So I recently turned 30 and ever since then I've been having these massive anxiety attacks. I'm can't get my mind off the fact that I'm going to die.
I know some of you are thinking well duh, everyone dies. And you're right. But pretty much all my life I believed that by the time I grew older, they'll have invented something to prolong human life. Well that's definitely not the case. Let's just say, I didn't take that realization very well, to put it mildly.
I can't enjoy things anymore, because all that keeps running in my head is how little time we all have. That in two or three years I'm going to be wrinkly, old and ugly. That nobody will ever love me.
At first I thought things would eventually return to normal, but it's been three weeks. I'll be going on with my day normally, but then suddenly these ugly thoughts will burst forward and chill me to the core. I just wanna go back to the way things were. Being ignorant of mortality and the passage of time.
Nah, this is pretty normal for me as a 20 year old. You just have to move on and realize we all eventually die user and the only thing you can do is do what you want until death.
Nathaniel Lee
Try to accomplish something.
Carson Lewis
Death is the best part of life you idiot.
Isaiah Gonzalez
lol this
Gabriel Hill
this is called existential crisis and stems from some bullshit in your life. For me it was turning 25 I felt dread but it was because I was alone not because I was dying tomorrow. Tldr chill bro if something is causing you that much anxiety solve it by any means necessary. also read the wiki article
Andrew Mitchell
This, honestly. It sounds like you're just lonely and probably depressed (work out and get your vitamin D, it's winter after all).
You'll be fine, work on yourself. Right now you're just fixated on something that doesn't actually matter.
Nathan Flores
>So I recently turned 30 and ever since then I've been having these massive anxiety attacks. I'm can't get my mind off the fact that I'm going to die.
33 year old here, and I guess I got that out of my system when I was younger. I was like 22-25 when I went through that "oh no I'm old I was supposed to be a rockstar millionaire by now booohoo" quarter life crisis - and then I was like 16-19 when I went through "everyone dies " phase.
I was raised Christian, it's mostly bullshit at leas the way I experienced it. Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism is great at coping with mortality and death. I'm not Buddhist now or Atheist or Agnostic or anything I don't care for identity politics.
The passage of time is something that really I'm not even used to yet. When I was a kid, the summer between 3rd and 4th grade or whatever felt like it would never end, it felt like a year. A year felt like a lifetime. A decade was literally a lifetime, high school felt like 15-20 years. The last decade and some change since my early 20s feels like nothing. It feels like a month went by. and th-
hey
wait a minute
>in two or three years I'm going to be wrinkly, old and ugly
That's literally my age, rude.
Anyways, tl: dr; the fact that we have so very little time on earth oly means that we should try to make the best of it and enjoy it twice as much as we normally would.
You're only 30, you're maybe not a full-blown you adult but you're not middle aged or a senior or on your deathbed. You've got plenty of time left, so make good use of it. Stop posting frogs.
I feel you OP. Ever since I turned 21 and did mushrooms it's all I think about when I'm lying in bed. I'm terrified of not existing. Sometimes I wish I could be dumb enough to subscribe to a religion and believe in an afterlife, but on the other hand I think my fear of death has improved my habits in a way. As a kid it felt like I would live forever and I spent my life on autopilot, doing whatever felt good in the moment. Now that I realize I have such a limited time on the earth I always feel like I have to be doing something productive, something that will create a brighter future for me so I can leave a lasting mark on the world and feel like I accomplished something when I'm lying on my death bed. Maybe the fear of death and the transience of life is what makes people chase purpose.
George H.W. Bush was literally president and it took like two weeks for everybody to stop giving a shit about him when he passed. NOTHING you do will last.
Nicholas Ramirez
You don't have to be a famous person to leave a mark on the world dipshit. Even just doing an act of kindness for someone who's going through a hard time could set off a chain of events that improves the world in some way. Everything is connected.
Luke Lee
You just went from an impossible bar to the lowest bar I could imagine.
I'm not quite sure what you mean. I was just trying to cheer OP up, not quite sure what your problem is.
Nicholas Nguyen
Point is, "leaving a lasting mark" on the world is impossible and not something to aspire to. Don't stress yourself out trying to do that.
Only tip I really have is to read FLOW and do what you like.
Cameron Thompson
It happened to me at about 16 years old. Since then it's been hard to take anything seriously that most people consider important. I try to slow time down by doing as little as possible because I realize this life will be over before you know it.
Samuel Bennett
>George H.W. Bush
Weird example, but okay. Just because you moved on to play fortnite and jerk off to entai doesn't mean that conservatives in America have forgotten about him
Landon Bell
watch the film "in time" with an open mind.
Also yeah, you really do die at 30. You can't do all the fun stuff you used to, go up and date anyone you feel like, defer things, and you don't have all the opportunity of life ahead of you anymore.
It's further sucks, as you have none of these pleasures, and you are the most hated thing in society... straight white middle age male. You hold the highest tax burden that supports everything that oppresses you. Your essence has descended into a work horse as your body slowly gives out day by day. Yeah. It sucks OP.
When 25 year old women tell me things like "lol I'm never getting married" they really have no idea what's ahead of them. You don't want to be alone for this part.
Jose Mitchell
oh god we got a trumptard in the building
bitch, people already don't give a shit about him, don't fool yourself
Josiah Collins
Use it as motivation to stop wasting your time. Your 30s aren't the end unless you're a roastie.
Thomas Morgan
fuck off tradcon
Jaxson Parker
You're trying to debate something that's entirely subjective. Even the word "lasting" is subjective. It can mean a couple years or it could mean trillions of years. I was merely saying OP should start setting goals and achieving them, so as to not feel like he just existed for the sake of existing. To me it sounds like you're saying nothing matters because it will all disappear one day, and we should just get drunk and play video games and shit until we die? I mean fair enough, it's just an opinion after all and your opinion is as good as mine.
Samuel Edwards
>Are you scared of getting old (which you aren't even close to yet) or being alone? Both. Also dying.
>That's literally my age, rude. N-no offense meant, user. Maybe I should've specified, I recently lost about 15 kilos, and still have more to lose. I'm very concerned how will I look once I've reached my goal weight. I'm also used to people mistaking me for 18-20 years old all the time. Even last year. So yeah, compared to that, somebody looking at me and saying "oh you look 30" sounds heinous and deplorable
Gabriel Foster
I'm a leftist.
:/
Cooper Phillips
Yeah it sounds like whether you like it or not this has thrust you into a higher level of consciousness.
Nathan Fisher
I got news for you then...
no you're not
Jace Lee
I'm not even American, and again picking Bush Sr was an odd example he wasn't the best president even by Republican standards and he wasn't the more charismatic or more memorable. People still suck Reagan's dick to this day and other ones like JFK or Roosevelt. Again I'm not American and those names show up in pop culture all the time.
Of course, the odds of someone having a legacy that truely lasts through generations and cultures is very slim. There's only one Leonardo Davinci and there's only Mozart and there's only one Charlie Chaplin, etc.
The least you can do is leave a direct legacy where at least your children and grandchildren will remember you for your good actions.
haha no worries man. I'm so fucking bald it's ridiculous. I've got smooth skin and no wrinkles so if you saw just my face wearing a hat or something you'd think I was 20 years old but if you saw just my head and what's left of my hair you'd be like "oh there goes a 57 year old man".
People age differently. My skin is silky smooth but my hair is shit, I also can't grow a beard at all I've seen 16 year old kids with better facial hair than me but the rest of my body is hairy as shit. I don't have like back pain or anything like a lot of people in their 30s would have but in the last maybe 5-10 years I got weirdly fat where I was always a skinny kid and I was still skinny as an adult but my stomach just started to get more and more bloated to the point where I was like 40 lbs overweight but still looked like a skinny 12 year old.
I've been exercising and eating right now though, putting on muscles where I need to and losing fat where I need to.
Also last year I would have just these weird blotches of red skin, they looked like rashes but didn't itch at all. Went to the clinic and the exchange was pretty much this
>so... you're 31... do you moisturize? >uh... like... no I don't >well, you should, also you're fat you need to exercize >do I need a prescription for the pharmacy >Sorry? for what? >for the moisturizer >oh, no. No, just buy whatever skin moisturizer and use it as directed it doesn't matter which one really
I had spent the last like 15 years laughing at girls and also some guys who would rub shit on their arms and faces and hands like "hah I'm not gay I don't moisturize" and then whooops, I'm in my 30s now I have to.
Noah Johnson
OP, were you afraid of being born? Death and birth are two sides of the same coin, friend.
They say when you die, you go through a dark tunnel with a light at the end and when you are born, you go through a tunnel with a light at the end. What if that's just you rocketing into your next life?
Don't worry about it, bra. You'll be back and doing this shit all over again.
Just remember, everyone and everything that has ever existed and will ever exist in this reality has died. You are not special. Whatever comes next is something you aren't going to be experience alone. Everything dies, you will die, I will die, everyone will die. We will all experience it. Both my grandpas have died, if I can die and go out like men, so can I, and so can you.
Asher Edwards
Who says when you die you go through a dark tunnel with a light at the end?
William Morales
Some retarded guy on a mongolian image board so it must be true
Xavier Foster
This is the whole reason op is freaking out dummy
John White
Definitely sounds like existential dread. You need to keep yourself distracted. Just be busy. Whether it’s work or drinking or fucking or whatever. That dread may settle in again. Ideally you have friends and family that you can talk about this with. Hell, I have a coworker who lives on my way home and on fridays I just show up and drink at his place. Just do something.
Easton Jones
tens of thousands of people who have returned from brain death.
Daniel Cooper
>OP, were you afraid of being born? Not during, but after, yes. I remember the first day I came into being. At first, everything was black emptiness. Then I saw an image at a distance that floated closer and I "entered" it, it was me playing with my dad. It wasn't a memory, since I could move and do things, and he reacted. Then blackness again and two more similar events. Then suddenly I woke up. Literally. As a kindergardener. With no memory of anything beforehand, save for those three events. I was very confused and disturbed. I didn't remember people, places, my toys. Only my parents. And ever since then I had been conscious, and my memory functions like normal. It can't have been truly non-existence, because I was already alive. But it haunts me still. I fear death is like that black emptiness. And I'll be trapped there forever, unable to wake up.
>Everything dies, you will die, I will die, everyone will die. But that's the thing. It doesn't have to be this way. There are various animal species that are literally immortal. Hundreds more plants and animals that live for thousands of years. it's not fair
oh boy, I'm definitely not looking forward to any of that
Adrian Hill
Have you read watchmen? Being immortal would just make you apathetic like Dr. Manhattan.
I love the movie Goodfellas, but if it never ended I‘d fucking hate it.
Sex is cool, but after two hours my dick starts bleeding.
Summer vacations were great, but at some point I actually looked forward to go back to school.
Get me?
Dominic Hall
fuckin' zombies man they're real
Kevin Cook
Unironically find God
Nathan Ramirez
God you must be fucking insufferable in person
Carson Turner
God shut up. You're either making a really dumb joke about being 30, or you're making a serious, serious mistake about how aging works. You're face doesn't just suddenly drop off goddamn. Also, it doesn't matter NEARLY as much as you think. Like even if you're a girl where how attractive you are kinda becomes a thing, it doesn't really matter. Then as far as being healthy is concerned, you take care of yourself and develop an exercise routine
Jaxon Kelly
You most likely have at least 40 years left and a lot can happen in that time even if you're health starts to fail. Calm down and do some push-ups.
Thomas Gomez
31 fag here, 2 things.
One, who cares. When you die it's like before you were born. You're gone. You can't even care about what a waste your life was no matter how poorly it turned out. There's nothing to fear with death, kind of sounds awesome to me desu
2. They most certainly did. They can use gene editing to prolong mammal life 7 times supposedly. This was on radiolab, NPR which is a good source, too so I ain't talking shit. Turns out it was pretty simple all along and with crispr they got it. There's a gene set that says rejeuvenate and repair, and there's another that counts how many times it does it's thing then says "stop" at a certain amount which varies animal to animal. For humans it's about 25 the you start to deteriorate. Anyway thanks to crispr we can switch the one off and the other on so we just keep going. We've only managed a 7 times increase in life in test animals but eventually it'll be like that one immortal jelly fish.
You're also forgetting the singularity, the day that draws ever nearer and will happen in our life time when we switch on an AI smarter and faster than humans and it makes unaminable discoveries and thousands of years of progress in a heartbeat.
Don't worry man. Either you die which is totally not an issue desu, or the technology of which you dreamy becomes reality.
Connor Torres
Well... 20 or 30 years. I dunno.
You have time.
Gavin Reed
>in two or three years I'm going to be wrinkly, old and ugly.
I just wanna comment on this: Bullshit. I'm 38 and definitely not looking like a grandpa. No place of mine is drooping as of yet. Now, in my case it may have something to do with the fact that I'm a straight edge who doesn't drink, smoke, or drug, and I do work out too, but if you take care of yourself, and especially if you won the genetic lottery, you can look good well into your sixties.
Thirties is your fucking prime, man. Make it count. Sylvester Stallone was 39 in 1985, when he shot Rambo 2 and Rocky 4 back to back, have you seen how good he looked back then? It's not about the number, it's about how well you take care of your body. Barring some sort of horrible medical condition, or really poor life choices, as someone who's 8 years your senior I can tell you that it's not over yet. Not by a long shot. Take care of yourself and you have at least another 30 years to go before it starts to be over.
Hey, maybe you'll luck out like Kirk Douglas and live to be a peppy 100-year old.
Aaron Reed
It's all a matter of perspective. I turned 30 no more than 3 weeks ago. At first it bothered me, but then I took note of where I am and where I might be heading. >Have a younger loving gf >going to be moving in together soon >saving up money >finally leaving my parents house >new job >health is getting better due to working out >starting cooking again >picked up writing, reading, and wood working
Yeah I wasted a lot of my youth, but I'm kinda still far from old. Not young anymore either. You just have to get moving. Stay in motion. When death comes, you want to greet it with a warm cup of tea and some fresh biscuits. Things are looking up.
>I was raised Christian, it's mostly bullshit at leas the way I experienced it. Buddhism, especially Tibetan Buddhism is great at coping with mortality and death.
based. this is very true.
I had an experience while I was tripping where I felt like I finally accepted death. I felt so calm and comfy but I can't remember my logic really. I just felt so fucking peaceful and connected, like I was aware of how it's no different from a leaf falling and dying and it's okay. I've been trying to get back to there ever since but haven't felt it again.
>It can't have been truly non-existence, because I was already alive. But it haunts me still. I fear death is like that black emptiness. And I'll be trapped there forever, unable to wake up.
This does cause dread in me now, and it's what I think about with death. If you think about it logically though it should be more like passing out because you won't have a functioning memory. It fucks me up though because I can't imagine that being forever.
Parker Martin
realising my family (mum & dad) are going to pass away has really fucked me up recently... gotta enjoy the time I have left with them I suppose.
Levi Barnes
If you're a dude, which I doubt from the old and wrinkly comment, you'll be fine. If you can make it past the point where the big head overpowers the little head, you'll find that you enjoy life a lot more. Find a purpose, build something, learn a skill. You have no idea how satisfying it is to design and build something that you did not think you could do earlier. If you're a wamen, then you can look forward to a fantastic life with feline friends. Nothing better than cuddling with your cat.
Nathaniel Mitchell
You've got at least 30 more years by odds. You are experiencing a midlife crisis. Mourn your youth until you feel better than continue living.
Brody Bailey
Tbh I don't care how long I have left. There are not many things I want to do in the future, there are just things I wish that I had done in the past.
Jayden Rodriguez
Do any of you believe in afterlife or God?
Leo Martin
dude, I don't even believe in the tooth fairy
Landon Cook
Almost everyone I ever loved is dead. I've been praying for death for a few years now. I'm 29 now.
The only tthing that keeps me going is that I owe it to the people I love to make the world more beautiiful, to make up for the beauty that was lost with their passing. However, I would prefer if everything ended tomorrow.
Adrian Howard
Who died user and how?
John Hall
Several people died from cancer and one died from swine flu as crazy as that is. Pretty unpleasant. The lung were destroyed and he was hooked up to a breathing machine for 2 months while in an induced coma.
I am pro euthanasia now.
Mason Ward
Sorry to hear that user, what type of cancer and how old were they?