Is there meaning to all of this?

Question

Getting up every morning has become more difficult, I sometimes just stare into blank spaces around me, people talk to me and I dont listen, I stress about everybody. I drink alot to forget yesterday, I smoke to keep my hands busy. I talk to myself planning my wonderful life that is not happening. I wake up in the night having terrible dreams about everybody. Sometimes I scream out loud in public places. I hear voices telling me to shoot myself in the head. These voices are not loud voices but its my mind telling me the voices are there. All this time I am having a normal life and living what I to percieve a normal life. What is wrong with me?

Answer 1

The philosophical question "What is the meaning of life?" means different things to different people. The vagueness of the query is inherent in the word "meaning", which opens the question to many interpretations, such as: "What is the origin of life?", "What is the nature of life (and of the universe in which we live)?", "What is the significance of life?", "What is valuable in life?", and "What is the purpose of, or in, (one's) life?". These questions have resulted in a wide range of competing answers and arguments, from scientific theories, to philosophical, theological, and spiritual explanations.

These questions are separate from the scientific issue of the boundary between things with life and inanimate objects.
Popular beliefs
"What is the meaning of life?" is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?" Here are some of the many potential answers to this perplexing question. The responses are shown to overlap in many ways but may be grouped into the following categories:

Survival and temporal success
...to live every day like it is your last and to do your best at everything that comes before you
...to be always satisfied
...to live, go to school, work, and die
...to participate in natural human evolution, or to contribute to the gene pool of the human race
...to advance technological evolution, or to actively develop the future of intelligent life
...to compete or co-operate with others
...to destroy others who harm you, or to practice nonviolence and nonresistance
...to gain and exercise power
...to leave a legacy, such as a work of art or a book
...to eat
...to prepare for death
...to spend life in the pursuit of happiness, maybe not to obtain it, but to pursue it relentlessly.
...to produce offspring through sexual reproduction (alike to participating in evolution)
...to protect and preserve one's kin, clan, or tribe (akin to participating in evolution)
...to seek freedom, either physically, mentally or financially
...to observe the ultimate fate of humanity to the furthest possible extent
...to seek happiness and flourish, experience pleasure or celebrate
...to survive, including the pursuit of immortality through scientific means
...to attempt to have many sexual conquests (as in Arthur Schopenhauer's will to procreate)
...to find and take over all free space in this "game" called life
...to seek and find beauty
...to kill or be killed
...No point. Since having a point is a condition of living human consciousness. Animals do not need a point to live or exist. It is more of an affliction of consciousness that there are such things as points, a negative side to evolutionary development for lack of better words.

Wisdom and knowledge
...to master and know everything
...to be without questions, or to keep asking questions
...to expand one's perception of the world
...to explore, to expand beyond our frontiers
...to learn from one's own and others' mistakes
...to seek truth, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom
...to understand and be mindful of creation or the cosmos
...to lead the world towards a desired situation
...to satisfy the natural curiosity felt by humans about life

Ethical
...to express compassion
...to follow the "Golden Rule"
...to give and receive love
...to work for justice and freedom
...to live in peace with yourself and each other, and in harmony with our natural environment
...to protect humanity, or more generally the environment
...to serve others, or do good deeds

Religious and spiritual
...to find perfect love and a complete expression of one's humanness in a relationship with God
...to achieve a supernatural connection within the natural context
...to achieve enlightenment and inner peace
...to become like God, or divine
...to glorify God
...to experience personal justice (i.e. to be rewarded for goodness)
...to experience existence from an infinite number of perspectives in order to expand the consciousness of all there is (i.e. to seek objectivity)
...to be a filter of creation between heaven and hell
...to produce useful structure in the universe over and above consumption (see net creativity)
...to reach Heaven in the afterlife
...to seek and acquire virtue, to live a virtuous life
...to turn fear into joy at a constant rate achieving on literal and metaphorical levels: immortality, enlightenment, and atonement
...to understand and follow the "Word of God"
...to discover who you are
...to resolve all problems that one faces, or to ignore them and attempt to fully continue life without them, or to detach oneself from all problems faced

Philosophical
...to give life meaning
...to participate in the chain of events which has led from the creation of the universe until its possible end (either freely chosen or determined, this is a subject widely debated amongst philosophers)
...to know the meaning of life
...to achieve self-actualisation
...all possible meanings have some validity
...life in itself has no meaning, for its purpose is an opportunity to create that meaning, therefore:
...to die
...to simply live until one dies (there is no universal or celestial purpose)
...nature taking its course (the wheel of time keeps on turning)
...whatever you see you see, as in "projection makes perception"
...there is no purpose or meaning whatsoever
...life may actually not exist, or may be illusory )
...to contemplate "the meaning of the end of life"

Other
...to contribute to collective meaning ("we" or "us") without having individual meaning ("I" or "me")
...to find a purpose, a "reason" for living that hopefully raises the quality of one's experience of life, or even life in general
...to participate in the inevitable increase in entropy of the universe
...to make conformists' lives miserable
...to make life as difficult as possible for others (i.e. to compete)
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Answer 2

You are experiencing something that only a human being can experience.
Your stress, forgetfulness, feeling life is more difficult, and drinking are all signs of depression.
Voice hearing is a symptom that you need some professional medical intervention as soon as possible. This is very important because you say the voices are telling you to harm yourself. A doctor who specializes in psychiatric illness can help you find a way to obtain relief from hearing those voices. The doctor can also try interventions to help you obtain more peaceful sleep at night and help you deal with depression.
Start by agreeing that you will not harm yourself or anyone else. Make an appointment with your doctor and tell the doc about how you are feeling and that you are hearing voices. Call an emergency squad if you think you are about to harm yourself. Take care of yourself.
Peace.

Answer 3

Hi Future Boy,

You're really brave for opening up like you did. Good job. I'm a social psychologist/lecturer with experience with counselling mental illness. See a psychiatrist please. You may need medication for some time but a diagnosis must be made first. This is not the end of your world, it's just the beginning. The good thing is that you do have insight into your condition, (that something weird is happenning) get help immediately. See a General Practioner (GP) at once and talk things out just like you have. I don't want to speculate on your diagnosis. That you can distinguish the voices are really you're mind acting strangely, shows that you still do have some contact with reality. A diagnosis of psychosis is necessary for a label of schizophrenia or its related conditions. If you have developed initial psychosis medication and talk therapy will soon restore this disorder which may be mild in your case. You however must comply with your doctor's advise. Find one you're comfortable with, they are there to help you recover, and you will if you really want to get help. Cheer up, and on your feet soldier. This, is a command.

Love and best wishes for a speedy recovery. I'll be praying for ya. Reply, and let us know how things are going.

Barry H

Answer 4

You should go and see your Doctor as soon as possible. Sounds like you are describing schizophrenia but you really need a Doctor to diagnose what might be wrong so they can help you. Also you should talk to a therapist who can help you find out what might be causing you to feel like this.

I have anxiety and depression and having been trying an alternative therapy called Emotional Freedom Technique and it has really worked for me and helped me a lot. Since using it I have been feeling a lot better. It's very good at getting rid of all kinds of negative emotions and dealing with all kinds of issues quickly. It does sound bizarre but does work. Might be something that can help you. These are some links about it.

Answer 5

This does sound like schizophrenia voices telling you to do thinks you would not normally do !! You are showing all the classic signs !! You need to see a doctor so you can control the voices with medication you'll still be you but the voices will stop!! Please think about it for your own good!!

Answer 6

You do need to find someone who can help you.
I am bi-polar but there are different degrees of being bi-polar and there are many different mental health problems, that it could be.
It took time to find the right Dr for me.
I'm on lamictal, 200mg/2x day. I have to take this just to get thur the day. Each and everyday. I have to be on it for the rest of my life but knowing that I have something that will help is worth it.
I would just stare in to space, not want to talk, not want people talk to me, not listen if they did( well not listen as much as not HEAR them)
I stress about people thinking about me because I don't want people to think about me.
I can't drink because I know I'd be an alcohlic. And when I smoked, I smoked 3+ packs a day. I can't do things in a small way.
Everyday, no everynight,I would lay in bed and just know I could anything tomorrow. I could get things done, things would be just great. But tomorrow would come and it would be the same. And I COULD NOT get up off my chair to even make things better. I could not move. I just could not move.
Everyday I thought, is this all there is? Why am I here? Just to die some day and go to a better place. Why wasn't this that better place?
I didn't have a lot of bad dreams, but when I did, I called them my hate dreams because they was full of hate and about 3 people only. After I figured out my dreams(they do have some pretty good books, or ask yourself, what about this dream is like what going on in my life now. I found out, that certain things would set off a certain type of dream.
I don't have the hearing voices, mine was knowing that if 2 or more people was together and if one or both just looked my way, they was talking about me. And if just 1 person was there, what was they thinking about me, just knowing they was thinking something bad about me. Something in my head was telling me this.
And in reality i really don't care what people think.
Even if I wanted to I could scream out loud, I couldn't. Crying was bad enough.
Our minds tell us all kind of things, and as hard as it is, we don't have to listen to everything. We have to get on good med's to help us stop the voices that we don't want to hear.
Yes, I have what is called a normal life.
And even being on good med's, everyday is a challenge. Because I still have thoughts that want to creep in.
Some days I still wonder why are we here.
But I can make myself get up and have a job that I like (NOW)
It took time and tried different drug to get one that works. But my shrink said they've had good reports about the one i'm on.
So I hope you see that you aren't alone in this. They are more people like us out there than you know. And you know, I never minded telling people I knew about depression, but not about being bi-polar. No one knows except my husband and son, I;m bi-polar. Just because how negative people are, with people like us.
What is wrong with you? Just not knowing what is wrong, is whats wrong with you.
R in my thought.

Answer 7

Pray to God to see you thru this, with a sincere heart -- PRAY!
You may have a chemical imbalance which is not 'abnormal' but is instead a biological situation that can be remedied.
SEE YOUR DOCTOR, and be prepared to go thru a few months of intense discomfort to get thru this.
Be honest with yourself, with your therapists that will be provided, and above ALL -- be honest with God.
He loves you, your fellow man loves you, and you are a VALUABLE ADDITION to the human race.
We can't "do it" without you, friend!
Hang in there, but seek help while you're still aware that you need it..
Almost everyone needs 'help' at some point in their lives....you're blessed to be able to recognize when you need it. A lot of folks never admit when they need it and they cause a lot of pain by being too selfish to admit it.
Don't be a loser...be strong by admitting you need some help right now, and come out the stronger and the better for it.
I will keep you in my prayers, & I really mean that.
GOD BLESS YOU.

Answer 8

Being caught up in your mind causes 90% or more of what you're describing.
Thinking of future = fear / Thinking of past = guilt & shame
(That's how it works.)

A solution would be to disregard the mind. Mind is thoughts. Thoughts are inevitably a negative perspective.
Be here with what is happening now.

Answer 9

I go through that..almost the same way..i hve the voices too..but not telling me to shoot myself...but telling me rude insults..i stare into blank spaces alot..cuz i am thinking..being worried about the people around me..wondering what they think of me as..instead of listening to what i think of myself as..i constanly hve to fidget..or i can sometimes get cranky..lol..but..i hve always had writing to help me out..singing helped me too..but lately..all i hve been thinking about..is what people think of me as..it annoys me yes..but those voices in my head..r just voices..they mix me up all the time..but you know what..they hve to stop eventually..i think..u might..be be bipolar..i am not sure..i could be wrong..more than likely am..but i know someone who is bipolar..&& she can act lyke how u do sometimes..but then again..i also felt all that when i was going trhough my depression illness..i also seem to go through it..when i miss someone..or i wish things to be better..my neighbor Dustin moved..i kinda miss him..he was always someone who was always annoying..but when i hung outside..or in da hall of my building..&& he came out for even a second..he always cheered me up..knowing he had been through so much..&& he still lived life out..i think he hasnt gotten better..but i dont see him much nemore..i am gonna be heading to da same HS as him..so..that might change..which i am all glad about..but..its things like that..that totally mess me up..u jus got to learn how to control it..

Answer 10

Well you have schizophrenia, you must check a doctor right away. People who has this either suicide or are killers; even if it sounds weird to you and you say: "I won`t kill." but the voices will... trust me go to a doctor.

Answer 11

schizophrenia....you need to go to a mental doctor. you arent okay