much information on it that someone living just 100 years ago would find out in a lifetime?? And look at what we have...constant barrage.

I'm not saying to isolate yourself. I'm saying, give yourself some peace from the stimulation and see if it helps. And in the meantime, during a feeling of unrealness...just remember...unreal people don't wonder if they're real. What was it the philosopher said? "I think...therefore, I am." And I know - maybe you know for sure you are real..but wonder if you can trust your surroundings to be. I suppose, I would just tell myself...if this was all in my head...I'd have made my flowers grow brighter...or,if still not convinced, how about I will choose to enjoy it, then, while it lasts...then, at least, it's not depressing or something to fear.

HopeIsHere wrote:What was it the philosopher said? "I think...therefore, I am." And I know - maybe you know for sure you are real..but wonder if you can trust your surroundings to be. I suppose, I would just tell myself...if this was all in my head...I'd have made my flowers grow brighter...or,if still not convinced, how about I will choose to enjoy it, then, while it lasts...then, at least, it's not depressing or something to fear.

I haven't been diagnosed with Dissociative Disorder, but I have gone through periods of "unrealization". This advice really helps. When I go through the episodes, I just try to calm down and tell myself "if this is fake, if this is all in my head, then I should be able to control anything I want." Just like Hope is saying.

I guess a big part of it, for me, is accepting that some things are NOT in my control. The things that aren't in my control, I need to learn to let them go and to trust that they are all a part of something bigger then myself.

Hope this helps.