What causes feelings of hopelessness? Hopelessness is caused by many different things, such as feeling hopeless, alienated, like you failed, finding others untrustworthy. By acknowledging how you are feeling, you can do certain things in order to cope better.
The rest of this article is going to cover what causes feelings of hopelessness, physical and mental attributes of hopelessness, and ways to overcome this feeling.
Let’s go.
What causes feelings of hopelessness?
Hopelessness is caused by many different things. While hopelessness may not be as severe as depression, it should be taken seriously. Hopelessness unacknowledged and untreated will only fester and build.
There are many questions you can ask that will help you identify if you suffer from hopelessness. Do you ever just feel down? Or like the world is out go get you? Do you feel like you have no friends? Or like you don’t really matter to anyone? Are you disillusioned with life? Do you question why you need to keep going on in life?
These questions all point to the feelings of hopelessness. Here are the 5 possible reasons that you may feel hopeless:
- Loss – Such as the death of a loved one, losing your job, loss of routine
- Stress – money issues, relationship issues, feeling trapped
- Helpless – feeling powerless, being limited, trapped in a situation
- Sadness – feeling depressed, unable to see the good things in life
- Isolation – alienating from others, uninspired with life, loss of joy
Sometimes hopelessness can be a symptom of certain behavioral and mental health issues. Some of these health issues are post-traumatic stress, eating disorders, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, substance dependency, and bipolar. If you feel that you fall into one of these categories, contact a health care professional. Even these behavioral and mental health issues are treatable, and you need not live in a sea of hopelessness.
What are physical and mental attributes of Hopelessness?
Feeling hopelessness can be so much more than just feeling sad or stressed. As mentioned above, there are countless reasons on why someone may feel they or their situation is hopeless. Often times it will manifest itself in physical and mental ways that you may not recognize as an effect at first. Below are some of these characteristics for you to look for.
Physical attributes of Hopelessness
- Fatigue
- Sleep disturbances, such as sleeping too much or insomnia
- Chronic aches and pains
- Headaches
- Reduced appetite, can lead to weight loss
- Eye problems, such as decreased vision and blurriness
- Stomach pain
Mental attributes of Hopelessness
- Angry outbursts
- Irritability
- Loss of interest in things you once enjoyed
- Anxiety or overthinking
- Thoughts of hurting yourself or others
- Withdrawing from people around you
Having a few of these symptoms from time to time may not mean feelings of hopelessness. You need to monitor yourself and how you truly feel. Perhaps keeping a small journey of just your overall mood and accomplishments will go a long way in you figuring out why you feel hopeless and how to overcome it.
Ways to overcome feelings of hopelessness
If you have feelings of hopelessness that you cannot shake quickly and feel better, it may be beneficial to see your doctor or another health professional.
Think about what is making you feel hopeless. Do you have obtrusive thoughts? Think about this and how you can combat it. You don’t need to sit there and obsess over whether your life will end because of some choice or action that you must indoor.
There are things that you can do to help combat hopelessness. Some of these are small, simple steps that can do that could have a drastic, positive outcome on your life. Life is a series of small vents, small choices, that each person makes. By monitoring how you are acting and where you can improve, you can rise above the depths of hopelessness.
Here are a few examples:
Consider building up strong, supportive relationships with the people in your life if you:
- Feel like a mind reader and are convinced you know what others are thinking…even if you don’t
- Take one instance of something happening and incorrectly apply that instance to most other situations
- Either see things as good or bad and don’t see any grey area
Consider writing a positive list to what you see as negative if you:
- Label yourself and others in certain ways, instead of allowing actions to speak more than your label
- Think everything negative is about you
- Think you are responsible for how others feel or the way they act
- Only think about how things are wrong and ignore the positive things
Conclusion on What Causes Feelings of Hopelessness
Do you or someone you know seem to suffer from hopelessness? Now you know what causes feelings of hopelessness, physical and mental characteristics, and how you can overcome these tough times.