There are times when you ask yourself why do I feel so down? You’re not alone and you never will be alone. I myself felt the stings of depression for many years. I still feel it at times and it just feels so bad to do so. The great part is, you have the power to pick yourself up.
An estimated 21 million Americans have at least one major depression episode. Individuals aged 18 – 25 had the highest depressive episodes out of all of them. Depression is a common theme and almost everyone goes through with it. Myself included.
There are times when I felt that I’m not doing enough or that I should be doing much more things at my age. My friends are all surpassing me, why can’t I be one of the greats? Why am I the only one left behind in the dust? Am I not as good as I think I am?
Not even only that, there are times when I got a punch to the gut. I’ve gotten fired from internship before. That was the time where I felt worthless. There were times when inflation was ruining my life in 2022, then… I got into a car accident. That ruined me even further.
Then I got depressed for months and for months, and it affected me for even years later down the road. Why do I feel so down? is a common question I would ask myself. There are distinct reasons why you feel so down and actions you can take to put yourself out of the hole that you’re in.
Why Do I Feel So Down? 9 Reasons Why
The first reason why you feel so down is because you’re not cheerfully SMASHING that social share button and posting to your favorite social media! Depression affects both men and women and it can strike the person who looks the most successful.
It’s time to raise awareness. So with that said, let’s go over the reasons why you feel so down.
1) Unresolved Recent Trauma
When I got into a car accident through no fault of my own in March 2022, I felt depressed. It wasn’t just a little “Oh yeah, I feel bad today”. It was a huge “I feel at the lowest point I’ve ever felt in my entire life”. My friends were getting jobs that were great and they were faring well in these inflationary times.
And on top of that, dealing with insurance added to the aggravation. They negotiated hard which forced me to negotiate hard right back in a depressed state and ended up with me losing the negotiation. It felt horrible. The horrible and negative thoughts and feelings still come up.
There may just be an unresolved recent trauma that you endured and experienced that’s holding you back from becoming a victor. Which is perfectly understandable. Maybe a recent family member died or you didn’t get the job that you REALLY wanted.
Whatever the reason, your feelings are completely valid into you asking why do I feel so down?
2) You Didn’t Sleep, Eat, or Drink Well
Whether we like it or not, the basics of human needs HAVE to be met in order for us to conquer the day. If you didn’t get enough sleep, then you are going to have a ruinous day. Even working out after you don’t get enough sleep isn’t effective.
Sleep cures a lot of negative emotions in our psyche and psychology. If you’re asking why do I feel so down? Then ask yourself if you’ve slept well the day before. Most times, it is because you haven’t slept so well before. Sleep really makes a huge difference and it matters to your life.
Food and water is very important to your overall daily mood as well. There’s a reason why we don’t get mad at the person who feeds us. It’s difficult to dislike someone who keeps you alive. Take care of your physical health before you take care of your mental health.
3) Financial Instability
The bear market of 2022 caught many investors by surprise. California Public Employees’ Retirement System lost 6.1% of its investments in the first half of 2022, its worst performing year of the past decade. Imagine how depressed and down the employees feel, let alone the managers.
Financial instability is the reason why you feel so down. Whether we like it or not, we associate our ego with financial stability. It’s what allows us to get food, shelter, and water later down the road. Financial instability hurts our psyche and psychology more than we know.
I felt great in December 2021 when my net worth was hitting all time highs one day after another. I felt horrible in June 2022 and beyond because my net worth was hitting lows after lows AND I got in a car accident in March 2022. It just felt so bad. Financial instability really takes a toll on you.
4) Personal Life is Not in Order
Your personal life is what you spend the most amount of your time on. We spend almost a third of our lives working and we spend the last two thirds of our life sleeping and personal life. Why do I feel so down? It’s because your personal life is just not in order.
Having a good relationship with your parents matters more than you know. Having a good group of friends who have your back means a lot to you later down the road. Repairing those relationships and/or removing toxic relationships out of your life does wonders for your mental health.
Whether we like it or not, we don’t feel so good when we hurt the ones around us. We have feelings and emotions and we don’t feel so good when we feel like we took advantage of someone else. Especially when we’re already doing so well by ourselves already.
We are not cold and emotionless robots.
5) Why do I feel So Down? Unresolved Childhood Trauma
Unresolved childhood trauma affects your unconscious mind more than anything else. Maybe you still remember the time your parents chastised you and it’s still in your memory. Or maybe a close family member abused you when you were just a child and left permanent emotional scarring.
They’re all valid reasons to blame others because it is their fault. However, it becomes much better when you create your own success story and soar to heights no one thought possible. There was a time when I blamed my parents for everything. However, after a number of years, I was tired of it.
I was tired of feeling like I was betrayed by them. I would have rather forgiven them above everything else. So then, I made the decision to just do so and move on. It’s just tiring to feel so bad just all by yourself. You want to make something of yourself and let your past go.
It may not happen in a single day. But getting to that mental state is more than possible.
6) Physiological Problems
I have HORRIBLE digestion issues. It’s not about eating dairy or anything else, it’s just about digesting extremely slowly. My stomach cannot handle a certain level of food and so I have to watch what I eat and drink very meticulously throughout the day if I want to function properly the next day.
When I solve those problems, it starts to feel better but it’s still a handicap that I have to deal with over the course of my life. Physiological problems are valid answers to the question, “why do I feel so down?”. I used to think that my health was great because I generally didn’t have major health problems.
However, I realize that that’s no longer the case. I don’t have as good of health as I thought and I’m feeling the effects of older age every year that passes. And I’m barely in my mid 20’s for christ’s sake! Whatever the problem may be, it’s important to fix them earlier rather than later.
7) You’re Not At Where You Want to be at Yet
Self actualization is our number one goal in life. However way that you want to define self actualization. Why do I feel so down? You haven’t reached your full potential yet. Djokovic wanted to quit tennis when things weren’t going his way. Guess how he feels now that he’s at the top of the world.
He loves tennis more so than ever. Why do I feel so down? You’re not there yet. You know you’re destined for greater and bigger things and you’re putting in effort right now to get there. However, in order to get there, the missing ingredient is time.
Therefore, you have may to recognize that you’re not there yet and you won’t get there in the next year or even two. After a number of years, you’ll suddenly make it. Then everyone will be wondering how you did it and calling you a lucky success.
It may feel like it’s taking longer than you would like but let me tell you, hard work does pay off.
8) You’re Comparing Yourself to Others
Comparing yourself to others kills joy. You shouldn’t compare yourself to others because at the end of the day, it’s exhausting to compare yourself to others. There are millions and billions of people that you can compare yourself to. You’re going to be exhausted if you’re keeping track of all of them.
Ignorance is bliss. As long as you’re progressing at a rate that you’re comfortable with and that you like, everything is fine. It’s you versus you. No one else keeps you back from yourself more than yourself. Why do I feel so down? Social media may be influencing you to compare much more than you think.
There are people who I’m friends since high school who is already on their second child. What!! I’m nowhere near starting or having a family and they’re years and years ahead of me in that regard. However, I don’t let it get to me. I just genuinely congratulate them and move on.
It’s exhausting to do otherwise.
9) You Went Through a Big Life Change
When I first moved from Houston to Austin, I got depressed. There was no one who I hung out with on a frequent basis. I wasn’t in a good routine yet. No matter how much people want to “spice it up” and change things, we still need a routine in our chaotic lives.
We still want to eat lunch at a certain time, go to bed at a certain time, and the like. Routines give us safety and comfort that we do not have with constantly chaotic schedules. When you go through a big life change like that, you feel down because everything is strange to you.
Once you let time do its thing and you get used to the new normal, then it starts to feel better, little by little. Day by day. A good timeframe to feel better is six months. Quitting before the six months is up isn’t the right thing to do. It takes time to get used to big changes. Give it a fair shot.
Why Do I Feel So Down? The Answers Matter
There are concrete reasons why you feel so down. Remember, we are individual creatures with individual sets of desires, wants, and needs. When you answer why do I feel so down? honestly and thoroughly is step one to finding out the solution to the problem.
It feels so bad to be depressed. My car accident absolutely crushed and decimated my good spirits this year. There was a time when I felt like everything was hopeless, everything was my fault, and there was no way that I was going to climb myself out of this hole.
It does feel that way still sometimes. Find out the reasons why you are feeling in such a manner. That’s step one into helping yourself feel better. Everyone feels depressed at some point. Life is just hard to live and it only gets infinitely harder later down the road.
Even the most successful feels down. The ones you think has it all and has the perfect life with the perfect family and perfect financial stability. Deep down, they may be miserable out of their minds and it’s only a matter of time before they melt down. Everyone remembers the Britney Spears episode.
Asking yourself why do I feel so down? When do you feel happy? are the right questions you’re asking in order to move up in the world. Happiness is something that can absolutely be obtained if you put in the effort. Effort is everything in creating results and success in your life.
Why Do I Feel So Down? 9 Reasons Shortlist
- Unresolved recent trauma
- You didn’t sleep, eat, or drink well
- Financial instability
- Personal life is not in order
- Unresolved childhood trauma
- Physiological problems
- You’re not at where you want to be at yet
- You’re comparing yourself to others
- You went through a big change
