# Does anyone else find it slightly horrifying that you can never escape "you"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803 "2016-10-26T21:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/1 "2016-10-26T21:19:25Z")
I’m speaking specifically about those trying times of stress. Like say… quitting smoking, or the death of a loved one, or after a nasty break up with your significant other. Those times when your brain is so seemingly on fire. There’s no hitting the pause button to take a break from it all. You’re stuck there with your own thoughts. Does anybody know what the heck I’m saying? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/2 "2016-10-26T21:23:54Z")
I know exactly what you’re saying, and it is maddening. Especially for those of us with psych disorders who know our brains will be tormenting us for the rest of our lives. When I look at my current life problems, they are smaller in degree, but basically the same problems I had ten years ago. It’s hard accepting there are parts of your personality that are basically just you, and will never be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/3 "2016-10-26T21:29:16Z")
> [@Socrates](#): > > The unexamined life is not worth living. Well maybe, but I bet the unexamined mind is a hell of a lot less neurotic. ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/4 "2016-10-26T21:30:39Z")
“Slighty”? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/5 "2016-10-26T21:36:25Z")
That’s what drugs and alcohol are for. To escape yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/6 "2016-10-26T21:37:53Z")
Wherever you go, there you are You can run from yourself, but you won’t get far You can dive to the bottom of your medicine jar But wherever you go, there you are Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/7 "2016-10-26T21:38:02Z")
Even worse, I’ve never been to me. _scurries away_ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/8 "2016-10-26T21:39:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well maybe, but I bet the unexamined mind is a hell of a lot less neurotic. Ain’t that the goddamn truth. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/9 "2016-10-26T22:04:02Z")
I like me. That’s the only way I can be assured of good conversation. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/10 "2016-10-26T22:07:24Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Wherever you go, there you are > You can run from yourself, but you won’t get far > You can dive to the bottom of your medicine jar > But wherever you go, there you are > > Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk I was thinking more like this (Pink Floyd, A New Machine Part I): I have always been here I have always looked out from behind these eyes It feels like more than a lifetime Feels like more than a lifetime Sometimes I get tired of the waiting Sometimes I get tired of being in here Is this the way it has always been? Could it ever have been different? Do you ever get tired of the waiting? Do you ever get tired of being in there? … ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/11 "2016-10-26T22:27:22Z")
I find it enormously helpful to be able to step back and think of the standard Christian dichotomy: the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Even if you don’t like the religious connotations, I still find it useful to think about how certain desires in me are the product of chemical signals, established neural patterns, instinctive desires, etc. And, from a scientific standpoint, I suppose even “the spirit” is the product of these biological and chemical issues. Still, the idea is that this desire/sensation is not me, it’s a biological process imposed upon me. For me, this is the mental pause button. Not that it suddenly makes my brain stop being on fire (to use the OP’s words) but it does give me some distance from that sensation. I’m no longer trapped inside my house while it’s burning down; I’m across the street, watching the neighbor’s house burn down. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/12 "2016-10-26T22:44:20Z")
I was also going to suggest drugs and alcohol 😃 but meditation seemed to help a family member of mine who was suffering from bipolar disorder. Anyone here practice meditation? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/13 "2016-10-26T22:56:58Z")
Yoga works for me. Focusing on my breathing to the exclusion of all else gives me something to hold onto at times of stress, because I’m always breathing. It’s taking longer than I thought, as they say. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/14 "2016-10-26T22:57:42Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > I was also going to suggest drugs and alcohol 😃 but meditation seemed to help a family member of mine who was suffering from bipolar disorder. Anyone here practice meditation? I think about how I should be doing it a lot. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/15 "2016-10-26T23:02:54Z")
If you are serious, meditation can be very helpful. The new book _Siddhartha’s Brain_ is a great guide to meditation. > **[Siddhartha's Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment: Kingsland,...](https://www.amazon.com/Siddharthas-Brain-Unlocking-Ancient-Enlightenment/dp/0062403877)** > > Buy Siddhartha's Brain: Unlocking the Ancient Science of Enlightenment on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/16 "2016-10-26T23:39:38Z")
Not according to [Last Thursdayism.](http://www.last-thursday.org/) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/17 "2016-10-27T00:12:57Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > If you are serious, meditation can be very helpful. > > The new book _Siddhartha’s Brain_ is a great guide to meditation. > > [https://www.amazon.com/Siddharthas-Brain-Unlocking-Ancient-Enlightenment/dp/0062403850](https://www.amazon.com/Siddharthas-Brain-Unlocking-Ancient-Enlightenment/dp/0062403850) Oh yeah, meditation is great, back when I did it. I have no self-discipline. > [@buddha\_david](#): > > Not according to [Last Thursdayism.](http://www.last-thursday.org/) That left-handed part is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/18 "2016-10-27T00:36:15Z")
Not exactly what the OP is looking for, but I think of this when I think of someone locked in solitary confinement with access to nothing but food slid through a slot in a door. No books or other media. No interaction, even visual, with another person. Nothing but you. It’s horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/19 "2016-10-27T00:38:51Z")
“Longer than you think, Dad! Longer than you think!” (The Jaunt) Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/20 "2016-10-27T01:01:53Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I’m speaking specifically about those trying times of stress. Like say… quitting smoking, or the death of a loved one, or after a nasty break up with your significant other. > > Those times when your brain is so seemingly on fire. There’s no hitting the pause button to take a break from it all. You’re stuck there with your own thoughts. > Does anybody know what the heck I’m saying? 🙂 Some Buddhists would disagree. Especially wr.t. the stuck with your own thoughts thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803.md?page=2)