“I feel like my life is pointless, and nothing matters.”
Life can become monotonous and uninteresting for some individuals despite trying hard to hold things together. They lack the desire to get up and get because life does not seem to be worth living. Everything about life is suddenly pointless, and it becomes difficult to keep things going.
Life seems pointless for someone because the person has lost the ability to find meaning in life. People need objectives, purposes, and goals to live to the fullest. Everyone has reasons to live because there are family responsibilities, career goals, and personal wishes to fulfil. Everything becomes meaningless if the person is feeling low or mentally exhausted.
Feeling lost or questioning life’s purpose?
Why Do You Feel Life is Pointless?
Life is meaningless if you experience getting stuck at a particular juncture because you are not where you want to be. Worse still, you may also be clueless about where you want to be. The hollowness of life is because of the inability to find joy and fulfilment in activities. Some people may face extreme hopelessness because of unrealistic expectations from life.
People who cannot deal with failure feel distressed and may lose interest in everything, including life. Thought of losing someone may also trigger the thought that life is pointless. Lack of ability to find some purpose or reason to perform actions is a common cause of finding life worthless. Self-satisfaction by fulfilling objectives is an essential aspect of adding meaning to life.
The thought of life being pointless may disturb someone because of loneliness. Some individuals think a lot. They feel there is no point in living a life thrust upon them. These thoughts might have been triggered by unpleasant or traumatic experiences or the negativity in their immediate surroundings.
Is life Pointless?
Life does not need to have a grand purpose for everyone. Individual human beings have to add smaller objectives and personal meanings to make life meaningful. The most valid reason for life not being pointless is the unique existence of every human being.
Everyone would feel worthless if life was pointless. Most human beings enjoy the simple pleasures of life. They celebrate even smaller achievements as if they have won a Nobel or Oscar. There is so much to do if you look around. Humans have unique attributes to enjoy life more than any other life form. Life can be hardly pointless if one appreciates its little joys.
Am I depressed?
Sometimes a person may experience sadness. The person may feel that it is because of depression. It is much more than a sorry state of mind. One may crossover into this issue if there is a constant feeling of sadness.
One should look for the following signs of depression:
- A sense of helplessness and hopelessness
- Sudden loss of interest in life’s pleasures
- Sleep disorders or prolonged fatigue
- Feeling of anxiety
- Altered appetite
- Weight loss or weight gain
- Mood swings
Depression is a mental illness that has several physical symptoms. It may cause a loss of interest in self and others, an inability to enjoy minor pleasures of life, and a constant feeling of exhaustion. Depression can also result in suicidal behaviour or self-harming tendencies. Depression may happen because of some tragic incident in our life. Or, it can also crop up out of the blue. Depression requires early diagnosis and is treatable with medication and therapies, and sometimes we need good depression therapists also.
Depression Thoughts and Feelings
People may feel like their life is pointless if they have depression. Therefore most individuals are averse to attending work or school and often apply for leaves. They lose the drive to work or do routine activities. Depression also causes a sudden loss of interest in things that made the person happy in the past.
Depression manifests itself through pessimistic thoughts. A depressed person is unaware that these thoughts further intensify the depression. Such negative thoughts often result in hopelessness. One may lose hope of getting another job after losing the present one. For example, a miscarriage will make a depressed woman think she can never have a baby.
Depression makes the person lose focus and clarity of things. People often have anxious thoughts because of depression. They experience frightfulness or anxiousness for no recognizable reasons.
How to Find a Purpose in Life During Depression
Finding a purpose in life[1] or passion can help resolve the depressive disorder. A hobby will make the person enjoy moments of joy and fulfilment. The person may join a social organization to contribute to some charitable or social work. The individual can thus develop a sense of self-worth.
Sharing your thoughts with a near one will also help. Use social media to reconnect with old pals. They will certainly help you overcome depression.
Setting up small and meaningful goals by determining future priorities will provide a direction in life. Let the objectives be easy to achieve in a short time. It will build your confidence faster. Start living in the present to avoid depressing thoughts of the past and anxious doubts about the future. List down a few things that make you feel proud and happy. Be grateful, even for the smallest joys of life.
Talk to Someone if You Feel Life is Pointless
However, discovering moments that can give meaning to life is a practical way to overcome the thought of life being meaningless[3]. Though it often leads to a person staying away from people. As a result, they desire to be alone. Therefore busy in a healthy conversation with a near one can try to help.
Furthermore, the depressed person should try to seek the company of family members and friends. However, light discussions with loved ones will help the person feel better because close friends can also make the person feel the warmth of relationships. Therefore the individual can frankly discuss their depression issues. Then it may not always solve the problem but will certainly reduce the severity of symptoms. Sometimes meditation and yoga are helpful to overcome depression.
Hence, sometimes we feel life is pointless. You can seek professional advice if you want to feel good. Because if you wish to, you may find a depression therapist and contact United we care.
[1] E. Machery, “Why I stopped worrying about the definition of life… and why you should as well,” Psu.edu. [Online]. Available: https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.215.5043&rep=rep1&type=pdf. [Accessed: 28-Jul-2022].
[2] L. Bich and S. Green, “Is defining life pointless? Operational definitions at the frontiers of biology,” Synthese, vol. 195, no. 9, pp. 3919–3946, 2018.
[3] M. Malta et al., “‘ Our life is pointless …’: Exploring discrimination, violence and mental health challenges among sexual and gender minorities from Brazil,” Glob. Public Health, vol. 15, no. 10, pp. 1463 -1478, 2020.
[4] Wikipedia contributors, “Meaning of life,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 16-Jul-2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Meaning_of_life&oldid=1098616564.
[5] Wikipedia contributors, “Depression (mood),” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29-Jun-2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Depression_(mood)&oldid=1095667788.
[6] Wikipedia contributors, “Life unworthy of life,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 10-Jul-2022. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Life_unworthy_of_life&oldid=1097470994.
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