Have you ever caught yourself thinking that sadness consumes you and leaves no room for any positive experiences? If not, you seem to be one of the rare representatives of the real lucky ones. Because in one way or another almost everyone faces the feeling of pervasive sadness: it can be seasonal, dependent on some serious change in life and a heavy news agenda, or it can just appear out of the blue.
However, it’s worth stating that it’s normal and sometimes even useful to reset one’s condition. But when this feeling has lasted for more than a week or even a month, it’s worth reflecting on what is going wrong. We have studied what methods of dealing with sadness various psychologists offer, and have formulated four steps that may help you.
Find the Reason
So, if you have realized that you are constantly depressed and feeling sad, then first try to figure out the reasons. This feeling cannot be born from nothing, it necessarily must be preceded by something. Sometimes it’s easy to understand the reason, but in some cases – much harder. One thing – if you have experienced a bad separation or lost your favorite job. Here it’s clear what was the catalyst for this kind of mood, and how to work with him. It’s different when no amazing events have occurred, and you are simply sad. It happens, too, and this isn’t a verdict.
In this case, analyze how your life has changed recently. For example, your circle of communication dropped out of the person who meant too much to you. Or you began to realize that you are constantly alone. In this case, contact someone you know whom you haven’t seen in a long time. In fact, some problems can easily be solved if you realize what caused them.
Sometimes the cause of sadness is the reverse situation: nothing happens, and you live on Groundhog Day. For example, every day spent at work from morning till night, don’t get pleasure from it and can feel a rush of positive emotions only at the weekend. It’s clear – you are not satisfied with what you do. In that case, you should think about changing the workplace or area of activity. Similarly, with the situation if you stopped receiving positive emotions from meetings with friends. Perhaps for a while they should stop and be alone with themselves. Each case is different. The main thing – don’t assume that the loneliness in the overwhelming sadness – is necessarily a bad thing. It all depends on the situation, and sometimes it can even be good for you.
Try to Cheer Yourself up
If you have realized that the problem that is causing you to feel sad isn’t solved by your actions, you can try hitting escapism. We do not guarantee that it will necessarily get rid of your depressed state, but it’s worth a try. There are several ways to do this, and each depends on your needs.
If you need to be alone, get some privacy, but don’t shut yourself away. Reflection is good only in moderate doses, otherwise you will “eat” yourself. In your free time, you can try to get to books, a casino with real money online, or movies that you’ve been putting off for a long time. In this case, it is important to focus on something not particularly stressful. For example, read some detective or watch an upbeat (but not toxically positive) series. That kind of thing almost doesn’t cause triggers.
Loneliness doesn’t work well for everyone, though. Some people just need company to distract themselves. We can’t suggest anything but meeting up with good acquaintances and friends. Especially if you haven’t seen them for a long time. Perhaps if you distract yourself from the cause of sadness, it will just forget after a while. But sometimes it happens that this doesn’t help. In that case, you should take the next step.
Change Something in Your Life
The best friend of any permanently sad person is a new hobby. Maybe you’ve been thinking for a while that you might like to start collecting coins or joining a hobby group, club or club. It’s a good time to get into it. Collecting, dancing, playing sports can fill your life with a hefty dose of endorphin. This works especially well if your sadness is caused by loneliness. Finding common ground with like-minded people is always easier than with random people.
Another way to change something in life (albeit for a short period) is to go on a trip. Especially if you are going to visit a place that has little in common with your city. A trip to nature from the city is a great way to distract yourself.
After all, every trip is a little lived life, memories of which are enough for a long time. It’s worth keeping in mind that hobbies and travel don’t help everyone, either. After all, it’s also a form of escapism (albeit on a larger scale). And if even with a change of scenery you still feel all-consuming boredom, it’s worth turning to the fourth step.
See a Specialist
We live in the XXI century, there is always someone to discuss our problems with. After all, this is what therapists are for. Topic of mental health has long ceased to be taboo, so that fear to understand themselves is worth setting aside. To begin with, try to sign up for a trial session and draw conclusions from it. If you feel any changes (even if minimal), it’s worth continuing to work on yourself with a reliable helper.
If you get to the fourth step, and nothing helps, chances are that your sadness is not just a bad mood, but a series of problems. And they can lead to depression or other illnesses. In that case, the help of a specialist is the only reliable method. From any “swamp” you can get out, but, unfortunately, you cannot always cope alone. The main thing is not to be afraid to ask for help. And then you will get out of even the saddest state.