Who are you?

[cromwell]

Yes, I think you did. The other symptoms I had included loss of hearing and slurred speech and that all came back online at the same time.


I had no visual issues, I told the paramedics the little table I had the boiled eggs on started moving of its own accord but when I said the salt and pepper actually fell off they worked out I was actually shaking during the episode and the table was really being moved by that. I was asked several times if what I saw changed at all, your sight is often affected.


I guess I got lucky.


How's your stress level now compared to then ?


What I found most terrifying of all was that after everything had settled down and they took me for a CT scan to check my head, the sensation of feeling in my fingers totally returned, until I tried to use my hand to steady myself as I tried to sit up for m the CT machine., it was only recently

Instantly I lost all feeling and about 10-20% of my muscle power again.  And this time it took weeks to come back to where it is now ...

Stress considerably reduced and went from 60 cigs a day to none,compared to my brother I suppose I was extremely fortunate.

Complete change of work situation,my wife only recently told me our excellent gp didn't rate my longevity high and so I'm happy to still be here 30 odd years on.

I still get stressed on occasion but nowhere near how it was.

Just look after yourself John and don't let the bastards get to you.

[johnofgwent]

Interesting post John,my brother suffered similar but never really came back though he did tell me eventually of the strange sensation of his head being empty.
I'm pretty sure I suffered similar but less severe,my whole taste system went awry and a work colleague asked if I'd been drinking,well no I never touched alcohol during the day or at work only he said you're slurring your words.
I very briefly lost the sight seconds only in one eye,that was a little over thirty years ago,stressful job and smoking heavily.

Yes, I think you did. The other symptoms I had included loss of hearing and slurred speech and that all came back online at the same time.


I had no visual issues, I told the paramedics the little table I had the boiled eggs on started moving of its own accord but when I said the salt and pepper actually fell off they worked out I was actually shaking during the episode and the table was really being moved by that. I was asked several times if what I saw changed at all, your sight is often affected.


I guess I got lucky.


How's your stress level now compared to then ?


What I found most terrifying of all was that after everything had settled down and they took me for a CT scan to check my head, the sensation of feeling in my fingers totally returned, until I tried to use my hand to steady myself as I tried to sit up for m the CT machine.


Instantly I lost all feeling and about 10-20% of my muscle power again.  And this time it took weeks to come back to where it is now ...

[cromwell]

Well ...


I no longer care much about any spiritual component I might carry.


As to my past, I've done some interesting research work into our family history as has my brother who has had rather more time on his hands than I. It goes back quite a way. Apparently.


As to my physical self ...


The total loss of half my mental capacity for about 120 seconds during my TIA was interesting.


The sense that the whole half of my head was actually physically empty was quite intriguing. I remember sitting here in this very chair using the functioning right half of my mind to run a power on self test and I'd just about got past smell, taste and diaphragm movement when the out of service half of my head rebooted.


Frankly, I now know what fate awaits the stroke survivor who does not get that system reboot, and that I might experience it again and not come back next time truly, truly terrifies me.


In a very recent mental health wellness meeting our company runs (they're BIG on this stuff for those isolated at home) they got some yogi or other to run a relaxation class.


I had to break my connection with extreme haste and one of the on the payroll health guys picked up.on it.


As I said, I could feel this guy's instructions creeping towards my respiration master override switch and I knew if I did as he said it would be hours before I'd be able to release control back to.my autopilot, and for every s cons of that I'd be terrified I'd forget to breathe.


So I guess if I found myself imprisoned in a body I could not use through a stroke, I'd just fire up that override - and stop telling myself what to do.

That TIA led to to he loss of much of the sensation and fine motor control in my right hand.

It has come back, but not entirely. I do not, however, feel any less 'me' for it.


In stark contrast, the day I was able to put my +10, +6 glasses that had been my signature crutch for over 45 years in the industrial crusher and shredder was a day of celebration to rival the sense of elation I felt on hearing McGuinness was dead.


I would say of the enduring lack.of capacity though, that, and every single mental and physical health professional I told this to has laughed WITH me about it ...


You have no idea how much shit your life is in until you lose the sensation of feeling and fine motor control in the hand you use to wipe your arse.

Interesting post John,my brother suffered similar but never really came back though he did tell me eventually of the strange sensation of his head being empty.
I'm pretty sure I suffered similar but less severe,my whole taste system went awry and a work colleague asked if I'd been drinking,well no I never touched alcohol during the day or at work only he said you're slurring your words.
I very briefly lost the sight seconds only in one eye,that was a little over thirty years ago,stressful job and smoking heavily.

[johnofgwent]

Well ...


I no longer care much about any spiritual component I might carry.


As to my past, I've done some interesting research work into our family history as has my brother who has had rather more time on his hands than I. It goes back quite a way. Apparently.


As to my physical self ...


The total loss of half my mental capacity for about 120 seconds during my TIA was interesting.


The sense that the whole half of my head was actually physically empty was quite intriguing. I remember sitting here in this very chair using the functioning right half of my mind to run a power on self test and I'd just about got past smell, taste and diaphragm movement when the out of service half of my head rebooted.


Frankly, I now know what fate awaits the stroke survivor who does not get that system reboot, and that I might experience it again and not come back next time truly, truly terrifies me.


In a very recent mental health wellness meeting our company runs (they're BIG on this stuff for those isolated at home) they got some yogi or other to run a relaxation class.


I had to break my connection with extreme haste and one of the on the payroll health guys picked up.on it.


As I said, I could feel this guy's instructions creeping towards my respiration master override switch and I knew if I did as he said it would be hours before I'd be able to release control back to.my autopilot, and for every s cons of that I'd be terrified I'd forget to breathe.


So I guess if I found myself imprisoned in a body I could not use through a stroke, I'd just fire up that override - and stop telling myself what to do.

That TIA led to to he loss of much of the sensation and fine motor control in my right hand.

It has come back, but not entirely. I do not, however, feel any less 'me' for it.


In stark contrast, the day I was able to put my +10, +6 glasses that had been my signature crutch for over 45 years in the industrial crusher and shredder was a day of celebration to rival the sense of elation I felt on hearing McGuinness was dead.


I would say of the enduring lack.of capacity though, that, and every single mental and physical health professional I told this to has laughed WITH me about it ...


You have no idea how much shit your life is in until you lose the sensation of feeling and fine motor control in the hand you use to wipe your arse.

[T00ts]

Can you describe this further - Does the 'true you' have opinions and outlooks? Is it malleable? Is it something you always felt or discovered at some point in time?

Mmm tricky. If I look back I think I have possibly always felt that there was something within me that was 'me'. I can only describe it as I did before that it isn't touched/damaged by anyone. Many things happen in life that can have an affect on us but I have always recognised an inner something which can and does rise above. I don't know what you are wanting from me, but I think I have always been aware of it. I call it my Spirit because even before I really understood faith it was always there.
Is it malleable? In what way?

Does it have opinions and outlooks? Of course. I have opinions and outlooks every day. My Spirit is me. If you are suggesting that the body can have thoughts and opinions separately then that's really funny. Are they two different people?

There is something called the Natural man but that's perhaps a different subject. Perhaps that's what you are referring to.

[cromwell]

Every one of them! I won't quote scriptures at you but it is interesting that there are so many references in the Bible to people turning their minds to their ancestors in the last days. Even though you say you don't recognise them as people you have enough interest to have worked you way back so far. Yes they are just names but I find it really interesting that as I search through copious records they do become people. I feel sad each time I find a child that died. So many women passed away through childbirth without all the losses through sickness. They had such a tough time in this supposedly civilised country. I have a GGGgrandfather who has simply disappeared. He spent years as a farmer then suddenly upped and left to go to sea described at his last son's Christening, as a mariner.
I always used to smile when my late husband used to speak a bit like you and tell him that one of us has to be right and as it's always the wife - I would see him later (in the afterlife) and he could apologise. He used to smile. I look forward to it.

Well perhaps I didn't explain myself that well,I of course accept they were people but I never knew them in their physical state.
And your husband perhaps he like me thought ok you just might be right but you'll never know if you were wrong.

[Nalaar]

I feel that my physical body houses a Spirit which is essentially the true me

Can you describe this further - Does the 'true you' have opinions and outlooks? Is it malleable? Is it something you always felt or discovered at some point in time?

[Barry]

I would like you to consider what you feel it means to be 'you', and what is your sense of 'youness'

Do you consider yourself physical - You are your blood, bones, nerves, and body?

Who are you was used as a trick question in the film "Anger Management". The respondent gave his name. The question is so much deeper, and it was used to bully the respondent.
I am physical, in fact a big strong man. That can change, of course.

Do you consider yourself mental - A culmination of memories, and mental impressions gathered over your life?

Yes, there is an elements of consciousness and something that makes me me, rather than anyone else in a physical shell.

Do you consider yourself a spirit - Something intangible and independent of your physical form, and mental properties?

Absolutely, YES.

To follow this up, once you're confident in how you describe you "are", what happens when the circumstances around this aspect change?

It might change mood.

Who are you without your memories?

I'm still the same person. If I had dementure or Alzheimer's, it's still me, I would have lost my memory. That's a breakdown in the physical body.

Who are you if you lose a limb?

One legged Barry.

Is there any sense in which you feel you are the same person you were 20 years ago?

I was going to say no, but what I mean is that we develop so much over our lives that we improve our knowledge and experience, making different decisions as we get older. I'm still the same me who had three teenage kids 20 years ago.

I liked the OP because it's one of the best questions I have seen asked. It stimulates real thought.
Is this something to do with your studies?

[T00ts]

There are now billions of people inhabiting this rock in space but which of them are anything other than a brief spark in a universe that has existed for who knows how long a bit like a match struck that flares light for a second or two but is soon gone.

Every one of them! I won't quote scriptures at you but it is interesting that there are so many references in the Bible to people turning their minds to their ancestors in the last days. Even though you say you don't recognise them as people you have enough interest to have worked you way back so far. Yes they are just names but I find it really interesting that as I search through copious records they do become people. I feel sad each time I find a child that died. So many women passed away through childbirth without all the losses through sickness. They had such a tough time in this supposedly civilised country. I have a GGGgrandfather who has simply disappeared. He spent years as a farmer then suddenly upped and left to go to sea described at his last son's Christening, as a mariner.
I always used to smile when my late husband used to speak a bit like you and tell him that one of us has to be right and as it's always the wife - I would see him later (in the afterlife) and he could apologise. He used to smile. I look forward to it.

[cromwell]

That makes me quite sad. I don't want to detract from the OP it's such an interesting question but never think of yourself as irrelevant. I agree it's quite a step to the thought of an eternal existence but just imagine if you had never turned up on this planet. Your parents, wife, children and grandchildren etc etc down the ages would never have known you or existed.  You have a very important place in the scheme of things both inside and outside of your nearest and dearest, which will have some impact throughout history. You will have  impacted on those you have met throughout your life in some way or other. No-one is unimportant. Records are kept. You are traceable for ever.
eg I have traced members of my family back to medieval times in some cases and they  spread over a large part of the world. We are never irrelevant or truly forgotten.

Well I haven't traced my family back so far just to the late 1600's,found it all very interesting with the odd skeleton in the cupboard but they are just names really with no sense of them as people.

There are of course those I know second hand from parents/older relatives like one grandad who died before I was born probably went earlier than expected due to being gassed in ww1,his brother and my great uncle had his head blown off in the battle of the Somme a few days after his 18th birthday.

It was from doing that research I learned of the appalling waste of life and hardships people endured,my old mans early life wasn't easy but he determined to do what he could to make ours better,but having lost two brothers and many other relatives he  is known as a person to fewer people.

It's the same with me and everyone is the point I was trying to make,I'm clocking on now and when I go there's people who knew me already gone,others ageing themselves so within a generation or so I will cease to be anything other than a name in various census or whatever but not known otherwise as a real person,it's just how it is.

There are now billions of people inhabiting this rock in space but which of them are anything other than a brief spark in a universe that has existed for who knows how long a bit like a match struck that flares light for a second or two but is soon gone.

[T00ts]

Spiritual me? No.
Despite coming from a a fairly religious family I'm not.....my old man was brought up Methodist though there is a fair chunk of Catholic in the family......I aint anything my dad told me live your life for now when you've gone there's nothing that's it but treat people as you'd want to be treated yourself,my mum believed in God but I suspect it was all based on superstition.

How do I see myself?  Not perfect.....sometimes short on the diplomatic skills and tend to see things in black and white.

Who am I if I lose a limb? A daft old bugger minus an arm or leg but no different in thought.

Spirit? None,when I'm gone I'm gone and within a few short years forgotten and totally irrelevant.

That makes me quite sad. I don't want to detract from the OP it's such an interesting question but never think of yourself as irrelevant. I agree it's quite a step to the thought of an eternal existence but just imagine if you had never turned up on this planet. Your parents, wife, children and grandchildren etc etc down the ages would never have known you or existed.  You have a very important place in the scheme of things both inside and outside of your nearest and dearest, which will have some impact throughout history. You will have  impacted on those you have met throughout your life in some way or other. No-one is unimportant. Records are kept. You are traceable for ever.
eg I have traced members of my family back to medieval times in some cases and they  spread over a large part of the world. We are never irrelevant or truly forgotten.

[cromwell]

I would like you to consider what you feel it means to be 'you', and what is your sense of 'youness'

Do you consider yourself physical - You are your blood, bones, nerves, and body?

Do you consider yourself mental - A culmination of memories, and mental impressions gathered over your life?

Do you consider yourself a spirit - Something intangible and independent of your physical form, and mental properties?

Or a mix of 2 or more of the above?

To follow this up, once you're confident in how you describe you "are", what happens when the circumstances around this aspect change? Who are you without your memories? Who are you if you lose a limb?

Is there any sense in which you feel you are the same person you were 20 years ago?

Spiritual me? No.
Despite coming from a a fairly religious family I'm not.....my old man was brought up Methodist though there is a fair chunk of Catholic in the family......I aint anything my dad told me live your life for now when you've gone there's nothing that's it but treat people as you'd want to be treated yourself,my mum believed in God but I suspect it was all based on superstition.

How do I see myself?  Not perfect.....sometimes short on the diplomatic skills and tend to see things in black and white.

Who am I if I lose a limb? A daft old bugger minus an arm or leg but no different in thought.

Spirit? None,when I'm gone I'm gone and within a few short years forgotten and totally irrelevant.

[T00ts]

I would like you to consider what you feel it means to be 'you', and what is your sense of 'youness'

Do you consider yourself physical - You are your blood, bones, nerves, and body?

Do you consider yourself mental - A culmination of memories, and mental impressions gathered over your life?

Do you consider yourself a spirit - Something intangible and independent of your physical form, and mental properties?

Or a mix of 2 or more of the above?

To follow this up, once you're confident in how you describe you "are", what happens when the circumstances around this aspect change? Who are you without your memories? Who are you if you lose a limb?

Is there any sense in which you feel you are the same person you were 20 years ago?

Interesting question. You might know I'd be up for this one.  It is something I have considered in one way or another for decades.

Who am I? Well let me think  - I feel now as I did somewhere between 18-25. My experience and understanding is greater but I am essentially the same inside as back then.

I haven't lost a limb so can't comment, my memory is pretty intact too, but I do know that there is part of me that cannot be touched - it belongs somewhere between my head and heart and although the physical is a real bonus my 'being' doesn't seem to  depend on it. My 'intelligence' doesn't seem to depend on books read or classes attended and I am aware of something in me that thinks quite independently from all the influences.

I feel that my physical body houses a Spirit which is essentially the true me, and that no matter what happens to the physical me it won't impact on the strength of that Spirit. Having said all that as my starter for 10, I do not discard the importance of the body and (here's the tricky bit for many) believe that they will be re-united and glorified into an Eternal existence outside of our comprehension although bits and pieces of what it will be like have been made available to us enough to give us hope of a future and an eternal goal and purpose.

[Nalaar]

I would like you to consider what you feel it means to be 'you', and what is your sense of 'youness'

Do you consider yourself physical - You are your blood, bones, nerves, and body?

Do you consider yourself mental - A culmination of memories, and mental impressions gathered over your life?

Do you consider yourself a spirit - Something intangible and independent of your physical form, and mental properties?

Or a mix of 2 or more of the above?

To follow this up, once you're confident in how you describe you "are", what happens when the circumstances around this aspect change? Who are you without your memories? Who are you if you lose a limb?

Is there any sense in which you feel you are the same person you were 20 years ago?