Think Like a Dog

"In a philosophical sense, presentism is the doctrine that only things in the present-the now-truly exist. Presentism beckons us to live in the moment. It is intuitively appealing as we only exist in the present, and our experience of the world is bound by each moment in time. We can accept that the past did truly exist, but it is now the stuff of memory, not current reality."

"Yet, I've seen in my clinical practice how people can become mired in the past or preoccupied with the future or find themselves alternating between past and future. They tend to lose sight of what's directly in front of them, the ever-changing present. People with depression often carry the oppressive weight of past regret, disappointment, and failure. Those with problems with anxiety look apprehensively toward a future with a sense of dread or foreboding."

"People with depression often carry the oppressive weight of past regret, disappointment, and failure. Those with problems with anxiety look apprehensively toward a future with a sense of dread or foreboding. They, too, may look backward, recalling negative experiences they take to be a prelude to future negative events ("What if it happens again? What will happen to me?"). Experiences in the present may trigger associations to earlier experiences that touch upon deep-seated issues of rejection, abandonment, failure, insecurity, and inadequacy."

Presentism holds that only the present moment truly exists; the past exists only as memory and the future remains undetermined until it becomes present. Human experience is bound to the present, yet many people become mired in past regret or preoccupied with future fears, alternating between both and missing the present. Depression often reflects burdens of past disappointment and failure. Anxiety orients attention toward an anticipated future with dread. Present experiences can activate associations to earlier wounds involving rejection, abandonment, failure, insecurity, and inadequacy. Embracing the present offers a path to greater peace and clearer engagement with immediate reality.

Read at Psychology Today