Everything is good but nothing is happy. What is protracted depression

Health 29.09.2019
Health

Many have such periods in life when all interest is lost in it. People begin to remember the years of their youth, when they were interested in any events, they aspired to something, achieved something. They rejoiced at every little thing and every evening, going to bed, they dreamed that a new day would come faster. Where do all these feelings disappear over the years, how to deal with it? How to regain interest in life?

Reasons why life becomes insipid

In fact, it is easy to understand why interest in life is lost. People begin to close themselves off from the outside world, do not want to see and hear everything that happens. In a similar way, a person exhibits a defensive reaction that helps to hide from the pain encountered on his life path.

Everyone can remember how often he says such phrases: I do not want to see this, I do not want to hear this, I have no desire to experience this again. During the pronunciation of such phrases, people trigger certain mechanisms:

  • Destruction program.
  • Completely close any feelings.
  • The real world in all its manifestations is no longer perceived.

Regardless of whether a person understands that with such thoughts he gives an order to launch a program of destruction, he acts. Have several channels of perception on which understanding depends surrounding reality. How to regain interest in life? You need to learn how to properly perceive the world around you.

Signs of depression

If there is no interest in life, what to do? How do you know if a person has depression? Psychologists define it by the following features:

  • A person ceases to please any events that previously caused positive emotions. Apathy, sadness, guilt and despondency appear.
  • The person no longer sees a way out of the current situation.
  • Interest in sex life is lost and physical activity is reduced. Sleep became short, and interest in food was lost.
  • Self-confidence completely disappears, and a person begins to avoid other people. In some cases, suicidal thoughts appear.
  • People can no longer control their feelings and emotions.

It is quite difficult to get out of this state, but it is possible, and in such a situation it would be useful to seek help from a psychologist.

Vision is a visual channel of perception

Thanks to vision, people have the ability to see, to distinguish a large number of shades, to notice everything that is happening around. When people age, their eyesight deteriorates, but not because the ability to see is lost. Scientists conducted many experiments and were able to prove that it can be 100% even in old age.

The visual perception of the surrounding reality depends on how ready a person is to notice and accept everything that surrounds him. Any resentment, manifestation of anger and irritation "closes people's eyes." Diseases associated with the loss or deterioration of vision appear due to the fact that people do not like everything they see in their lives. In children, such illnesses arise because they do not want to see what is happening in their families.

Hearing - the auditory channel of perception

Hearing is the most important channel for perception of the surrounding world. It also affects the ability to speak. Vibrations that are emitted by sound are perceived not only by the organs of hearing, but by the whole body. Therefore, when a person closes the possibility of perceiving information with the organs of hearing, he is fenced off from life and the surrounding reality.

People often ask back what was said, in large part because their attention is so distracted. Also, auditory perception is closed in cases where the interlocutor screams loudly, especially if it is something unpleasant. Children often have hearing problems due to high-profile scandals in the family, they do not want to perceive it, and as a result, various diseases arise.

Sensory channel of perception: sensations and feelings

A person receives most of the information through feelings, and he closes them, if something goes wrong, instantly. Often this happens when he is faced with insurmountable obstacles, such as fear, resentment, love suffering. Life becomes uninteresting because its taste is lost. It has a direct relationship with the perception of any smells, tastes, as well as great importance have tactile sensations.

People often resort to the easiest way to turn off such a channel of perception - this is smoking. You can also dull feelings by closing in on yourself, allowing you to escape reality into another world. computer games and internet. Today, when technology has developed to a high level, this happens very often.

If you lose interest in life, what to do? There are some rules for those who have lost interest in life, they will help to regain it.

You need to completely change your schedule. This may be a change in the route that a person follows to work. Perhaps you should abandon the transport that he follows, or get off a little earlier than your stop and continue on foot. Many people find it helpful to listen to their favorite music while traveling and commuting to work. This helps to strengthen the nervous system.

How to regain interest in life? Psychologist's advice: you need to start experimenting and stop being afraid of the new in your life. It is also important to stop eating the same food. Change your hair if it's for a long time has not changed, update the wardrobe. You need to start enjoying all sorts of innovations.

It would be useful to update the interior in your home, you may even have to throw away some old things and purchase new ones. It also helps to add new colors to the interior of the apartment.

You will need to become a little selfish and get rid of those duties that were habitual and took a lot of time, but were not necessary. You need to start loving yourself and stop listening to someone, learn to believe in yourself. Rejoice in any small positive events in your life.

What needs to be done to regain the will to live

How to regain interest in life? The advice of psychologists boils down to the fact that you need to learn to accept the world around you as it is, and treat yourself in the same way, perceive yourself as real in this world and begin to respect. Be grateful for everything that happens in your life.

When a person has lost interest in life, what to do? Everything is very simple, in fact, life responds to what a person does in it, and all events do not happen by chance. To start living and enjoying what is happening, it is enough just to be a person with a capital letter, to believe in yourself and not to commit

In order to have a desire to live, a person must be completely satisfied with himself and everything that he does. Of course, it is difficult to imagine a person who will be satisfied with everything that happens, but he himself is not successful. But many believe that success is money. Everything is much simpler, a successful person is one who realizes himself and loves his kind of activity. There are people who do not have a large fortune, but consider themselves successful and enjoy life.

Success is not about having an expensive house, a car, a yacht. All these are just trifles of life compared to when a person was able to realize himself. Successful person He always returns home with great joy and is glad to meet people close to him. Such people know what their meaning of life is, they have clearly defined goals to which they aspire.

If you have lost interest in life, what can be done the simplest? Even some of the world's leading psychologists advise not to lose a sense of humor in any, even the most difficult situation. And sometimes you can laugh at yourself.

There are moments that help get rid of depression.

It is necessary, as strange as it sounds, to balance the diet. Stop doing all sorts of snacks that do not lead to anything good. It is necessary to balance your diet so correctly that you do not have to resort to the additional use of some vitamin complexes. It is useful to eat a small amount of dark chocolate, it helps

It helps to cope with the problems of keeping your diary, in which you need to write down any little things that happen in life, both successes and defeats. Sometimes there are cases that help get out of depression - this is a state of shock. These are moments when a person needs to urgently act in a given situation. In such a state, he forgets about all the problems that do not allow him to live normally. It is important that such actions are under the control of a specialist, otherwise the negative consequences can be very dangerous.

Lost interest in life? You need to pay attention to such simple things as the daily routine and night. Analyze if the sleep and rest regimen is correct. First of all, you need to normalize sleep and be sure to find some kind of favourite hobby which will become a hobby. Thanks to this, you can completely escape from pressing problems.

If it seems that everything in life is bad, then how to find interest in life? You need to reconsider your views on her and understand that she is rich in many positive events. You need to become more optimistic. Believe that life can change in positive side and start making every effort to do so.

Most people tend to exaggerate what is happening in their lives. You need to look back and analyze what is happening, and then everything will begin to fall into place. Perhaps some of the problems were too exaggerated or even far-fetched. Best of all, in cases where depression has overcome, look around and see how colorful the world around is. Start enjoying life and things will start to get better.

Pause in their affairs as a means of combating depression

How to restore a person's interest in life with the help of a pause in business? There is nothing difficult in this. You just need to relax, maybe meditate or go to relax in nature. To feel how pleasant it is to meet the dawn in some of your favorite places. Spend the evening by the fire. Watch how the water flows, and at the same time not remember your problems. Listen to your soul and remember some pleasant moments in life.

Remind yourself of your life purpose

How to return joy and interest in life? For this, a person needs to remember his innermost dreams, because everyone had them. It is necessary, as it were, to return to the past and find what pleased at that time, the meaning that gave energy and the desire to live. Then it’s good to think at what exact moment a turning point occurred in life and what exactly happened, why to live. Then you need to mentally return to the place and time when it happened, and rewrite the past. After such a rethinking of everything that happens, you should begin to live in complete harmony with your soul and check everything with it. The medicine that can help overcome psychological difficulties is in everyone's soul.

How to stop blocking feelings

There are 2 options for psychologists' advice on how to regain interest in life and stop blocking feelings.

First: you need to try to look inside yourself, as it were, to understand what kind of emotions you want to hide from others and yourself. Then you need to accept them completely, feel, experience and just let go.

It is best to do this in childhood. A child can freely, without embarrassment, cry if someone offended him, and immediately forget about everything and start playing, doing his favorite thing. Thus, children easily let go of negative emotions.

It is much more difficult for an adult. He needs to find a place where no one will see him. Calm down and understand what emotions are most disturbing to him. When he has dealt with this, he needs to accept them, to feel them fully, and so he can dump negative emotions. Negative feelings will no longer be blocked, and it will become much easier.

The second option: a person needs to seek help from a psychotherapist.

Laughter is the simplest cure for depression

A person just needs to perceive everything easier. Start every morning with a smile and understand that life is beautiful, no matter what. It is very useful to watch comedy films. Such a simple therapy has helped many to begin to enjoy life and get rid of negative emotions that eat from the inside.

Conclusion

There is a well-known truth: any correctly posed question carries an answer. A person wondering how to regain interest in life is already on the right track.

There are days when there is no mood, you don’t want to do anything. Why is this happening? Why is everything boring? An inner voice says - I don’t want anything and that’s it. What to do in such situations when nothing pleases, depression rolls in and everything is lazy? We will consider why such conditions occur in adults and children.

Emotional burnout

A state of apathy occurs due to excessive overwork. You have been working on your diploma for a month now, worrying, at the same time trying to save on everyday expenses due to lack of money, patiently listening to the complaints of your parents that you devote so little time to them, eat poorly and do not sleep at all. Your future is at stake and for some reason it seems hopeless. At some point, your body is so tired of all this emotional and physical stress that in the end you feel only one thing - that you do not want to do anything.

If you do a routine and boring thing for a long time under a lot of pressure, emotions burn out.

Emotional burnout has gradations from mild boredom for a couple of hours to serious nervous strain. Regardless of the degree, lethargy arises from focusing too long on a stressful but monotonous task. It can be study, boring work, chronic lack of sleep, the same chronic lack of money, a long and sluggish trial process.

The state of complete indifference does not arise just like that, it is the accumulated tension as a result of waiting for an important result, but it is too extended in time.

You have an elderly relative who needs to be taken care of. It draws all the strength out of you, and nobody canceled the house, work, children. You don't know when this will all end or how long you can hold out, but you are clearly pushing yourself to the limit. And at some point your body says: “That's enough, I give up. If you can't stop, I'll do it myself." And you emotionally burn out.

Emotions are an important part of our life movement. They are our vector on the way to the goal. You like something and you go to do it. Therein lies the motivation. All our actions, words and thoughts are inextricably linked with emotions. This is our indicator of mental health. When our physical body is healthy, we feel great. But as soon as your throat hurts, you can no longer concentrate on the routine: you go to bed and get treated, you are still of little use. Your state of not wanting anything is an emotional cold.

We consider laziness a negative manifestation. If a person is lazy to do something, then he is weak-willed and weak-willed. But in fact, laziness is an amazing invention. This is our internal brake, which tells us that it is time to stop and take a break, and sometimes it is worth giving up the idea of ​​doing something that is clearly not to your liking.

Here's a good example for you. Your faucet is leaking. You are so lazy to fix it that you wash your hands in the kitchen and hide behind the fact that now there is not enough time or you need to save up money to replace plumbing. The secret is that repairing plumbing will require serious attention from you, concentration, separation from routine tasks, and strength is already running out. In addition, you are not completely without water - there is also a sink in the kitchen. The inner censor says: “How is it possible? Is it really that hard to fix a faucet? What will people say? Repairing a faucet is not difficult, but it takes strength, and you don't have it. This lack of internal resources is what we call laziness. She tells us that the charge is low and we need to save energy.

All this is to ensure that you know and remember: being lazy is normal and psychologically useful. Laziness is our defense against overload, not a lack of willpower. If you are in a state where you are fed up with everything, you are emotionally overwhelmed, and the laziness gauge caught fire for a reason.

First steps

In some cases, it must be borne in mind that apathy and even depression can be associated with some kind of physical illness - latent or chronic. It makes sense to worry only when some ailments appear, for example, your apathetic state is accompanied by the flu or you are losing weight dramatically against the background of depression. In these cases, you clearly need specialized help.

The usual state of boredom lasts only a few days, it is associated with obvious overwork and nervous tension against the background of the complexities of life.

What to do first? Quit everything if possible. Usually everyone gives exactly the opposite advice: do not give up, find yourself interesting hobby, go to the gym, cheer up. But tell me, is it possible to advise a sick person with high temperature go skiing? After all, exercise is good for health. It would seem that everything is logical, but when a person is sick, he is prescribed medicines and rest. So why do you need to do the opposite with emotional burnout?

Let your body reboot like a computer. Your emotions need complete passivity. Remember that there is nothing wrong with this, you are not turning into a couch seal, you just need rest to recover. Moreover, not only the physical body needs to be restored, but also your intellect. Advice about buying a cat or looking for a new hobby is out of place right now. Anything that requires you to be strongly emotionally involved, leave it at the door. Everything has its time.


Try doing things that require the least amount of mental stress from you - watch a light movie, take a walk around, scroll through the feed on social networks. It is not necessary to look for a special occupation for yourself, do something on a whim, but with one important condition- You are resting today. Usually, emotions need a few days to recover, but for this, for the first time in your life, you should probably be really lazy, sleep more, have a good rest and, if possible, eat fruits that have a lot of vitamins.

This is a great time to re-evaluate life priorities. Man is created to create. It’s normal for us to get up in the morning with the thought that there are so many interesting things to do today. And if it's not, you're clearly unhappy.

But be careful not to make sudden movements. Time to deal with your life, not change its course. Of course, easier said than done. What to do with elderly relatives, small children, unpaid bills? All this requires your participation and it is not at all the place to quit a stable, albeit unloved, job right now. Or your parents had high hopes for you, so leaving the university in your penultimate year is at least stupid.

Your apathy is a time to reflect on what is going on in your life. Clearly there is a gap between what you want and what you do. Think about what you really want and where you would benefit? So far, this is quite enough to find meaning for the future.

What not to do

What you definitely don't need to do is get stimulated. Don't drink coffee, don't start a new business, don't motivate yourself, and don't dope. Any stimulation of nervous activity is an excessive burden for an already exhausted organism.

There are situations when things cannot be moved. For example, you are going through a long treatment and you can't just go and not come to the doctor. Or you can't quit studying for an exam or a difficult countdown for work.

There are always some deadlines, but if you can move something, be sure to do it. At the very least, hold out until the weekend and arrange a good rest for yourself without cleaning, meetings with unpleasant relatives and other nonsense - the whole world will wait until you have a good rest.

When everything is tired, but there is no other way

It happens that you gave yourself a little rest, it seems that you are ready to continue living on, but you feel that nothing has passed and, worse, it may soon happen again. After all, by and large, even if you have found new priorities for yourself, you still care about them like the moon. You can’t just take and leave the children with their worries, or your own business seems only a ghostly dream against the backdrop of boring work.

That is, you cannot quit everything right now and enjoy life, and therefore another apathy will surely await you in the future. In this case, you need to do two things:

  • learn to rest
  • find the positives.

These are obvious truths, but painfully effective. Do you sleep every night? Then arrange a complete rest for yourself. If you learn to take at least one day a week to rest 100%, you will be much better at coping with unpleasant or monotonous tasks.

It is difficult to find something pleasant in a boring job, tedious study, in some protracted proceedings, and yet, right now, in these circumstances, list at least 10 reasons why this situation is good for you.

Example: you have recently divorced, you are completely responsible for the child care, the salary is not enough. You are crushed, you do not want anything and your hands drop. What can be positive in this? And yet:

  • you finally have time for yourself, you can not think about dirty socks all over the apartment or endless quarrels;
  • you will soon be ready for a healthier and happier relationship;
  • there is a reason to finally find a more interesting and well-paid job or think about how you can start your own business;
  • you are now in a healthier psychological environment;
  • you have the opportunity to understand yourself, find options for self-development.

This is the only time you have to force yourself to do something. If you manage and find 10 positive things in your unpleasant situation, you will look at it in a new way.

Life is hard, no one argues with that. But if you change your attitude towards some things, you will change life itself step by step. Repeat this second thing every day and after a couple of days you will notice the first changes.

About children

What if your child doesn't want to do anything? Is he lethargic, does not want to study and is not in the mood?

Children also need relaxation and rest. Usually we demand from children to perform a number of tasks and we do not tolerate a child, especially a teenager, idling.

Let's face it - studying is frankly boring. Units get pleasure from it, because, firstly, the presentation of the material is lame, and secondly, excessive loads deprive learning of pleasure and as a result there are continuous requirements. After all, learning should be fun. Try to find interesting solutions for the child. Do not do tasks for him, but with him. Here are a couple of options for you:

  • Play teacher-student. Your child acts as a teacher and he needs to tell you the lesson so that you understand everything. While he will explain to you, he will figure everything out himself and will also enjoy the fact that he will give you an assessment.
  • Make a colorful plan board with your child. You can use a poster or board with tasks for the day. Each task should be marked with stars of importance. For example, learn a math lesson - 5 stars, tidy up the room - 3 stars; prepare clothes for tomorrow - 1 star. Each task in the course of implementation must be crossed out, and when all the tasks are done, the child can do whatever he wants. The main thing is the element of the game.

Remember that any activity can be turned into a game and serve own example participate in games with your child. And don't forget that kids need rest too. What you think a child should do and what he wants to do are two different things. Consider his interests too.

So, if there is no mood, you don’t want to do anything, first figure out why. When everything is tired, nothing pleases, everything is lazy and there are even signs of depression, it's time to stop and mess around properly. Things aren't going anywhere.

You are not the only person in the world who is not happy with anything and who sees life as gray. In fact, if you lose interest in life, you can immediately suspect depression. But sometimes that's not the point at all. It is boring to live in this world for various reasons. By the way, psychologists and magicians believe that if you don’t want anything, you won’t have anything. What is not a reason to want at least something?

Why don't you want anything?

  • Just tired. Indeed, some do not have enough time to rest: only the race for the result and no spiritual life. It takes a lot of energy, poisons life and simply does not allow you to "fly up".
  • Feeling of worthlessness. Two hundred years ago, the classics told us about "superfluous people", but there are still enough of them today. Yes, sometimes people do not need each other, and this turns the meaning of our existence into a mockery and simply kills self-esteem.
  • I should. If the principles “I am obliged”, “I am forced”, “I must” are the only ones that guide you in life, then over time you will turn into a barge hauler on the Volga, pulling an unbearable load. Eternal debt will never bring joy and can only be a stone above your head.
  • Lack of purpose. Everything is clear here: and you have nowhere to strive, it is unlikely that life will be cheerful and joyful.
  • Too big a target. The situation is the opposite. If the goal seems unrealistic, it will definitely lead to depression.
  • Lack of communication. Yes, we are social people, so the lack of contacts with people leads to a deficit in recognizing oneself as a social being.
  • One-sidedness and obsession. You can not do only one thing, while losing in another. If only one of the aspects of life is developed, it will not pull out all the others, because most of all we need harmony.
  • monotone existence. Nothing kills the interest in life as well as knurled schemes. Life is movement and growth, so if they are not there, it turns into a swamp.
  • Our inability to enjoy the little things is to blame. There is joy just in moments and daily fireworks are not needed at all!
  • Blocking negative feelings. If they are, we will definitely move away from them and block them. But at the same time, the flow of negative emotions will also be blocked. If we are experiencing negative feelings to relatives or to yourself, then there will be little to please.

What to do?

It must be said right away that there is no universal scheme that tells you what to do if nothing pleases you and you don’t want anything. There are many reasons for apathy and blues, so you need to look for appropriate ways.
  • Start doing something. The more there is in life, the more it drags on and the more we mess around. Study interesting business you need to get tired of it. It’s good if there are no pauses in your day: exercises, work, snow removal or yard cleaning, classes foreign language help neighbors. ..We start and act like an automaton without brakes: work, hobbies, self-development ... let your day be filled to capacity with different activities, and not monotonous.
  • Go to a boarding school, a nursing home, an orphanage, a hospital. Communicate with the inhabitants, bring them the necessary things or sweets for children, support and share love and tenderness. You definitely have a lot of it, and when you understand that someone needs it, it inspires.
  • Take care of your body. AT beautiful body– a beautiful and positive spirit. Therefore, find the kind of sport or activity in general that pleases you: fitness, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, dancing ... if you have been doing some kind of sport for a long time, you can change it for a while and diversify your activity. Most of all, hiking and social dances bring joy: here you have movement, communication, and a sea of ​​​​impressions.
  • Imagine that you have only a minute, a day or a week left to live ... If a person is put a gun to his head, he is unlikely to be sad and fall into apathy. That is why there are so many people who play with death and are fond of extreme sports or extreme sports in general.
  • Unblock your feelings. This refers to the negative, those that we hide from ourselves. To do this, you can go to a psychotherapist or look into yourself on your own. Just alone with ourselves and in complete peace, we focus on breathing and think about how we really feel for our parents, children, ourselves, our half. Immerse yourself in these feelings and don't be shy about them. So a lot of negativity will come out and the attitude towards relatives and friends will change in better side. And at the same time, interest in life will return.
  • Laugh. You can compose a whole one that you have not yet watched, and watch one at a time every day, you can read jokes or funny stories. You can peep and eavesdrop on funny things on the street, at work, on the bus. It does help! You can also smile at everyone you see on the street and not be afraid that you will be considered strange. Someone will count, and someone will smile in response.
  • Create your "party". Remember old friends, make acquaintances, organize interesting meetings, introduce people to each other, unite with a common interest or idea! Believe it or not, you can have a luxurious club of interests in your yard: chess, mafia, preference, needlework. Share with people what interests you and get energy from them. Just don't go inside!
  • Find your purpose. Or remember him. You can work with a psychotherapist, or you can scroll back your life and remember when you enjoyed life, burned and saw the meaning in your existence. When did it stop? When did you turn off this path? Why did it happen? Find that moment and rewrite life from there.
  • Take a rest. Stop, meditate, get out into the forest or to the river, listen to the water and fire, listen to the forest, fresh air and your soul. Nature and relaxation are also cures for depression.
  • Set a new goal. Or just a bigger task. It will be a crisis, which means a chance to grow and become better, change, move to a new step. Here it is important to take small steps, dividing your goal into stages and milestones. Not a day without a step towards your dream!

Change causes stress - this is absolutely normal.

When an animal sees something new, it tenses up and is initially very anxious about it. The secretion of adrenaline increases, the whole body is mobilized, the muscles are ready for active movements, attention is focused.

In popular literature, stress is associated with negative phenomenon, But actually it is not. Under the influence of stress, a person not only feels a rush physical strength- improve his brain function.

Scientists have found that a person remembers better in a stressful situation, since in the process of analyzing and processing information, the brain begins to use not only the hypocampus, but also the amygdala, that is, reserves are turned on.

But nature did not lay down the mechanisms for survival in a regime of prolonged stress. It is impossible to keep the body in a state of increased mobilization for a long time. From the point of view of evolution, if an animal could not cope with the situation, run away, win, or somehow get away from it, then most likely it is already dead or eaten by another animal.

On the one hand, the world is becoming dynamic and impetuous, and on the other, stressful situations are becoming extremely protracted. Even some minor conflict at work can drag on for several months or even years, and what can we say about more serious problems, such as divorce.

Such prolonged dysfunctional stress is called distress. The fact is that prolonged experiences take away our cognitive resources, and a vicious circle turns out: the more we suffer, the less strength remains to find a solution to the problem, since the brain is completely filled with negative emotions, which only worsens the current situation and intensifies the experience.

The spiral twisted for some time, and as a result, we found ourselves in a position where we no longer want anything, nothing pleases us and does not give us the same pleasure. We can no longer even imagine our future with any kind of optimism - and this is one of the main signs depression. A vicious circle arises, from which it is very difficult to get out, since evolution has not provided us with the necessary automatic tools.

Those who have already fallen into a state of depression, most likely will not read this blog, since nothing is interesting and attracts the attention of such an individual - his brain is only occupied with experiencing. The ability to experience, think about the future and imagine is a distinctive feature of a person, and one part of the brain is responsible for all this. What distinguishes Homo sapiens from the Neardelthal and the great apes is, among other things, this significant development of the frontal cortex of the brain.

One of the surgical options for the treatment of persistent clinical depression was, oddly enough, lobotomy. The patients were literally cut with an ice pick to cut the tissues of the orbitofrontal cortex of the brain. As a result of this operation, the person calmed down, because ... he could no longer imagine. Doctors asked questions to patients who underwent this operation about what a person is going through when he thinks about his future, in response to most of all there was  -  nothing, just emptiness.

Daniel Gilbert, in his book Stumbling on Happiness, lists three major flaws in imagination:

1. Our imagination allows itself to arbitrarily fill in the missing information and at the same time very often misses the most important thing.

Our brain is good at predicting and predicting upcoming events. When we listen to someone speak, we don't hear all the sounds, and our brain fills in the gaps easily. Sometimes we don't even feel like we missed something. When we read some text, we can easily guess what the next avocado will be in this sentence. Oops, stumbled because the brain predicted that there would be a “word” and not an “avocado”. But in case long-term forecasts and attempts at imagination, our brain begins to fill in the gaps arbitrarily.

2. We usually project the present into the future.

Reread the science fiction writers of the 1980s and 1990s who imagined these days, and there you will see a slightly transformed past in which the authors lived. The future is unknown, and the development of events depends on a huge number of random events. Accordingly, if we perceive the current situation as negative, then it is extremely difficult for us to imagine a happy future.

3. We are always mistaken when we try to guess what feelings and experiences we will have when and if certain events occur.

We think we'll be euphoric when our favorite team wins or we get a pay raise. In fact, when these events occur, they will be against the background of many other very different events, other emotional background and, most likely, they will be perceived by us in a completely different way, at least not as brightly as we imagine in our imagination. And it is almost impossible to imagine pleasant feelings in the future at the moment when we are suffering in the present.

Thus, if you find yourself in a situation from which you could not find a way out, when you perceive your present as terrible, and the future is hopeless, then it is better not to fall into a vicious circle of experiences and not make these mistakes:

  • Don't try to control your future it is unknown, there are some factors that determine it, but too many chances come into play. We have learned to imagine, but we are not yet able to predict.
  • No need to consider your past especially in terms of what we liked the most and what we didn't. Our brain quickly erases sensations from memory and replaces them based on the current situation.
  • No need to try to imagine how you will feel in a certain situation in the future. If we cannot remember our old feelings, then we can predict future feelings even worse.

Instead, it's best to follow these simple rules:

  • If you want to understand how you will feel in the future, look at others who have experienced something similar. If you are afraid that you will have to work outside your specialty with a strong decrease in status and salary -  find and talk to the one from the directors who got into drivers. If you are afraid that you will remain disabled, then talk to a real disabled person, and you will see that most of them were able to adapt to life. You will be surprised how much you feel real person survivor of a catastrophic situation will be different from your idea of ​​it.
  • Look at the world wider. Any driver knows that if you look under the wheel, then the speed seems to be greater, and you can easily miss an important turn or bumps in the road. Looking to your future, you need to look with the widest possible horizon, dry statistics will give a better forecast than our subjective feelings.
  • Focus on what the person is evolutionarily adapted for - survival here and now. We are good at feeling threats and patterns that lead to success here and now. Without these skills, our ancestors could not have survived without fangs, claws, or a good sense of smell. In a period of crisis and danger, strategy, planning, analysis will not help much. What do animals do when faced with danger - run. A quick reaction and focus on the necessary immediate actions here and now are more likely to help cope with the threat than a deep emotional analysis of the situation.

The main task is, solving the problem, to stop running like a squirrel in a wheel. The longer there is no way out of the situation, the more monotonous and disturbing thoughts become, which lead to even greater feelings and narrowing of the considered options for solving the problem. It turns out that instead of driving, we are sitting in a running car, pressing on the gas, gasoline is burning, smoke is coming, but the car is not moving, we forgot such a small thing as turning on the speed, because the brain is busy with suffering, and the eyes look continuously at one point.

Sometimes we are in a state where nothing pleases us. Whatever we undertake, everything causes immediate fatigue and irritation. Even entertainment. In this article, we will analyze this feeling, or rather the lack of feelings.

Usually, when clients come to me with such a problem, it turns out that they are not quite leading. healthy lifestyle life. They do not go out into the open air, do not follow the regimen, move little and eat unbalanced meals.

Sometimes it happens that the reason that a person is not happy with anything is due to hormonal changes. Often this condition occurs in women after pregnancy, as well as with the onset of menopause. This is not the competence of psychology. With such problems, it is better to go to an endocrinologist and a psychotherapist who has the right to prescribe special drugs that quickly return a person to normal.

Emotions, neurotransmitters and hormones

Emotions are not just some mental processes. They have a physiological basis, namely, they are formed by hormones and neurotransmitters. These are endorphin, dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, adrenaline and norepinephrine. There are many others, many of which are not even open.

We are interested in three of them: endorphin, dopamine and serotonin.

endorphinhelps to overcome pain. Kind of like a natural pain reliever. It is endogenous (i.e., which is secreted by the body) morphine - a natural drug.

Dopamineresponsible for a good and joyful mood. It is produced when we anticipate some kind of pleasure. For example, this is how the body encourages us to have sex, or rather before it.

Serotoninresponsible for self-confidence, vigor and overall energy levels. It is this neurotransmitter that interests us most of all, because we have the most ways in which we can influence its production.

To increase serotonin levels, you need to be more in the light, as well as consume more dairy products, tomatoes, plums, dates, figs, peas and dark chocolate. You should also follow the regime and get enough sleep.

Psychological reasons why nothing pleases

Not only does serotonin affect our mood, but our mood also affects the production of serotonin. Communication is two-way. This means that we have the ability to influence the level of serotonin through emotional self-regulation.

How to do it?There is one simplest way- through the body. The fact is that our emotions are closely related to the physiological manifestations of these emotions. So, if we straighten our back, straighten our shoulders, raise our heads high and smile, in a word we depict happy person, then our emotions are “pulled up” by this image. First we play it, and then we start to really feel it.

At the same time, do not forget about walking in the fresh air, observing the daily routine and proper nutrition. the best way defeat the blues is the following algorithm:

  1. Go to bed on time
  2. Get up early in the morning.
  3. Breakfast with cottage cheese or a sandwich with cheese. You can eat a small chocolate bar (if your health allows).
  4. Go for an hour walk.
  5. While walking, keep a straight posture and a slight smile.

If you have no health problems, then this method will definitely help.

Good luck!

On this occasion, I made a short video. Happy viewing!

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