# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/21 "2016-10-27T01:49:23Z")
If I wasn’t me, I’d probably be a great person. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/22 "2016-10-27T02:14:28Z")
Thank God for sleep. ---
**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, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/23 "2016-10-27T02:28:42Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Thank God for sleep. Nietzsche once remarked that the most significant buffer between a man and suicide was a good night’s sleep. And for some reason even though I am not a Christian any more, my favorite line in the Bible remains: ‘‘And thus he giveth his beloved sleep.’’ I try to remember that when I start wishing for death. I just go to sleep and try life again in the morning. /dark ---
**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 27, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/24 "2016-10-27T02:47:44Z")
And each night before I fall asleep (if I do) I hope that I won’t wake up. You can’t trust sleep, it’s temporary. ---
**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, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/25 "2016-10-27T02:55:12Z")
Sometimes sleep works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. (And naturally, depression has a tendency to disrupt sleep.) Sometimes I wake up in the morning and my first thought of the day makes it clear I’m doomed. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/26 "2016-10-27T03:17:32Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Thank God for sleep. My thoughts exactly. I can’t always sleep. My sleep is frequently wracked with hellish dreams. At least when I’m asleep, I get a break from “me” and from my life. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/27 "2016-10-27T03:19:56Z")
I think I’m a better person for having overcome them. Not a great person, mind you, just better than I would have been otherwise, had I not learned to work my way through adversity. So I guess it’s a good thing that I could not escape from Me during those times, or I would have and not gained from them. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/28 "2016-10-27T03:35:46Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Sometimes sleep works for me, sometimes it doesn’t. (And naturally, depression has a tendency to disrupt sleep.) > > Sometimes I wake up in the morning and my first thought of the day makes it clear I’m doomed. Something like “Fucking hell, here we go again.” ---
**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, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/29 "2016-10-27T03:40:36Z")
> [@Bumbershoot](#): > > Something like “Fucking hell, here we go again.” That’s my second thought. The first thought is usually, “I’m the worst person ever and deserve to die.” Cheers! ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/30 "2016-10-27T03:41:07Z")
It can be hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/31 "2016-10-27T03:57:27Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That’s my second thought. The first thought is usually, “I’m the worst person ever and deserve to die.” Yeah, I’m familiar with that one too! > [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Cheers! Back at ya! [Raises his glass] ---
**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 27, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/32 "2016-10-27T04:40:29Z")
IDK, sleep can be bad too though. Sometimes you wake up with that eerie feeling like you’ve been violated in some way. Or you’ve come to a realization about yourself that feels quit unsavory. ---
**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, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/33 "2016-10-27T04:44:19Z")
I’ve always had weird ass, often graphically violent dreams. Lately they aren’t quite rising to the level of nightmares, though. Sorry to turn this into a depression support group, I just think we really experience the stuck with ourselves thing keenly and often. Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/34 "2016-10-27T04:50:24Z")
On the bright side, you probably don’t have [depersonalization disorder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/35 "2016-10-27T07:09:20Z")
One part of my insomnia is that when I try to go to bed, my brain races. I have a pill for it, but what actually works really well is to put something fairly mindless on the TV-- a rerun I’ve seen a few times, like a _Big Bang Theory_ or a _Law and Order_ and set the TV to turn itself off after 90 minutes. This works great on the nights I go to bed before my husband. When we go to bed at the same time, sex helps. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/36 "2016-10-27T11:52:14Z")
Well I searched, and I searched, to find myself the perfect life. Brand new suit, brand new car, even got me a little wife. But no matter where I’ve gone, I was sure to find myself there, You can run all your life, but not go anywhere. - Mike Ness, Social Distortion, _Ball and Chain_ Yep, welcome to the Abyss, Mr. Kafka - we got you a table with a beautiful view down into it. I have come to look at getting my brain to outside of my stress and into the moment as a form of mental exercise. Whether I am in the zone due to physical activity, some form of meditation, playing music and being in the groove - it all takes my mind out of my day. Making time for that mental exercise is the only way I know of to manage my relationship with this existential, Abyss feeling. Alcohol and other substances can bring a sense of it, too, but in a far more superficial way. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/37 "2016-10-27T12:07:27Z")
College girlfriend never really understood what it was like going through the day with depression and stuff, so I would tell her, “imagine the person you hate most of all, now imagine being around them every second of every day nonstop and forever.” ---
**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 27, 2016, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/38 "2016-10-27T13:00:20Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > College girlfriend never really understood what it was like going through the day with depression and stuff, so I would tell her, “imagine the person you hate most of all, now imagine being around them every second of every day nonstop and forever.” And then imagine it’s more than one person that you hate who you’ll have to deal with throughout the day. And then are also people you like but they won’t come around while the assholes are in the room. ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/39 "2016-10-27T14:02:27Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > There’s no hitting the pause button to take a break from it all. You’re stuck there with your own thoughts. This is what mindfulness techniques aim to enable you to manage i.e. to observe your own thoughts, acknowledge them but also to acknowledge that they are only in your mind and you also exist physically in the world and can shift your focus just on to that e.g. your breathing, physical sensation. If you can learn this discipline - and it takes practice! - you can get that break you need from your mind working overtime. You will be less likely then to get ‘carried away’ on your thoughts, worries, anxieties and to just be in the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803/40 "2016-10-27T16:41:34Z")
I have a mental disorder, and I’ve thought that if I could just view myself from an outside perspective or temporarily have a different mind, my problems would be fixed and my mind “reset” very quickly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-else-find-it-slightly-horrifying-that-you-can-never-escape-you/769803.md?page=3)