Daydream Addiction and Derealization/Depersonalization

While daydreaming isn't generally recognized as being something that can be addictive. It certainly can be, and many people are addicted to daydreaming. People daydream for a few reasons...

-To plan (typically a useful application)

-To feel good (a possibly negative application)

-To escape reality (a possibly negative application)

When we daydream, the awareness of our senses becomes greatly diminished. The weird thing about awareness is that we aren't aware of what we aren't aware of. When we lose the awareness of our sight--for example--we aren't aware of it. Fortunately, the brain still stores the information coming into the eyes (in a limited, unfocused way...because the eyes are either focused on physical objects or not, here the brain "fills in" the perceptual gaps). 

The reason reality (the self is part of our reality) doesn't seem real is because it isn't. The senses have gotten into the habit of ignoring (i.e. to escape reality) so much that the brain is in overdrive to "fill in the gaps". On a certain level, the brain is aware of the fact that much of the reality it is attempting to form is imaginary, thus causing the feelings of derealization. Derealization can be a very scary thing, and in order to cope, daydreaming can be used (again, as an escape).

Daydreaming can feel very good, a person can put together a story line that makes them feel a wide variety of emotions and psuedo-perceptions. It is the fact that it can feel very good and be used as an escape that creates the possibility of it being an addictive behavior. 

Daydreaming itself is a cause of derealization. In fact, it is the ultimate state of derealization. The best thing to do if you find yourself here is to stop daydreaming. The next best thing is to reduce it dramatically. Either way, the opposite of daydreaming is mindfulness. Use the search bar on this blog to look up some of my writings about mindfulness or even Google it. 

I like to keep my blogs posts short and sweet, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

How to instantly rid the self of delusion.

Humans, in order to function well in complex society, must possess a certain amount of useful delusions. The main delusion that allows for this is believing that a past and future exist. The reality is that the past and future are us believing that are imaginations are real (when people imagine the past and future, they often believe it is). All that is created by the imagination is imaginary, and when we believe it is something more, this is delusion warping the perception of reality. For example, people with anxiety problems often worry about the future, but what they are experiencing when they worry is imaginary (at the time it seems real, which is why it affects them).

So, in order to rid ourselves of delusion instantly, we must bring ourselves to the awareness that there is no past or future (such things are imaginary) and perceive the world only through the senses (anything "outside" of the senses is produced by the imagination). This can be done by repeating the following affirmation, and believing it...

"there is no past or future, and nothing exists that I can be aware of beyond my senses..."

What is anxiety?

Anxiety, for the most part, is caused by the imagination (i.e. it is a response). For the sake of accuracy, anxiety must be perceived as a physiological response caused by imagination when it is, otherwise awareness of the cause will never be had (awareness of a problem is the first step towards fixing it). With this awareness that anxiety is a response to imaginary things (anything that is imagined is), it loses its emotional punch. No matter how believable the stuff we imagine  is, it should not pass into the realm of "reality" because this is a delusional mindset (like imagining what is going on outside of your senses, imagining what people think, and so on).

How to falsify beliefs to overcome anxiety.

It is false beliefs about reality that often underlie problems with anxiety. I've suffered and am still overcoming my anxiety issues (which I've had for as long as I can remember). Anxiety issues is the sort of thing that takes time to overcome, so, like a diet to lose weight, we shouldn't expect immediate results. In order to overcome anxiety we must change the way we perceive reality.

So take out a sheet of paper (or open Microsoft Word) and ask yourself "what am I worried about?" or "what am I scared of?". Then look at whatever comes to mind, and tell yourself "what I am experiencing is imaginary, it's not real" (this is literally true because all things imagined are imaginary. The problem is that we believe some imaginary things are real, and this causes it to emotionally effect us. Once we realize that the cognition that is emotionally bothering us is, in reality, not real, then it loses its emotional punch.

No matter what you are afraid of, this method works, but it takes a certain amount of understanding and awareness of this function of the brain in order to properly perceive it. Try to pay attention to this process, and when you notice your imagination is firing off, and especially when its causing emotional pain, make sure to perceive it accurately. If we tune out the awareness of our thought process, we can become distorted by it. It's kind of like how when people lose the awareness of what they are viewing on TV is being viewed on a television set, it emotionally effects them (same goes for video games as well). In other words, anxiety is NOT caused by the worry(ies) themselves, but the inaccurate perception of these day-terrors (like daydreams, they are literally dreams that occur while we are awake, but most of the dream is seemless with reality, so it typically goes under our radar of truth).

Using Mindfulness to Reduce Anxiety and Stress

A big source of anxiety and stress (both are very connected) are thoughts. While this may seem obvious, is it in day-to-day living? For example, when you think about what you will be doing later in the day, do you maintain the awareness that what you are experiencing is just a thought? When you notice yourself worrying, always keep the context of the experience of worrying accurate. You can even put your hands on the sides of your head and say to yourself "this thought I am experiencing is occurring between my hands". Similar to how we are able to watch horrible things on television, but maintain the context that we are just watching television, and this causes us to not be affected nearly as much as we would if we lost this awareness. A lot of people that become very emotionally upset by movies become zoned in so they lose touch with the reality that it's just a television that is being viewed. In other words, it is not the behavior or external environment that is the main problem with suffers of anxiety, but the lack of awareness.

Mindfulness is one of the greatest tools for overcoming anxiety and reducing stress. What causes worrying is the lack of awareness that a thought is just a thought. Mindfulness isn't for running away from problems, but for seeing them as they actually are.

If you have any questions, or want me to further elaborate on mindfulness techniques, leave a comment below. I check comments on a fairly regular basis :)

Can video games cause an anxiety disorder?

The answer is YES.

In an earlier post I briefly talked about my hypothesis about video games causing my own anxiety disorder. As a college student (and former video game addict), I have been much too busy recently to play video games. While one would expect that the demands of college would make anxiety worse, the opposite was true for me. Today, for no particular reason, I tried playing some old-school Super Nintendo Donkey Kong (the original).  I noticed that the game REALLY PISSED ME OFF. My heart was racing, my chest was tightening, my hands were becoming sweaty--I was having a fight-or-flight reaction. It made me wonder if playing video games heavily since the age of 4 has had an effect on my psychology. I then began to think that perhaps the video games themselves don't cause the anxiety disorder, but a symptom does. A symptom of chronic fight-or-flight reactions is paranoia. If a person is constantly (more or less) in a state of paranoia (in whatever degree) this will impact how they perceive the world. In other words, being chronically in the 'offensive/defensive' causes a person to always be on the lookout for potential danger, causing them to see the world as being a dangerous place.

My anxiety was at its worse during the time I played World of Warcraft (from person experience, this game can cause intense adrenal rushes). The vast majority of games exploit the craving people have for excitement. It's counter-intuitive that people would love to do something that makes them angry, but I hypothesis that it is precisely this reaction that cause the video game craving. Essentially its an addiction to anger/stress

Random thought: wife-beating husbands also crave this anger induced fight-or-flight response which provides an emotional high.

This semester at the college, there was this kid that was on the other end of the hallway where I was. I would always hear him yelling and swearing up a storm (at first I thought he was insane, then I found out he was a video game addict). In short, it seems very plausible that video game addiction (or more specifically a stress addiction) can be the root cause of anxiety disorder (social phobia, general anxiety, etc). Video games may not only be linked to a way array of anxiety disorders, but may also be linked to anger problems, hypertension, depression, paranoia etc.


For more information on this, surf the Google, and/or check out the link below.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/she-bets-her-life/201101/video-gaming-can-cause-depression-anxiety-and-social-phobia-2

Affirmation Mindfulness

Affirmation mindfulness is truly an amazing technique. If you suffer from disorders like anxiety, depression, poor attention span, anger, etc., you may want to pay attention (in fact everyone should, that's the purpose of mindfulness).

The Buddhists often use labeling during their meditations (such as labeling their breaths..."rising....falling"). This is kind of similar, but instead of using labeling to create a concept to view a sensory experience (which causes a person to swap back and forth from actual experience to a concept and vice versa), the purpose here is to make an affirmational word become a trigger to lock a person into a deep state of awareness. I believe the best thing is to focus, not on an interpretation of what we experience, but the sense itself. The following is the list of the affirmational words to be used...

• "Seeing..."
• "Smelling..."
• "Tasting..."
• "Hearing..."
• "Feeling..." 
• "Thinking..."

Basically, the point here is to be aware of the senses. We often get so wrapped up in focusing on our perceptions (a product of the imagination) that we lose touch with reality. This technique is incredibily useful for emotional disorders like anxiety, a problem caused by an overactive imagination (people with anxiety disorders are habitual when it comes to perceiving the world with concepts instead of the senses...)

Anxiety and Confidence (the relationship)

Anxiety and confidence are closely linked (anxiety being more of a symptom than anything). Anxiety is caused by too much emotionally-charged thinking (in that it throws off our chemical balance and causes many unpleasant symptoms). What causes anxiety? If it's too much worrying, well, then what causes the worrying? I believe it can be summed up with the concept of having too little confidence (in the self and/or the world). How does low confidence have to do with anxiety? Well, having low confidence causes a person to over-think aspects of their life that a confidence person wouldn't. If a person worries about anything too much, it can lead them down a road of paranoia. When a person worries too much it causes physical symptoms, and being that we are creatures that perceive based on "feelings", our perceptions become altered in a negative way to make sense of it all (which is an anxiety topic in itself). But yes, having low confidence can lead to excessive worrying, which can lead to anxiety, which reinforces the worrying, and the cycle begins (this is an anxiety disorder). Does this seem like such an odd idea? I mean, when was the last time you seen a person with a high level of confidence with an anxiety disorder? Confident people don't second guess themselves, don't worry about the past or the future, etc.

You're probably saying to yourself "Okay, Jeremy, I got it....you're rambling now, what can I do to improve my confidence?"

The best way to increase confidence is to start thinking with confidence, consciously. Using positive self-talk that is confident, when done enough, can become a habit, and once it becomes habit it is integrated into the way you perceive (self and/or the world). Conscious thinking happened at one point in the life of an anxious person to lower their confidence, and that type of thinking has become a habit (if something is done enough times, the brain gets bored with consciously doing it, and starts to do it without awareness). The best and perhaps only way to raise confidence levels is to think with confidence. Talk to yourself (out-loud or to yourself...but don't talk to yourself when you are around other people) about how great and important you are as a person, tell yourself how much you love yourself, compliment yourself, etc. In general, whenever you think about yourself, make sure to think about yourself in a positive way, a way that builds yourself up. When a negative thought comes about, tell yourself "that thought is wrong", and then think thoughts that contradict the negative thought.

If you have any questions or comments about this topic, feel free to leave a comment :)

Anxiety isn't a mental illness

Many people believe anxiety is a mental illness, and this belief is false (did the title give that fact away?). The reality is that anxiety is just the bad habit of not accepting things as they are (the self and/or world). When a person begins to believe that they and/or the world are abnormal, they want to normalize it, so they fight against reality (self and world) instead of changing the inaccurate beliefs. If something is a certain way, then that is normal (and it would be abnormal if it were to be different, which it can't be). The point here is that anxiety is not a mental illness, it is a problem with not accepting reality. Not accepting reality causes reality to be perceived as being abnormal (or "not as it should be"), which causes the conflict between the worldview and the senses. If you want to get rid of anxiety, try to perceive reality as being normal, and adjust your worldviews accordingly so that it matches up. Having an accurate worldview (a worldview that is reflective of how reality is) is an important thing for well-being. 

The Cure For Anxiety? How to feel normal again!

I'm sure many suffers of anxiety want to feel normal again. This can be done, and the solution is right underneath the proverbial nose. The one thing that all suffers of anxiety possess is the belief that either they are not normal or their environment isn't normal. When we don't believe something is normal (in general), we form a confrontational relationship to it and typically pick at it like a scab. It's impossible to view something as abnormal and accept it at the same time, and anxiety is a disorder of nonacceptance (of the self and or others). Let me just say this right now, everything about YOU is perfectly normal, and everything about the world is perfectly normal.  These two ideas probably seem counter intuitive (which is the point), but isn't it true that if something happens then it is normal automatically? To not accept something as being normal is to assume that there is a parallel universe in which it doesn't happen (whatever it may be). Everything you have experienced, and everything you are experiencing now is normal, it is even normal to not accept things as being normal. No matter where you look, all that is seen is normal. And this is the sort of mentality that can lift a person out of anxiety (which is normal to have if it exists).

In short

Start to view anything that you perceive to be abnormal as normal, changing this perception of reality can be very helpful for overcoming anxiety. We want to make ourselves feel normal, because we are, and to not feel normal can cause anxiety (and it often does).


If this way of looking at your anxiety issue (which is really a worrying issue, anxiety being a symptom) doesn't make sense and/or you don't understand how to put it to use, feel free to ask questions in the comment section below :)

anxiety caused by a core operational belief (must read)

Many people suffer from anxiety, and typically the underlying problem is with patterns of thought. Is this root cause underlying anxiety? Perhaps not. Perhaps the real problem is a core operational belief. If this is true, then how the brain/mind perceives and reacts to stimuli is based on the underlying belief that it is suppose to react that way. If this is true, then it is a major problem in the way in which we deal with people that have "anxiety disorders" as a society (labeling someone as having an anxiety disorder may only reinforce the belief that this is how the brain is suppose to function). If this is indeed the underlying cause of anxiety (and perhaps some other mental "disorders"), then the answer might be quite simple. Perhaps using hypnosis, positive affirmations, and/or belief falsification to change the underlying core belief which creates this way of seeing and reacting to the world is the answer. Essentially for a person with anxiety, this idea would mean that they experience the symptoms of anxiety caused by the belief that this is how they are suppose to perceive and react to the sensed reality. 

Side Note

 I've used this method a great deal for creating a state of mindfulness. What I do is tell myself these mantras (In no particular order, and in no particular % of each)

"I am mindful"

"I am aware of my senses"

"I am a mindful person"

"I am in the present moment"

Doing this sort of thing really does shift the mind to perceive the world in a much different way. If you have any comments, questions and/or concerns, feel free to utilize the comment section below. 

Better to think of anxiety as a habit, not a mental disorder (which can make the problem worse)

We have been told over and over again that chronic anxiety is a mental disorder, and while there is a certain about of "disorder" in the mind that causes anxiety, this sort of label misses the underlying cause of anxiety and does nothing but put a sufferer down.

In reality, anxiety is caused by certain thinking habits. And when people get so entrenched in emotionally-charged thinking that the symptoms cause an "unbearable" amount of suffering, we (medically) put them on medication and put them through talk-therapy (which isn't totally a bad thing, but I find talk-therapy to not properly get at the heart of anxiety). Anxiety is caused by thinking patterns that occur because of a perceived environmental threat, and if the symptoms get bad enough, the anxiety attaches itself to these sensations, causing the person to worry about their own heath (causing a further perpetuation of anxiety). Anxiety is a bad perceptual habit. What do I mean by this? Well, we can view the symptoms of anxiety (such as sweating, heart racing, tense feeling in chest and throat, sweaty hands, etc) differently, and while doing so, disarming the viewing of these things as being a threat. One of the best ways of doing this is to stop viewing anxiety as a problem. In fact, stop viewing everything as a problem, nothing is a problem, and just become aware of the cause of the symptoms.

Becoming aware of the thought process allows us to view it objectively, and while viewing a thought objectively, it is viewed with a more rational lens. In the same way that if we know we are dreaming during a nightmare, it becomes much less scary, if we become aware that a thought is just a thought, it loses its emotional punch. I've brought this basic idea up in a few other blog posts, but it is very important to overcoming anxiety. Mindfulness in general is what is important in overcoming behavioral problems (which is what anxiety is). To put it simply, our brains functions in two modes: "objective/logical and emotional/reflex". Anxiety exists in the reflexive emotional part of the brain. You see, the point of emotion is largely to allow people to make quick decisions without having to think everything out (such as when people get a "gut feeling"). If you are in your head a lot, and everything seems fuzzy and worry thoughts constantly stream through your head, your brain is engaged in a way that will cause perpetual anxiety and stress in general.

My anxiety used to be horrible (I had bad generalized anxiety and social anxiety, which led to some nasty depression), but I started to realize these two-modes of operation in the brain. To show you what I mean, try this little experiment.

1) Find a particular point around you to stare at (like a dot, or a fixed point that is easy to concentrate
on).

2) Keep concentrating on the dot, whenever your attention drifts (as it will) just bring it back to concentrating

3) Do this for at least 10 minutes (it's best to use an alarm, try not to worry about the amount of time that has passed, because this is distracting)

4) After 10 minutes or so, begin to scan all the objects around you. Look at them with purpose, don't just label them an look through them.

If you do this, you should notice some interesting effects. This is how the brain is suppose to function, this mode is the mode the brain is engaged in when it is relaxed. Chronic worrying causes the brain to have a shift to utilize parts of the brain associated with worrying. This leads to a reduced awareness of the senses, leading to depersonalization and derealization (which is why mindfulness is so damn important for overcoming anxiety).

What causes anxiety?

Anxiety is caused by many things, but the vast majority of it is caused by bad habits. When we first learn to walk, it is quite a difficult mental effort, but as we grow up it becomes so mind-numbingly easy we can do it in our sleep (literally). Like how walking becomes a habit, thinking becomes a habit as well (we don't have the time to consciously think-out all cognition required to function day-to-day). Anxiety is a response to a perceived threat (the word 'perceived' being important). Being that anxiety shows itself externally and internally as a very physical thing (shaking, sweating, racing heart, flushing, etc.), people are too distracted by the sensations of anxiety to realize the actual problem: thoughts with emotional associations (fear or anger, i.e. fight or flight).

For me, my anxiety was caused by the emotion of fear (I had environmental issues at home and school). But, chronic anger is also a cause of anxiety as well. Anxiety, in short, is caused by the belief that a threat exists. Emotionally the only possible responses are to flee or attack the perceived threat (using non-emotional techniques is the only way to override this), and both cause physiological reactions that cause the symptom of anxiety (yes, anxiety is a SYMPTOM, not a problem).

This is a short version of what causes anxiety, if you want to know more about my views on both anxiety and/or how to overcome anxiety, use the search feature at the top of the page or click on the "anxiety" label. Also feel free to leave a comment asking any questions below (anything unrelated to anxiety will not be allowed). 

The importance of falsifying emotionally charged-thoughts

Anxiety, depression, anger....how do we get rid of these nasty things? Well, one way that I have found to be incredibly effective is to falsify habitual thoughts.

Emotionally negative thoughts are the biggest source of stress, and some people obviously have more emotionally negative thoughts than others. Issues with anxiety, depression, anger, etc. are linked to thinking behaviors that have become a habit. I say the behavior is a habit because nobody consciously chooses the way they think on a day-to-day basis. The majority of our thought process is reflexive depending on the signals our nervous system receive (i.e. the environment). For example, if you have social anxiety disorder, the problem is that when in a social situation you habitually think emotionally-charged thoughts that cause a painful physiological reaction. We are creatures of habit, we have to be because our day-to-day life is so damn complex we are forced to rely on habits. That said, habits can be changed if they are consciously overridden. The way to change the habit of thinking emotionally-charged thoughts when in certain situations is to do the following things:


1. Become fully aware of your thought process (many people with problems like anxiety and depression are not aware of their thoughts)


2. Realize that the thought is not reality, but is just a thought (like realizing a nightmare was just a dream, this removes the emotional power of the experience)


3. Find a way to discredit the thought, view it as being ridiculous in some way (finding a way to laugh at the thought is a good way to change the perception of it).

I know as well as anyone that anxiety and depression are not pleasant, I've experienced both at an extreme level. A lot of anxiety and depression is more physical than anything, but those feelings (we feel emotions) are caused by emotionless thoughts (thoughts =/= emotion, but are associated with emotions). The key here is to falsify the thoughts and disconnect the emotional associations.

Anxiety caused by how reality is perceived

A big cause of anxiety is distortions in how reality is perceived. What do I mean by this? Well, for example, the distortion that a thought = reality. This is a major perceptual problem that I believe is so pervasive in society that it is practically (if it isn't) considered normal. People often categorize anxiety as mental disorder caused by excessive worrying. But I believe, while this is true, perception (or how we see the world and ourselves) is the underlying cause behind the worrying, which leads to the symptoms. In other words, while trying to address excessive worrying is a good thing, it is best done so by addressing perceptions.

One of the biggest perceptual changes that have helped me is the way I view anxiety symptoms (sweaty hands, racing heart, flushing, trembling voice, shakiness, etc). What I did is when I noticed these symptoms, I would tell myself that these things are not a problem, but the symptoms of a problem.

This may seem trivial on the surface, but from what I've noticed, it is the symptoms of anxiety that cause the most worrying, and that worrying is caused by perceiving anxiety symptoms as being the problem. In fact, anxiety symptoms are a good thing, they make you aware that something is bothering you that you might otherwise not be aware of. This is why people that use things like alcohol or other temporary fixes to cover up their anxiety symptoms end up exasperating the problem because their lack of awareness allows it to go unchecked (along with the side effects of the actual fix).

The solution to solving the anxiety puzzle is to address not so much the symptoms (which is just sweeping the problem under the rug), but to go after the way thoughts are perceived, and the way the self and the world are perceived (realizing that all thoughts are just thoughts is important in this process).

perfectionism causes anxiety and self-esteem issues.

A belief that the self and/or the world needs to be perfect in order to succeed can lie at the core of emotional problems like anxiety, depression, and anger. When I was very young, I was short (still am), and this caused me to be bullied and viewed as an "outsider" (I was super short for my age). This self-perception (that I was "not normal") caused great distress within me, which lead to extreme anxiety and a deterioration of my self-esteem. In response, I started to believe that in order to get people to approve of me, I would need to "be perfect" (i.e. without fault). And with this mentality, I became my own bully, and the level of self-criticism rose to emotionally painful heights (not to mention that it further pushed down my self-esteem).

The moral of this story is that perfectionism, while it may seem like a good idea on its surface, can lead to an exasperation of an already painful situation. From my own experience, perfectionism gets in the way of fully realizing the potential within. Because at the end of the day, being overly self-critical creates a ton of stress and anxiety, and those things only erect barriers to potential. 

Be objective about anxiety

One of the most important things that I've learned about dealing with anxiety problems it to be objective. When we view anxiety in a non-objective way, the sting of it is much worse, and it just feeds into the anxiety (anxiety being caused by worrying thoughts). If we view anxiety as it is (i.e. the symptoms of the anxiety, which are the symptoms), it's not nearly as bad as it is often initially perceived. Being mindful of the actual sensations and thoughts which both perpetuate and/or cause anxiety is very helpful. What this also does is helps in the creation of an awareness that anxiety is not the problem, but is a symptom of another problem (thinking habits).

Mindfulness is general is just a good tool for life in general, I know I feel much more sane when I practice it. Mindfulness brings me (and all those that practice it) out of my autopilot and into reality. Anxiety is a delusional disorder caused by day-terrors. 

Is everyone crazy? (mental illness and lack of mindfulness)

I've been doing some studying on mental illness (have taken classes on it and am taking one now, plus I have looked up a lot of stuff using Google :P ). And it seems to me that a lot of mental illness is caused by thoughts. It appears that stress-inducing thoughts are bar far the biggest cause of mental illness (aside from being human). And what is the cause of stressful thinking? Lack of awareness (at least in my opinion). When I am aware of my thoughts, and more importantly, aware of the fact that my thoughts are thoughts, they don't cause me stress (like realizing a nightmare was just a dream).

I believe that being in a state of awareness of the present moment (of our senses more specifically) is the intended default mode; but we have been bombarded with nonsense from TV and the internet, plus have been taught to see the world through the imagination in school (they teach you to see history through such a lens, for example). Most people today see the world through their imagination, they are constantly thinking about things that have happened or "will happen" (most people can't predict the future that accurately). I'm not much better (it's hard to stay in a state of mindfulness for an entire day), but I realize that mindfulness causes a shift away from being consumed with the imagination to a more accurate one (the imagination can distort our perception of reality).

I believe people that have thoughts constantly streaming through their heads, not being focused on the present moment, have a form of mental illness that is more common than not in today's world (given how hectic it is, people have adopted this sort of thinking, I believe, as a coping strategy). I'm obviously included in this bunch, but I'm also trying to shift myself out of it. I'm hoping that in time I can make mindfulness the default mode, instead of worrying (I notice that when I'm doing nothing my mind automatically starts worrying).

On a heavy end of the spectrum of this are anxiety disorders and depression (caused by a high volume of stress-inducing thoughts). I hope in time, people wake up from the daymares (like daydreaming) caused our imagination by realizing that it's not real (our brains are not really time machines going into the past or crystal balls looking into the future).

I still struggle with the process of trying to wake up, but I'm getting better in time.

The way thoughts make us feel...

I believe people (myself included) believe everything they do because of the way the beliefs (i.e. thoughts) make them feel, not because of the information itself. This idea may not seem strange on the surface, but give it some thought--does it feel strange now? If such a thought for you is underwhelming in the way it makes you feel, it's not the thought itself that is underwhelming, but the lack of mutually shared "feelings" between us. Some people might argue against this idea by pointing to beliefs that create unpleasant feelings (why would people want to ever entertain thoughts that make them feel bad?). I would argue that such a phenomenon (or is it "phenomena"?) occurs because of a belief that not thinking that thought would leave open certain vulnerabilities (the feeling of fear is a powerful thing).

Anyways, I don't want this to be a long post. But try to meditate on this idea, it is an incredible awareness (a feeling I personally enjoy, which is why I enjoy mindfulness and the ideas that lead me to it).

Believable Day-Terrors

Day terrors occur when we are partially asleep (i.e. not mindful or awake). While it's hard to be fully awake, even when practicing meditation and mindfulness techniques. This is because most of us have become so used to not being totally awake (being lost in thoughts, which are really just dreams that occur while being partially awake). And sadly, this sort of habit leaves us vulnerable to stress and causes a weakening of our ability to be aware (i.e. mindful, awake, and so on).

The scariest of day-terrors are those that we find to be the most believable. Just about any day-terror has an emotional effect, but for the moments that we truly believe the day-terror is really happening, it has an effect nearly as powerful as if it were. Such as if we are worrying about something we plan on doing in the future, and some scenario pops up with some problem(s). The fact that we find it incredibly believable that this event will happen (it being based on a real-life plan), this is why it can cause an incredible amount of stress. I believe this habit is learned by-the-way, but that is a different subject all-together. In short, a day-terror (or "worrying thought") is much more emotionally disturbing if we believe it is real, and the closer of an association with reality the day-terror has, the more "real" it will seem. Whenever you worry about the future, this is a day-terror (it's not real, reality is what's occurring in the present moment as you experience via the senses, anything else is just a thought).

Be mindful.