Exactly, idk about call of the void but I do know that I don't trust my own friggin legs to save my life by remaining stable or not tripping into a sure death slope. I also don't trust the railings or whatever else any form of protection that edge gives me to not fail in that very moment. Like the saying "You can hope for misfortune to not happen to you, but don't assume that it won't"
@@SaintNarcissaI've also have that and I've been regularly taking trains to school for a little over a year now. As far as I remember, I feel that everytime the train arrives. Christmas break ends for me soon so I cam check if I still feel it just to make sure.
Vsauce called it "cognitive dissonance" and instead of jumping he asked: have you ever been in high place with someone and thought... Why don't I push him/her? No one would know... "😢 I've felt that myself, one of the most terrifying things I've experienced...
Uhhh.. there should be studies done on that cause I definitely wouldn’t think that. I’d always sacrifice myself (even intrusively) before I do that to someone else. I feel people who think like that can be homicidal while the people who would jump themselves are more suicidal
I believe Sartre's theory makes the most sense. Sometimes I'll be driving and my brain is like, "Swerve into oncoming traffic." And in those moments, I'm reminded just how much freedom I have in a terrifying sort of way
@@circumcizednun1814 Holy shit, that also happens to me! Just realizing you could end someones life that easy kind of makes me want to do it.But its not right is it?
@@ares843 I think it’s really a phenomenon and a subconscious thought process of picturing yourself in that persons position, how easy it is for you or somebody else you “trust” or even don’t fucking know can end your life,just like that. Unless it’s an urge and you are stopping g yourself from actually doing that I believe that is just some type of flip thought process of humans to process how precious life is.
For anyone coming across this: you can go prone on the ground and this feeling instantly dissapears. If you do it several times, then holding onto something while looking down also ceases to have you have that reaction. I found out about it as a kid and now I hardly ever come across this eerie feeling.
Brain: Yo, what if you just, like, turn the steering wheel a bit to the left, directly into the truck coming towards you? Me: wtf why are you like this?
While I'm driving I constantly think of situations like this, "what if you turned the wheel right now?" or "what if THAT truck turned the wheel right now?"
Sometimes in any scenario my mind just asks itself what if? And proposes very crazy answers, things that it overthinks and get worried of itself, being the mind me, wondering if some day I won't be able to control the obviously stupid and demential urge to the worse scenarios possible.
This is the first video I watched from this channel... and I gotta say, what get me hooked to the very end (excepting the amaizing quality of the video, animation, writing) it's THE voice. I could listen to it non-stop, talking about anything, true or not... and I wouldn't get bored. It's just that good. This is why I love RU-vid... it's creators like this.
As a carpenter, I often work on the edge of the roof and I can relate this feeling, when you look at the ground and you feel like you could jump at any time.. this video was a great explanation thx ❤
That's called "cute aggression", when something is so cute you want to be aggressive towards it Like dog owners feeling the urge to swallow the goddamn dog when he's being cute
Even though I know this is normal it scares me so much I avoid ledges as much as possible. I think it's mainly because I've struggled with suicidal ideation and so that call from the void feels more sinister than I suppose it feels for most people.
Yes yes it’s like it a bit lol but I’m just getting off my my neck right after work work I’ll get my hair cleaned lol I’ll let her get her up in in my house like a few sore minutes before my car is going going be be like crazy like I’m going back home home and get some stuff and stuff for now and I her I’m I’m not stuff I’m hilling get her lol I just saw saw the other stuff like this
A lot of those theories focus on height, but I think it can't be just explained by something correlating with height, because I experienced the call of the void once when standing on a train stop with the train just arriving. It couldn't have had anything to do with height
It's called an intrusive thorght most people get them but regular people don't think about it theu just move on people with ocd an anxiety disorder will dwell on these thoughts and think they have meaning resulting in them looking for more thoughts and so thinking of it more causing more anxiety. I think the video was bull shit honestly and has caused trouble to alot of people who experience intrusive thoughts. People with ocd are no more or less starisicaly likely to comit any crimes relating to intuitive thoughts because they don't reflect there values and actions they are just thoughts and are completely normal 😊
The only person who actually survived jumping off the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California said that as soon as he jumped, he wished he hadn't, and before he even landed in the water, his self preservation instinct that is innate in all living things desperately wanted him to live.
As another theory, it's possible that when you are at a large height your brain cannot properly comprehend how far the ground is away, as it has never experienced moving in such a way. Naturally, it tries to imaging what moving to the ground would be like, so it can grasp the distance you would travel. You then feel like you want to jump, when really you were imagining jumping because you wanted to know what it would feel like. It makes sense to me, and additionally, when I feel 'the call of the void' it's almost like I'm thinking "what would happen if I jump off of here." Which fits with the theory.
I’m so glad I got to see this explanation because I’ve been scared for my entire life about all of this. I want to be near the edge, but I’m scared of how easy it is to go past it.
I did this as a kid lol. A few years back doctors detected a heart attack my mom had a while ago and I'm pretty sure she had it in the exact moment when I opened the door on an Autobahn XDDD I still have the urge sometimes but since I'm usually driving myself it doesn't happen very often luckily
There actually is a reason for intrusive thoughts like this, the urge to jump, to harm yourself or someone around you. It reinforces your desire to not do those things by exposing you to the possibilities of what might happen if you did. When you get the urge to jump and it would be so easy for you to do it too, but you're horrified by what might happen if you actually did. Similarly, you might have the urge to turn into oncoming traffic while driving, or to punch someone for no reason, but you're frightened by what the consequences might be so not only do you not do it, you REALLY don't want to do it. Notice you never get an intrusive thought like "Eat all that ice cream" because the consequences are... oh no you just ate too much ice cream. Doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you, just that your ability to recognize danger and consequence is normal and healthy.
Yes I was going to post something similar. It's a consequence of the fact that if you have free will, you always have to option to sabotage yourself, so it's necessary that certain decisions are not possible to take lightly. Also, by considering a scenario when you are not in a pressure situation, you are better prepared to know where the line would be if you were in a pressure situation. Like if you had to turn to avoid something when driving, and one of the options was to turn into oncoming traffic. Your instincts are pre-honed for more complex situations.
I do get thoughts of 'eat all the icecream' and a lot of other odd stuff, but I have eating disorders and I do it to 'help' relieve stress and because I want to make myself feel sick, bad etc I guess. Plus I'm lactose intolerant so that's another level of weird self harm
Thank you for this explanation. This must be included in the video. I always thought that one day I could do what I don’t want to do and that drives me mad 😢
It’s power. Being so high, feeling above the world, and knowing that you can change all your life and reality with such a simple action. It’s like having so much power and freedom in that little instant.
@@cyberdroid2300 shortly after writing this comment I googled "what would happen if I open the emergency exit mid flight" And as it turns out, the air pressure inside the cabin would prevent anyone from opening the door. Thank God lol
Never had that because I know they do not open during flight. They open inward and the pressure inside is much higher. So you would probably pull the handle off (if you actually could) before the door opened.
I felt this on an airplane. While in line for the lavatory 30K feet in the air, I looked at the hatch door, and thought to myself, “I could open this.” F-in scary thought.
Brain : "what if we go off road down that cliff ?" Me : "Sir, step out of the car" Brain : "Yeah, exactly, open the door right now and jump off !" Me : "Ok, I'll stop the car at next cafe, we need to talk."
People who aren't used to experiencing heights and standing on tall ledges, even if they aren't afraid of heights, will back away because the sheer intensity of the perspective leaves them afraid they will lose their balance. Losing your balance when in such a position would be fatal. So they step backwards. "They cannot trust themselves" isn't entirely wrong, it's more about that they cannot trust their own body to give way, worrying that perhaps their joints would simply collapse causing them to tumble like a sack of potatoes and having them fall to their death as a freeze response of fear. It is not a newfound appreciation of life that they find when standing on a ledge, but rather it's just them instantly learning that it may be unwise to remain there.
As someone who has experience with heights and doesn’t have a fear of them, the original explanation works better for me. But that is a good explanation for others. I recently visited Canyon lands in Moab, UT, USA the cliffs were about 700-800ft tall and it was another 2,000ft to the canyon floor. Looking down, I felt stable. I could trust myself to stand, but the longer I looked the less I trusted my mind to not move my body and throw me off the cliff. Even though I was in control, I feared my mind. I backed away fearing that I might talk myself into doing it.
@@ddmproductions446 do you think you were feeling unbalanced unconsciously? Because my guess to try and explain that would be that it’s like riding a motorcycle, you always wanna look where you want to go. Same with a car if you look directly left, you’ll start drifting that way.
My brain is like that friend you have who's always doing cool and wacky stuff. But sometimes he says some things that makes me step back. Still love him though.
When I tell people I experience this “urge” they never really seem to understand. Thankfully this phenomenon has a name and I’m not the only one feeling it.
You're not the only one. I get it too. I'm not afraid of heights, but I am afraid that I might jump on a whim. I have no suicidal tendencies, so it never really made sense to me.
The so-called "call of the void" is just height induced vertigo in people with an external locus of control. Such people have no insight because insight requires an internal locus of control, so they assume the height induced vertigo is a call to jump off the cliff. The reason height induces vertigo in people not used to heights is because the sense of being physically balanced comes from the semicircular canals in the inner ear and from one's surrounding visual references. Height removes visual references causing disturbance to balance if one is not used to heights. The sense of potential danger produces some cortisol and adrenaline release too, which those with external loci of control experience as fear and anxiety.
@@just-a-fella3212 ""call of the void" is just height induced vertigo" The above only explains (perfectly) vertigo, which in the topic is an optional symptom, but neither cause nor the same effect at all. For example, I can justify that I personally don't feel dizziness or spinning at height. Just a definite obsession to make one more step forward. So though the trigger of vertigo and 'call of void' may be (or be not) the same - it is definitely wrong to put equals sign between them. PS yes, humans are simple, but they are simple in too many ways...
I believe it has been properly explained since the release of this video Your subconcious is ALWAYS running theoretical scenarios, how they would likely happen, and how to react to them. That's why sometimes you react very quickly, accurately, and precisely to sudden situations, and other times you don't. Most of the time, these subconcious thoughts stay fully subconcious. However, sometimes by chance, and other times when you are in a situation of percieved danger, your brain waves get overcharged, and subconcious thoughts start flooding over into the councious mind in the form of slight, but different feeling urges. Thus, the "call of the void" takes place
And than you realise, your brain is a greater a*hole than you. Father in law gifted me a t-shirt: I walk with you to the end of the world... And then I give you a push.
I recently moved into a house with 2 sets of stairs. They are steep to say the least. As I walk up the stairs, I am ALWAYS aware that if I simply lean backwards at the top of the stairs, I am done. It’s almost like an ear worm. I absolutely DO NOT want to fall down my stairs, but the fact that there is no wall or anything else behind me really starts to become a sensation. It’s not dizziness, it’s not a death wish…simply a nagging awareness. For this reason, I walk up my stairs holding the rail like an old lady when I really should just run up the stairs and get over it (and some good glute workouts!)
It feels like the void is a force that violently sucks me into it against my will. It's not so much the urge to jump that makes it, it is the intrusive thought that the outcome is inevitable that makes me physically ill.
Call of the void almost always happens if I’m near or doing anything “dangerous”. Driving a car fast on a highway, if I’m at a shooting range/ if there’s a gun in my house etc. It’s crazy to think that your whole reality can change from a decision that takes less than a 10th of a second
This makes me think of a weird form of call of the void I have. Basically, when I'm in a car(in motion, obviously) and I notice that the door isn't locked, I feel the sudden urge to open it. Unless I manage to distract myself quickly, I'm forced to lock it cause otherwise it makes me extremely anxious.
@@legrandliseurtri7495 Yes! I have the exact same thing except it doesn´t matter if the door is unlocked for me. I feel it everytime I´m in a car moving quickly. It´s weird and there´s been sometimes where I have to seriously talk myself out of it.
This past Monday I had this very same sensation I was driving home from a long distance with my pregnant wife and dog who were asleep in the car. Out of no where my mind starts to creep into the thought of just sharply turning the wheel all the way to the left to hit the freeway center divider. I start playing the scenario in my head of the car flipping over and my wife, unborn child, dog and I just dying in that instant. Their lives were in my hand as well as my own. It was a long drive home about 3 hrs. I literally held my right arm against the center console with my right knee the whole way fighting the thought of self destruction. I thought I was losing my mind and thought I needed mental evaluation. Funny enough this video pops up into my feed 2 days later…
thanks to RU-vid for making your video viral, by throwing a warning to people due auto-play feature while sliding through recommended videos about this video and draw attention of user about this one specific video that otherwise will just had ignore and skipped it
I never felt an urge to jump, rather a fear a falling and a greater pull of gravity. Being up somewhere high and looking over the edge makes me literally feel like gravity is pulling me more then when I am flat on the ground
@@kakakshi3710 technically gravity gets weaker further you are from the center of the earth, what happens is that higher you are, more time you have to experience the acceleration and faster you get
@@kakakshi3710 Gravity will always pull you at the same speed no matter what. what increases is your velocity as your inertia increases your speed. i think gravity pulls at like a 10 m/s squared if i remember my physics right
I am a person with severe anxiety and I experience this on a daily basis. For me I think the thought is a form of sensation seeking in the rush you have in the moment, and also in pondering the consequences, which also serves to distract from anxiety.
In Vsauce's video "Why Are Things Creepy?" he put a name on this phenomenon: "Cognitive dissonance". I recommend watching his video on it, he explains it very well. Some get this same feeling when having a 1 on 1 conversation and they're standing just a little too close for comfort, and experiencing an inexplicable urge to just punch them, for no apparent reason. Or another example is when you're standing over a cliff with somebody else, and having an inexplicable urge to push them off and/or jump off yourself. Not because you want to or would ever do it of course, but because your brain's fight or flight is telling you it's an option. Sometimes I get nervous around babies because I know they are so small and fragile, and I can't help but visualize how easy it would be to accidentally drop it, so it's easier to just step back instead of holding it, like explained in the video. Even though I know I won't drop a baby, I hold things all the time everyday, my brain still freezes up when presented with this situation, like somebody offering you to hold their baby. Another common example is while driving, you realize all it would take is to pull the wheel in one direction for just a moment and then it's all over. It makes us all seem a little psychotic even though it's normal to get these random urges as a result of our brain's common struggle with ambiguity and anxiety in certain situations. I think basically his explanation is that our brain can get cognitively overloaded when we realize we are in a potentially dangerous, high pressure, or awkward situation, and the immediate decision making part of our brain (fight or flight) is essentially short circuiting itself, knowing it has so much power with so little effort before it, even if it's totally contrary to what would be right or normal. This is my non-scientific paraphrase, but that's how I understand it.
Unexplainable urge to punch someone in the mouth for no reason? What kind of dickhead shit is that? I’ve felt the other things but that I’ve never felt
@@2kmichaeljordan438 its more like a feeling of "what would happen if i were to just punch this person for no reason?", kinda like in a videogame when you wonder what will happen when you kill an npc you're not supposed to
"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real?" -Morpheus When we face a new situation, we quickly imagine what it might be like to take a variety of actions, such as jumping off a cliff. To get the ball rolling, the brain precedes the imagined jump with an imagined desire to jump. We recognize the act of jumping as imagination and dismiss it, but we don't do the same with the imagined desire.
This is so interesting. I've had this my whole life. It has developed into a fear of heights, but it started out in my childhood as not being able to trust myself not to jump. This is the explanation near the end of the video. 3:40 As a weird contrast I used to have dreams that I could fly. Our brains are so weird 😂
Or the urge to take a random bus? Or the urge to walk out of a moving vehicle??? Don't know if this my intrusive thoughts or just plain old depression or both
Once i was standing on a pier by the beach. I was quite bored because my friend forced me to accompany him on his fishing trip, and since I didn’t have anything to do i decided to go and look at the water (yeah that bored). So i got to the edge and stared down at the very still surface not too far below. Out of nowhere I just took a step forward and fell in. At that moment I was too busy panicking at the fact that I was falling into the water to think about what happened but after struggling my way to shore I realize how bizarre that was. There were no winds, not even slight breezes to even nudge me forward. My friend was nowhere near me to play a prank as tasteless as that. But I, at least my legs didn’t, hesitate to step forward at all, it moved like it knew exactly what it was doing. I’m pretty sure I was a pretty mentally healthy person at the time. I even remember thinking the very opposite thing of jumping in and that was to be very mindful while standing on a ledge (y’know, common sense). After that incident I never trust myself around ledges again so I avoid them completely.
I always thought it was a survival reflex due to the fact that your inner ear and your balance is affected in high places, its your body's way off keeping you away from a tall edge to compensate for an impaired sense of balance. Its probably a way to artificially make experience the fear of falling before it happens.
Brain: “Kill yourself, now” Us, humans “Awww you’re so nice helping me avoid danger and death” Brain: “You do not understand, I’m literally asking you to die”
Bridge, cliff, swerve into oncoming traffic, concrete swan dive off a building, stepping off the platform as a train passes. I think about these when I’m in each situation
Glad to know I’m not crazy. I always get this feeling when I’m on a balcony and it’s REALLY strong. Anytime I get a hotel room with a balcony I lock the door and never step out because I’m afraid that I’ll actually do it.
I feel like im just paranoid for even feeling it on Like, being near glass fences of a mall Holding a knife in general Being on a vehicle with an open door (public transport) The gap of a train Deep sea Animal zoo that you can fall into Holding chemical stuff Being near a big smoking engine
@@GengUpinIpini know it sounds weird but maybe relatable..I’m so glad about this comment, it just shows me that all humans seem to be similar in many ways (even when it’s just weird thoughts)
Wow, I thought it was just me that got this weird feeling. I hate heights but strangely took up paragliding and got my license to fly, which is SO different because you’re actually gliding like a bird and not falling. Really don’t think I could do a Bungy Jump or sky dive , paragliding no worries.
I think this is similar to that feeling you sometimes get when you see something/someone and it triggers this urge to do something stupid, violent, or anything beyond common sense to that thing or person just so you could see what would happen as a result. Basically, a "I wonder where this timeline would lead" moment.
I literally imagine the most stupid and strange things when this happens. For example, "What would happen right now if i punched this dude to the balls with all my strength"? Or "Why not push this guy off this ledge?" It is so strange and all theese thoughts go away by themselves a little after. Crazy how the mind plays tricks like this
As a Psychologist, I tend to lean more on that idea where it's because we realize that at this instant, we could choose to get flatlined by the jump. Then we realise we're contemplating that idea and get shivers down our spine, and keep doing what we were doing, avoiding that thought.
The so-called "call of the void" is just height induced vertigo in those with an external locus of control. Such people have little or no insight because insight requires an internal locus of control. So they assume the height induced vertigo is a call to jump off the cliff. The reason height induces vertigo in people not used to heights is because the sense of being physically balanced comes from the semicircular canals in the inner ear, proprioception, and from visual references on one's surroundings. Height removes visual references causing a degree of disturbance to one's sense of balance if one is not used to heights. The sense of potential danger produces some cortisol and adrenaline release too, which those with an external locus of control experience as fear and anxiety.
@@just-a-fella3212 On the other end, it could be what I stated earlier : the meta cognition on the thought that we could kill ourselves right now stops us from thinking about it, and even allow us to forget about it, putting that away of our conciousness. Not everything is binary, with people either having external or internal locus of control even though I liked that idea.
@@hibana364 Naturally, int/ext locus of control is not binary. Many people have the two attitudes mixed and it depends on the issue as to which controls. Most of our clients tend to be external.
When I was in grade 6 I was at a school camp weekend. On the 2nd day we went hiking, as we got higher, the more the urge to jump was getting stronger. Instead I decided to throw the water bottle I had with me, watched it descend, then the urge to jump went away and I continued hiking. That was my first and last time having the urge of hurting myself.
Same. Sometimes when I’m by the rails on a train station, I’m scared that I’m gonna be jumping out in front of the train when it gets there, because of similar thoughts. I know I don’t want to actually do it, but I don’t trust my body to feel the same
@@SophiiLuca literally whenever I see the subway coming in the station I take a few steps back for safety. Not sure if to protect me from myself or from others
As someone who has experienced this and has major depression, *both* theories made some sense. I think neither is incorrect, actually- they aren’t mutually exclusive. I’m inherently terrified of open heights, so a big part of it for me is that I’m afraid I’d trip. I’m uncoordinated. But in terms of driving, I’m quite proficient, so it would make no sense for me to be afraid I’d swerve into oncoming traffic or a concrete pillar on accident… and yet. My mind says ‘What if’ and my body says ‘bro wtf.’ I can see it as appreciating life, because there’s always a relief and sort of gratitude I didn’t go through with the weird impulse. But there’s also the question, the doubt if I could or would have. I tell myself no, but I don’t trust myself. I had the choice and I’ve always said no, but it only takes saying yes once. I’m definitely going to do some independent research of my own after this. Thank you for making this video! It explains the phenomenon in terms of jumping well, and I didn’t know psychological research existed around this strange and frankly difficult to study feeling. (Edit: Grammar)
It's welcoming to see that this is a common sensation. The general populace is quick to jump to conclusions and calling the person mentally ill etcetera.
I was on a cruise ship years ago. It was cold and foggy that day. I went outside to the railing and stared at the ocean below. There weren’t any people around. I had the strongest urge to jump and I didn’t know why. I grabbed the railing and started to shake. I’m in no way suicidal. It was like I was being drawn in by something. I’ve never shared this with anyone. It still freaks me out when I think about it.
I've had this feeling all my life. I don't intentionally think about jumping but when I find myself at a ledge or something similar, I get this weird "pull" to jump. I have to back away not from the fear of falling but from the damn pull. It's a very strange phenomenon.
I also had that feeling the urge to jump, and telling myself how will they find me in the middle of the ocean in pitch black darkness, these weird thoughts of "what if"
Buckle up: My dad has been in 2 marriages, and both of his wives including my mom have this extremely bad. My dad and his first wife, were driving on a bridge, and she swerved the car trying to ram off the bridge, then she suddenly swerved back and apologized, and my dad said he always drove after that. And a few times, we’ve been in parking garages, and my mom will literally try to run and jump off the garage, and we have to stop her, then suddenly she’s fine. It’s always creeped me out like they have no control over it, and i guess my dad attracts crazy women.
@@itachisenjux2675 You have utterly misunderstood the OP's comment and, as a result, you have posted a grandiose failure of a reply. In fact, your reply sounds like something Freud would say, albeit with less mentions of genitalia.
I read somewhere that humans are only born with the a fear of darkness and loud noises. Made me wonder how everyone just grow up fearing high places, especially those who never fell, or saw someone fall, from a high place.
