#ontological insecurity

[the-mechanica]

my ocd is this yassified Wormtongue obnoxiously sitting on the armrest of my chair and shoving her phone full of horrifying images in my face until I break -- unless I shove her off my chair knowing she was sent by assholes that want me scared

anyway, here is the definition of

Ontological Insecurity

“Ontological insecurity” is an older existentialist term that refers to a disruption in one’s sense of self and society's shared norms. You don’t feel like your old happier self anymore. And you feel numb sometimes.

Ontological security—often experienced as a kind of emotional stability—is usually unconscious, so when disrupted, it often occurs outside of conscious awareness too. Polarizing events such as pandemics and political elections can make this worse. - from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/debunking-myths-of-the-mind/202303/how-to-overcome-the-sinking-feeling-of-dread

[funeral]

R.D. Laing, The Divided Self

[funeral]

[Ontological security], however, may not be the case. The individual in the ordinary circumstances of living may feel more unreal than real; in a literal sense, more dead than alive; precariously differentiated from the rest of the world, so that his identity and autonomy are always in question. He may lack the experience of his own temporal continuity. He may not possess an overriding sense of personal consistency or cohesiveness. He may feel more insubstantial than substantial, and unable to assume that the stuff he is made of is genuine, good, valuable. And he may feel his self as partially divorced from his body.

R.D. Laing, The Divided Self

[funeral]

The ontologically insecure person feels more exposed, more vulnerable, and more isolated. He is made of glass: every Other is a potential Medusa who can stare right through him and turn him to stone.

Bradley Seidman, Absent at the Creation: The Existential Psychiatry of Ludwig Binswanger

[erainbowd]

Digital Gentrification and Ontological Insecurity

When it became clear to me that my big break in theatre wasn’t coming any time soon, I began to create things in the digital space. If I couldn’t book a gig in a theatre, I could at least, play a song on-line or have some words I wrote get read. While I appreciated the opportunity to share with people around the world, I also felt somewhat banished into that space. The difficulty and expense of…

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[deveril]

My psychiatrist described one of my many problems as "ontological insecurity."

I understand this to mean that I don’t believe I am real. I don’t believe that anything is real.

Finally, someone who understands me. I wish he were real. Maybe he could help.

– deveril

[sunndowner]

The individual in the ordinary circumstances of living may feel more unreal than real; in a literal sense, more dead than alive; precariously differentiated from the rest of the world, so that his identity and autonomy are always in question. He may lack the experience of his own temporal continuity. He may not possess an over-riding sense of personal consistency or cohesiveness. He may feel more insubstantial than substantial, and unable to assume that the stuff he is made of is genuine, good, valuable. And he may feel his self as partially divorced from his body.

R. D. Laing, Ontological Insecurity

[evokit-notes]

The individual is in a world in which, like some nightmare Midas, everything he approaches becomes dead. There are now perhaps only two further possibilities open to him at this stage: 1. He may decide to "be himself' despite everything, or 2. He may attempt to murder him self [his inner self, an ontological death] Both these projects, if carried though, are likely to result in manifest psychosis.

The Divided Self / R. D. Laing / p.158