With daily routine and the never-ending race of life, we may feel depressed without knowing and understanding why, and with all the various kinds of depressions there are, most of us won’t be able to easily identify the cause of this difficult feeling. Our hectic way of life forces us to do everything very quickly, which is why we don’t realize that we’re doing things that cause us depression, or that we may have become so accustomed to this life that we can’t see that the things we are dealing with don’t make us happy in any way. If you’re also wondering why you feel so sad and can’t really put your finger on it, then you should read on and learn the four reasons why you may suffer from depression without realizing.
One of the reasons we feel depressed is a lack of social connections - a situation that actually leads to a sense of loneliness; Even if some of us don’t mind it and have no problem being alone, it may still lead us to suffer from depression. Being happy on our own is very important, and it may even make us feel good, but over time it may change and lead us to become depressed without a clear reason why. Also keep in mind that just because you're always around people, whether at work out just in social situations, it doesn’t mean that you aren’t lonely. The important factor here is the real meaningful connections you have with people and if they are fulfilling.
So, if you feel depressed, you should take a look at your social connections and see how many people you really have around you. If you want to call someone up for advice or just to have an honest conversation, how many people can you call? If the answer to this question is a number that doesn’t satisfy you, know that it is never too late to change the situation. If you are isolating yourself from good friends or family, you should try to reach out and see if relationships can be rebuilt, and you can also try new activities where you can meet other people and create honest social relationships. Click here for tips to improve your social life and, as a result, live a happy life.
Many philosophers deal with the essence and meaning of life, and they spend a lot of time thinking and analyzing these things, but we too have dealt with these things. When we were younger, we probably spent a lot of time wondering what we wanted to achieve from our lives and what it meant to us, but as we got older, we became too busy with life itself until we just forgot about it. Because of lack of meaning or purpose in life we may feel and experience depression - even if everything around us is perfect and we have a good job and a loving and happy family, we can still feel depressed because deep down we’ve lost touch with our original goal and knowing what we want from our lives.
It is important to remember that everyone finds meaning in different things - work, relationships, helping others, learning, creativity and more, so you should take a step back and look at your life. Ask yourself what makes you happy? Do you remember what your main goal in life is and do you strive to achieve it each day? The answers to all of these questions may change over time, what was true 10 years ago may not hold true for you today. So, remember that you can change the situation at any given moment all you have to do is take a look at your life, try to see if there are things that look good on the surface but actually make you unhappy and depressed inside; Once you’ve done this, consult a close friend or family member and see if they can help you see something you can’t, or just click here to watch a lecture that will tell you about the four pillars of a meaningful and happy life.
Each of us has primary and secondary emotions – primary emotions include sadness, anger, anxiety, etc., and secondary emotions are the ones that reflect on our primary emotions; So we may feel sad about something, and then our secondary emotion will come into play and react to this sadness by telling us that we should not feel sad because it’s not that big of a deal, or it will signal to us that we should feel something else because sadness isn’t befitting of the current situation. That is why humans are the only creatures who can feel angry at being angry - because we have this extra dimension of self-observation. As a result, if we feel that our feelings aren’t justified, we may repress them and this can lead us to depression.
Secondary emotions come from the values that we grew up with which are absorbed from our environment, family, and friends; As in the case of a father who tells his son that crying is for girls or a mother who tells her daughter to hide her anxieties and feelings. These values stick to us over time, and once we feel main emotions that don’t align with them, we will begin to tear ourselves apart from the inside and fight against ourselves. True, such a thing can be very difficult, but coping with it is possible - start by trying to understand why you are angry, sad or happy about certain things; Try to look at yourself, see what you really feel and give yourself permission to feel that way. Some of you may think that this observation can certainly help, and as a result, you will feel a lot of weight lifted off your shoulders, while some of you may feel that you need more, and then you should seek professional help.
Our inner voice can be as threatening and silencing as a bully who attacks weaker children, and although most of us don’t do it on purpose - it is something that we do unconsciously. The reasons for the inner voice can be based on mistakes or failures we have experienced, or simply because we put too much pressure on ourselves. Our inner voice develops over time, when at first we may not feel it at all, but over time it may attack us verbally from the inside every day which can lead us to depression. This type of depression is very difficult to diagnose because we can’t see how hard we are on ourselves and in this particular case, the people around us probably won’t notice either.
Therefore, you must start paying attention to your thoughts and the way you see yourself, and if you feel depressed and are unable to understand why, then your inner voice is probably the reason. Ask yourself, do you put a lot of pressure on yourself and feel bad when you don’t meet your expectations? If the answer is unequivocal yes, then your inner voice is what is causing this inner turmoil. If you are struggling with this voice, you can begin to write down everything that goes through your mind in one day, then read what you have written and begin to dismiss the bullying and paralyzing statements that lead you to feel depressed. While there are ways of dealing with this self-flagellating inner-voice, some might need a pair of professional eyes and ears to assist in this process, so if you can’t successfully handle your inner voice yourself, don’t be afraid to reach out for professional help.
Closing remarks
It’s important to remember that depression is a mental illness, which is why it’s worthwhile and advisable to take it seriously and treat it. If you are sick with the flu or have pain in one part of your body, you’d probably listen to your body and go to the doctor, the same goes for mental health because it won’t get better on its own. Remember, you’ve now gained 4 tools to understanding what your depression is and how to cope with it and overcome it, but if you feel that none of this is working for you, or that you are unable to reach mental tranquility you should consult a professional therapist.
