It's called "Exploding Noema." It's a theory of psychoanalysis that describes the exact startling moment when the brain can't reconcile the difference between what should be and what actually is.
Does being able to recite this tidbit of information demonstrate great skills in psychoanalysis or philosophy? Nope, I, like millions of others, heard it in the movie "How to Rob a Bank
Anyway, it's the long hand description of the shorthand term of having a WTF moment. I know I suffer often from a couple variants of this.
The one I know for sure about is the NFW (No F###ing Way) variant and I have written about it in the past both here and here. When I am presented with a fact so expansive that I cannot possibly comprehend it, I get a bit loopy in the head. Answers must have some sense of finity. Things have to make sense to me. I can usually avoid this one, but not always.
The other one I have no name for but it is the sudden sobering realization that comes when the brain finally reconciles the differences between what is wanted/needed and what always will be. The if you believe it you can achieve it mantra may have sold a lot of books but life doesn't always work out that way. It can, but it doesn't always. It's not pessimistic, it's reality. It's only possible to change the situations that you are in direct control of, not the situations that others are in direct control of. What can make this one difficult is that it can easily masquerade as or even lead to depression without intervening distractions to halt it. I have a tendency to slam into head first into this variant.
Is anyone actually still reading this blog? How do you distract yourself when reality jumps out from the hidden corner and punches your wants and needs in the face? How do you give up on a want and need without abandoning everything; or do you just silently walk away? How do you stop wanting and needing what you want and need most? I have my own answers but I don't really know if they're the right ones.