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The Fear of Dying Alone

The Fear of Dying Alone

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum.

I am 24 years old and I have struggled for a long time with depression, anxiety, body image issues, and OCD. It has at least 12 years now that I have struggled with it. This has meant that I have struggled to develop friendships and I have missed out on a lot of opportunities.

This has lead to my greatest fear, the fear of never having a partner. I have never had a girlfriend, I am a virgin and it pains me greatly. I was in hospital 7 times over an 8 month period and part of this was due to the fact that I may never have a girlfriend. I also have crippling body image issues which means I never look in the mirror. The pain is exacerbated by the fact that I am the only person in my family over the age of 18 who is not in a long term relationship or married.

My problem is that I don't know how to get out more as I am struggling to find things to do. Does anyone else have the same problems as I do because it seems like everyone is finding it easy to get into relationships except me? Am I doing anything wrong?

171 replies

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In response to: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

@Hope4me

What I’m noticing right now is the amount of anger I am feeling. All the anger and bitterness of missing out is really strong at the moment and I just keep thinking about why or how it would ever happen? What I also notice underneath is the fear and anxiety of dying alone. That’s what grips me every day and that’s what I really struggling with right now.

What I’m trying to do right now is to notice these feelings and why they are happening, rather than being consumed by them. That’s what happened last week unfortunately. It’s really hard because there was something last night that was really upsetting as well.

In response to: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

I’m also going to the football tonight so I’m a little nervous about that.

(Sorry I don’t mean to spam this forum, my thoughts are just all over the place.)

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Hey there @Former-Member

I know what it's like to have invasive thoughts. What's important is that you recognise it in yourself. That's a biggie...

Hopelessness? Yeah, I know this one too; it comes from those thoughts. The thing is, you're not 'helpless'. It might feel that way, but believe me, your ability to change is very powerful. It's about will, determination and commitment. To boost these three requires a good dose of courage and patience. All of which I think you've got in spades!🤜🤛

Going to a footy match is a pretty gutsy effort...kudos! Just be sure to have an exit/safety plan in case things get too much. It's perfectly fine to feel the pinch and take time out or go home. Talk with the person you're going with about it so they won't be so confused if you need a break.

Congratulations on pushing the boundaries. I know the anger's an important obstacle to overcome, but it's doable. Self insight's there and so is the will to achieve. You can do it!!! One small step at a time...

Take care;

Hope x 👵

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Hey @Hope4me

Well it went well last night. North Melbourne beat Adelaide which was a great result even though the game was awful to watch at times. But I managed to get through it without a hitch.

I have OCD so these invasive thoughts are very problematic. I was troubled all this morning actually. The fear can cripple me actually because I don't think I have any kind of personality or attractive attributes that a woman would actually like.

Recently I have been thinking of something. I think sometimes being an adult is too hard. I would like to go back to when I was a 14 year old when I didn't care about any of this. I lived in ignorance over sex and relationships and I only cared about pokemon and learning the guitar. It was bliss and sometimes, if I had the power, I would like to live as a 14 year old for the rest of my life. I would never be bothered about this stuff ever again.

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Hey @Hope4me (or anyone else who is reading)

I have stumbled across something that I think will be very helpful for me to deal with strong emotional thoughts. I have started to read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius who was a Roman emperor in the second century AD. He followed a stream of philosophy called Stoicism and his work is considered to be a landmark work of Stoic philosophy. Here is one quote that I thought was profound.

"Ignoring what goes on in other people's souls - no one ever came to grief that way. But if you won't keep track of what your own soul's doing, how can you not be unhappy?"

Bloody oath, Marcus. Bloody oath.

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Plenty of people with you on that thought @Former-Member! Life is so much simpler before we had to work and pay bills and worry about adulting. Do you still play guitar? Rumour has it that playing guitar is an attractive skill regardless of gender What kind of music did/do you enjoy playing?

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Hey @Ali11

Thanks for messaging here.

I don't want to come across as pessimistic or bitter or anything but that is something I have heard too but I have never experienced. I guess I don't play my guitar for anyone but myself but I do write a tonne of music which people often know about. They are more than welcome to ask if they want to listen but I guess they might think I might be embarrassed.

I listen to a lot of 70s/80s punk/post-punk music which largely informs my songwriting. I also grew up listening to classic rock radio so I am well acquainted with The Beatles, The Who. CCR, The Velvet Underground etc. I also like the 90s era as well.

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

I’m slipping a little bit. I’m just wondering if there is anyone I can talk to.

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Okay then....

Really??

In response to: Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

Re: The Fear of Dying Alone

I’m not going to be commenting on this forum anymore because it’s making things worse for me. I feel like I’m just talking to myself on the internet. It’s exacerbating my mental health and making me feel really rejected

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