Have you ever question whether you exist or not?

Post Reply New Topic

Sometimes I wonder whether people think I even exist. Many times when I talk to people they either ignore me or talk to me for a few seconds and then leave. Then when they get distracted they forget that I was even there to begin with!

I honestly don't know what it is. When I act goofy nothing happens, when I talk more nothing happens, when I express anything nothing happens, it's as if I'm not actually alive. It's as if instead of just talking to people more I have to find people that can even see me to begin with.

I really don't get it! Even when I'm laying in the room depressed still, nothing happens! Does anyone else have that problem? How do you feel about it?

I've questioned it as well as the existence of my fiancé and other soulbonds. But that just lead me to to become severely mentally unstable and it was the worst feeling of my life.

After a "friend" convinced me for a few months that Shadow wasn't real, I literally became ill and had a hard time sleeping at night and I've lost the desire to eat. I didn't want to leave the house to go to college and dread on the lack of any positive emotion.

For me, something like that is too sensitive of a topic to consider the possibility. Whenever it comes across my mind, I quickly try to shut it down. It's just something that doesn't feel right at all in my mind and thus a subject I hate to ever think about.

Last edited by MariaTheFictionkin on 12 Dec 2017, 9:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Nope....never questioned my existence.

It's always confirmed when I go to the bathroom.....

It sounds like the people around you are being rude and rather insensitive to you and your needs. It's hard to keep putting yourself out there and interacting with people when there is no reciprocal acknowledgement of your efforts. I've questioned my existence a few times when I was extremely depressed - (ie - would anyone actually notice if I wasn't here?).

All I can really say is you do exist and people are awful for making you feel like you don't. It might be worth talking to your doctor about how you are feeling - questioning your existence is certainly not going to do your depression any good.

Keep trying to interact with people. You could try to keep a journal/record of the incidents as you see them with as much detail as you can and make a note of what your thoughts and feeling are at the time. It might be good to talk though the situations that occurred with someone who may be able to offer a different perspective on what happened and explain why the other person acted in that way. It may be a useful exercise to do with the person who acted like you didn't exist, if you know them well. I find in a lot of cases, people, particularly NT's, are rather insensitive and selfish when it comes to understanding how their behaviour affects other people.

I rember an older person saying when he was younger it was like he was invisible.

But now days it's the opposite and he feels like he has a big blinking arrow over his head pointing him out.

Questioning my existence isn't good but, it's really hard when someone forget you're there right after talking to you. Some that do forget I was there I don't think do it on purpose, it's just maybe I don't have a strong "aura" or something.

People that just met me do it. I was in the store with my mother once and a cashier said "hi" to my mother but not me. I don't know, it makes me feel like a phantom or something.

Not literally but sometimes when I think about how I haven't achieved as much as other people I feel like I'm not a "real person", just a passenger in life, an NPC.

I feel like one of the villian's henchmen and not a "real person".

The topic is hard to discuss. Why would your friend keep trying to tell you Shadow wasn't real? I would hate for someone to tell me a friend of mine wasn't real!

ErzaS I would hate if I felt like an arrow is pointing at me! If I had to chose I would prefer to be invisible!

No, because Descartes ("I think therefore I am"). In order for you to be able to question your own existence, there must be some form of mind present that is capable of such a task. Whether you exist in the form you think you do, or whether you're a brain in a vat/computer simulation, is another question.

But how do I know I'm really thinking? What if I only think I'm thinking? After reading a book on cognitive bias I began to question the existence of free will and sometimes I even wonder if consciousness is real. If there was a guy without consciousness who spoke and acted exactly like a normal human being with consciousness there was be no way to distinguish him from the real thing. Perhaps there would be no difference at all, inwardly or outwardly.

I hate these philosophical questions....it hurts to really “think.”

I agree with Descartes on this one.

Whether we actually exist or not is irrelevant. Since we can question our existence, we can do something about it. This is the only point that matters.

It's more likely that people are picking up on your unconscious body language - perhaps there is something about how you carry yourself in public that people pick up on as saying 'I don't want to talk to anyone' or 'please don't acknowledge me'. I did some acting lessons when I was in school and I was told there that I have confusing body language. Meaning the way I carry myself didn't match with what what emotion or mood I was trying to project. As a result I needed to actually be shown how to move and taught body language (something I gather is supposed to be relatively instinctive) in order for others to not be confused. For me reading body language and adjusting my own body language to match what is expected by the other person will always be a conscious effort. I would suggest having a read about it/watching some videos. Having a go at modifying your body language a bit might help.

In terms of the more philosophical question of existence here I agree with what others have said however, debating philosophy and the existence of reality can make for an entertaining evening. Even if our world and our reality means that we don't truly exist (see the simulation hypothesis), it is still our perception of reality, and all we really have to work with. Therefore, I agree with MagicKnight, until we have any more new data on the subject, it is probably better to assume that this reality is 'real' and make the most of it.

I am sure that most of us go through a stage of doing the opposite (like when you're 17) of the OP, and wondering if you are the ONLY thing that exists in the Universe. Just you and sensory impressions. Solipsism.

But the OP's seeming "reverse solipsism" is hyperbole. He is complaining about being socially invisible. Not literally wondering about his actual existence.

Huh... I didn't even think about that someone would take the title literally. I guess I was so fixated on making the title stand out that I wrote it in a weird way! I'm sorry to those that were confused about what I mean't when I said "questioning existence". Though at times I do actually question my existence literally.

In real life that's how I end up sounding like when trying to talk sometimes. It's very confusing even to myself!