There’s no indication that’s what this is. I get that it’s unintentional but by suggesting that it is the call of the void you might be doing a disservice to people who do experience this kind of intrusive thought.
I’m not an expert on this and maybe someone else can provide a more concise explanation but my understanding is, this is a french term “l’appel du vide” or something referring to the feeling you get standing next to a precipise something like “imagine if I just jumped off”.
These are also called intrusive thoughts and other common ones are turning into oncoming traffic while driving or cutting yourself with a knife.
I think it’s pretty common to experience them but they can be very unsettling if you’re depressed, anxious, stressed, or in particular for people with OCD.
My limited understanding is, it’s not your mind telling you “you should jump off” but rather, “be aware of this life threatening situation”. It’s like a vestigial life preservation system left over from a time when our brains were much less well developed.
It’s important for people who suffer from these to understand that they’re not harmful, and they’re not at risk of one day being compelled to do something like that.
Mine was driving on a bluff in TN. Winding road up the cliff and then you just run 100’ from the edge to oblivion for about 4 miles. Every time I ran that road, it just whispered to me to experience the freedom of flying.
The call of the void is your brain’s warning system crossing into your imagination to get your attention, as you posit. It’s totally normal.
People who struggle with OCD, PTSD, etc are more likely to be caught in the thought and repeat it as a pattern, be troubled by it, become trapped in it and suffer anxiety, which - anxiety about anxiety is panic, so this feedback loop can easily turn into panic disorder. Very troubling once this all starts happening.
You can get rid of these thoughts by recognizing they’re normal, acknowledging them, thanking them for keeping you safe, and moving on. Simple once you know how.
It’s when you resist the thought - try to stop it - that you, ironically, get caught up in it, and it begins playing on a loop. This is true of any type of thought. Several types of therapy try to guide you to the point of simply accepting your emotions so you can move on and not be troubled by them.
I am not sure about this case at all, your brain also has several self-protective mechanisms that would keep you from doing this, normally. Some sort of psychosis may have been involved.
There’s no indication that’s what this is. I get that it’s unintentional but by suggesting that it is the call of the void you might be doing a disservice to people who do experience this kind of intrusive thought.
I’m not an expert on this and maybe someone else can provide a more concise explanation but my understanding is, this is a french term “l’appel du vide” or something referring to the feeling you get standing next to a precipise something like “imagine if I just jumped off”.
These are also called intrusive thoughts and other common ones are turning into oncoming traffic while driving or cutting yourself with a knife.
I think it’s pretty common to experience them but they can be very unsettling if you’re depressed, anxious, stressed, or in particular for people with OCD.
My limited understanding is, it’s not your mind telling you “you should jump off” but rather, “be aware of this life threatening situation”. It’s like a vestigial life preservation system left over from a time when our brains were much less well developed.
It’s important for people who suffer from these to understand that they’re not harmful, and they’re not at risk of one day being compelled to do something like that.
Mine was driving on a bluff in TN. Winding road up the cliff and then you just run 100’ from the edge to oblivion for about 4 miles. Every time I ran that road, it just whispered to me to experience the freedom of flying.
The call of the void is your brain’s warning system crossing into your imagination to get your attention, as you posit. It’s totally normal.
People who struggle with OCD, PTSD, etc are more likely to be caught in the thought and repeat it as a pattern, be troubled by it, become trapped in it and suffer anxiety, which - anxiety about anxiety is panic, so this feedback loop can easily turn into panic disorder. Very troubling once this all starts happening.
You can get rid of these thoughts by recognizing they’re normal, acknowledging them, thanking them for keeping you safe, and moving on. Simple once you know how.
It’s when you resist the thought - try to stop it - that you, ironically, get caught up in it, and it begins playing on a loop. This is true of any type of thought. Several types of therapy try to guide you to the point of simply accepting your emotions so you can move on and not be troubled by them.
I am not sure about this case at all, your brain also has several self-protective mechanisms that would keep you from doing this, normally. Some sort of psychosis may have been involved.
Yep, this is pretty much what I thought, and why i commented.
Its not good for people to encounter these thoughts and worry that they might one day give in to them.
Its harmful to suggest that people can be controlled by them.