Intrusive thoughts about inevitable things

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Since August last year I have struggled with intrusive thoughts about inevitable things.

It all started when I got the feeling that the world was beginning to speed up. I've actually noticed this ever since I was about 13 (I'm now almost 24), but I didn't really think about it too much until last year. Last August, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to search on the internet for subjects such as whether time seems to go faster as you get older. What I saw on one website really disturbed me. It said that you perceive time as a proportion of how long you've already been alive (for example, a year is 20% of a 5 year old child's life, but only 2% of a 50 year old's life, so a year for a 50 year old seems ten times faster than a year for a 5 year old child). That concept really scared me, as it means we will seem to have less time on this world than we expect.

Since then I've started to worry about things such as dying, relatives/friends dying, getting older, people becoming ill/injured and inevitable things like that. It's not so much the actual process of dying that scares me (since I know many people die in a painless and peaceful way), it's more the fear of no longer existing. It scares me that one day I will cease to exist and that this will be forever.

What makes this fear difficult to cope with is that I know I'm worrying about something which is unavoidable. A lot of people worry about things like failing exams, but there are ways of reducing the risk of that, for example by drawing up a revision plan or taking extra classes etc. In any case, fears about exams are only temporary, as once you have the results, there's no need to worry any more. Yet the things I fear are inevitable and permanent. That makes it harder to deal with.

My fear began to make it difficult for me to sleep, even though I always used to sleep well previously. Now sometimes when I go to bed I fear that I won't sleep well, which makes me even more anxious and causes a self-fulfilling prophecy. When I don't sleep well, I feel anxious and tensed-up the following day, and I have to be up at 7am for work, so sometimes I only have 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night, even though I always used to have 7 or 8.

What can I do reduce these fears? I know it's pointless worrying about things which are inevitable, but I find it very difficult to control my thoughts. If anyone can talk me through my fears or share similar experiences, I'll be very grateful.

One year is one 38th of my life.

I'm still alive.

Your life CHANGES as you get older, but the years do rush on by.

You don't stop feeling like a kid in an adult suit.

Last year I was more involved with Death than in any previous year - but they were mostly other people's parents etc...

There's always things to worry about but since there's not enough time to worry forever, you're better off to just get on with it.

Sorry - this probably doesn't help but it's all the wisdom I have on the subject.

well, I guess 2% is what I'm stuck with. As Einstein has said, time is relative. A good date may seem 5 hours but feel like 1, while a boring meeting can be 1 hour and seem like 4..

Things in general are moving faster; technology, changes in general, communication around the world. I've seem most of this stuff happen, and it does seem to work faster (pen pals vs. instant messages, etc..

You can let the changes bowl you over, or just ride the wave; learn something about new things as they happen, experience them, knowing that in a year or two they'll be obsolete. It's just something you have to get used to...don't fret about it.

As much as I would like to help, this one area which I doubt that I can be of much assurance. Coming to term with your own mortality is something that is hard for everyone, regardless off in what stage of life that you are when you do. Memento mori. Remember that you are mortal, and remember that you will die. That being said, there's no real evidence of what happens to your mind/ego when you are in fact dead so see it instead as a part of life, like adolescences.

Personally I have no fear of death. I do fear the act of dying, as in trying to sty alive, but the thought of the here after in whatever form it may be has always been a simple curiosity for me. From time to time I've even contemplated hurrying the inevitable just to see what lies beyond the veil but as it will deliver me to that end in any case I'll stick around. Frankly I would prefer it to be an inky dark void of nothingness in which I will remain in whatever form may be for the rest of eternity. This thought scares many but I've always found it rather soothing.

I...don't think that I'm helping. Sorry about that. But in any case, although fear of the unknown is human nature it isn't necessarily logical. It is after all, unknown.

The subject of time passing at a faster pace each year is one I have pondered. We can't go back, we can't stop the clock, either.

Do you have anything you've been itching to do? NOW is the time to get those things accomplished!