[Protoform]

I don't feel this way during the day but lately I've been waking up at night feeling anxious. The anxiety that I feel is unrelated to dreams and usually stems from unwanted thoughts concerning existentialist questions: is there a creator? who created the creator? how can the universe be infinite? etc.

I wake up at night and I have those thoughts against my will and feel a great amount of anxiety and fear that I'm on the verge of having a panic attack.

I know this sounds stupid but what I feel actually is very painful and also makes me feel like I am about to go insane.

Can someone please tell me what this problem means?

[BatsAndButterflies]

Have you tried to seek out spiritual support for any of these concerns? That could definitely help... It doesn't matter what your beliefs are, being part of something bigger that yourself helps with anxiety...

I had that problem for a while and I am a devout Christian, but my beliefs helped be get through it because I believe that outside of this life, human restrictions like time do not exist, and therefore infinity is possible. And this is just an example of my personal beliefs. Try talking to someone spiritual you know about these questions.

[5-HTP]

Originally Posted by Protoform

I don't feel this way during the day but lately I've been waking up at night feeling anxious. The anxiety that I feel is unrelated to dreams and usually stems from unwanted thoughts concerning existentialist questions: is there a creator? who created the creator? how can the universe be infinite? etc.

I wake up at night and I have those thoughts against my will and feel a great amount of anxiety and fear that I'm on the verge of having a panic attack.

I know this sounds stupid but what I feel actually is very painful and also makes me feel like I am about to go insane.

Can someone please tell me what this problem means?

Atheist here, who is in the sciences for a living.

On that last question, I'm not sure why you're concerned about the putative infiniteness of the universe because there are some very well-established scientific facts about it, but cosmology says that it is at the very least Quite Big: approximately 49 billion light-years in diameter (which is bigger than the 21.4 billion light-years in diameter of the observable universe due to inflation). It will continue expanding pretty much into forever and the matter in it will eventually decay into protons (this is the best-supported hypothesis so far). Relevant Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe

As to the presence of an intelligent 'creator', I can see you and I are going to have some major differences on this because I don't believe in any deities, much less any that create and/or actively shape existence, but I get the sense that you feel the need for one to exist, and that this question troubles you very much. Why do you feel this need, and why does it trouble you so?

You may benefit from picking up a few science resources on the internet.

[BatsAndButterflies]

I agree with 5-HTP also. Looking into whatever you feel the need to look into may help, because simply having answers or having the sense of support from a belief system decreases anxiety.

[pachyderm]

Originally Posted by Protoform

Can someone please tell me what this problem means?

Might it be camouflage for more "personal" problems?

This happens to me I wake at night feeling anxious too. It might be you worrying about stuff. If you need the questions to be answered I suppose you could speak to a Christian or speak to someone about your thoughts.

[Perna]

What your mind picks to think/worry about in the middle of the night is a personal "decision", kind of like our dreams and their subject matter (I tend to worry about the dust on door lintels!). Your subconscious might be trying to figure something out and you're not helping by remembering/working with your dreams or whatever.

I would spend a night or two "accepting" the situation and get up and start writing about whatever it is you are thinking about. Come up with some "answers" that please or comfort you and which might put your mind to rest on those subjects. That you are "paying attention" to yourself may well help get rid of some of the anxiety waking you up. Worth a try I think.