(If you have anxiety about death then maybe you shouldn’t read this post, just letting you know!)

Edit: Thank you guys for being so quick to post your comments and give your thoughts, it makes me wish I said something sooner rather than dealing with it on my own. You guys are seriously awesome, and have made me want to fight way harder to be a better person for my friends and family, and everyone else around me. I think tonight I’ll finally be able to sleep, and I’m looking forward for tomorrow and to be able to talk to my Dad about how I’m feeling and what I’m thinking about all this, and to spend as much time with him as I can. Take care of yourself guys! And again, thank you so, so much. I seriously feel way better and my anxiety is a lot less now.

Before joining Lemmy I used to be a devoted Christian since my family raised me as one and have been Christians for generations. And to add important context, I’m not talking about judge mental homophobic trump supporting Christians that judge gays and everyone else they see who don’t live the way they live. I’m talking about being a real follower of Christ who loves thy neighbor and knows we have no right to judge, not what most church’s are today who just exist to make a profit. My family are bible based Christians and raised me as one too, not by propaganda machines. (Or at least the propaganda that politicians or “Church’s” who exploit vulnerable people for their money like to spread around. The “buy my book to change your life” or “plant your $1000 seed” type of shenanigans makes me sick.)

Anywhoo, while being on Lemmy and learning a lot about U.S. politics I just have never seen on other social media sites like X and Reddit, and talking about science, capitalism, global warming, and so on and so fourth with the incredible people on here, it has really broaden my view on certain subjects and be a lot more open to a lot more ideas, one of which is Atheism.

I haven’t thought about it too much, but recently my Grandfather died and so my emotions and thoughts have wandered about him and about loosing someone I care a lot about, and then a question popped into my head; is he truly in a “better place”? Do they actually go somewhere? What will happen to my Dad?

After that random thought, my brain has kind of spiraled out of control about this topic and I haven’t been able to sleep well since I’ve been having anxiety thinking about death. What is the point if all of life (our life) is truly just our brains, and our brain stops working? Is it really just, nothingness? What is the point of making all these amazing memories with family and friends that I cherish more than anything in the world, if all these memories are going to be forgotten? Whether its today, or 80 years from now? With this ideology, when I stop breathing, I will quite literally become nothing. There will be nothing. I am dead. It’s made me into this “why should I care” mood about almost everything.

I think I’ve kind of made my anxiety worse during the last few nights since I also decided to look up what its like to die and what scientists have said about the topic, whoops! Turns out our brain can still think 2-15 minutes after our hearts stop beating! I know I’m joking here which I tend to do when I’m in these situations but I have been extremely anxious when it comes to the fear of death. Not in a “I’m scared to use this knife to cut a slice of tomato” kind of way, but a “when we’re gone there will be nothing and I will remember nothing and become nothing” sort of way.

Not trying to get political here, but with this thought in my mind for the last couple of days and hearing about situations like Palestine has made me completely rethink everything like life itself, and now every time I hear about Palestine or Ukraine or whatever else going on in the world, I can’t help but burst into tears.

Sorry for the rant or whatever this is, just asking what you guys think or how you live your life if thats alright. Take care of yourself!

  • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    It’s not black and empty. There’s no you to feel those things.

    The mind is what the brain does. It’s a process, not a thing. It doesn’t ‘go’ anywhere, and it doesn’t sit there chewing on a lack of input either.

    The brain stops doing, the mind stops being.

    As for the point of it all: smoke 'em while you got 'em. Live your life, and try to make the world a bit better for others.

    After all, there’s nobody running the universe. Nobody to take care lest a sparrow fall. No justice, no redemption, nobody balancing the books. The only thing in the entire universe that gives a damn if we live or die is each other.

    You want a purpose, there’s your purpose. To do what only people can do: care about people and try to make their time on this rock better than it otherwise might be.

    • helpmyusernamewontfiOP
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      1 day ago

      care about people and try to make their time on this rock better than it otherwise might be.

      so many people have said exactly this in the comments, so thank you for being another one of them! I actually sat down and thought a lot about how I’ve treated other people and have been working on completely changing that. I’ve recently messaged someone who I blocked many years ago and said I was sorry for being an idiot and being rude where I really shouldn’t have been, cause people like you have made me realize how stupid I really have been back then and how much more important other peoples feelings are. he actually forgave me and seemed happy about it, and gave me some good advice. that was awesome! I’ve been trying a lot harder today to make strangers days better and a little happier when we meet and move on from each other (which can be pretty challenging to do with some people on the internet, but possible!) and it’s definitely made my anxiety a lot less, not completely gone away though and I hope to get back to a somewhat normal state soon where I can sleep better at night. I hope its not selfish for trying to become this person only after having someone close to me die and having these thoughts roam around my head, I just never have put a lot of thought into other peoples feelings or the situations they’re in. I have made a promise to myself though to keep trying for others even if and when I start to feel better again myself.

      wow sorry for the rant, thanks again and I really appreciate your comment!