If you lose interest in life. Apathy: a defense mechanism that needs to be turned off in time. A few typical stories

Anhedonia is a real scourge of our time!

IN Ancient Greece There were two philosophical schools that placed pleasure, pleasure and the absence of pain on a pedestal: hedonism and Epicureanism. However, in our time, most people are subject to the opposite state: there is no joy in life. What is anhedonia and how to deal with it? How to return emotions?

Anhedonia is a specific impoverishment of the emotional sphere, characterized by loss of a sense of joy, lack of pleasure from favorite activities, and decreased motivation to receive positive emotions. A person with this diagnosis does not have good and bad days; they are all equally grey, dull, joyless.

Most often, this diagnosis is given to unsuccessful and unsociable people. It turns out to be a kind of vicious circle: failures provoke a feeling of inferiority, self-doubt, a person limits contacts with others (personal or work), fearing to fail again, but because of this he does not gain new experience, does not grow, does not develop. Faced with a similar situation again, he repeats previous mistakes.

Symptoms of the disease

• Loss of interest in life;
• Lack of aspirations, desires and ambitions;
• Selectivity of memory: often memories of pleasant moments are erased or become dim, while failures constantly pop up in memory;
• Lethargy, apathy, fatigue;
• Lack of self-confidence, feelings of inferiority and inferiority;
• Closedness, difficulty maintaining social connections with other people;
• Lack of emotional response: a person does not enjoy everyday little things (delicious food, a beautiful sunset) and significant events (a promotion, going to a concert of a favorite band);
• Loss of interest in hobbies and interests that previously brought pleasure;
• Decreased sexual desire.

Classification of anhedonia

Anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure. Today the following forms of this disease are distinguished:

1. Social anhedonia is characterized by isolation, a lack of desire to please people, pleasure from social contacts, and a desire to achieve career success;
2. Physical – manifests itself in a decrease in the positive perception of stimuli that are associated with the senses (beautiful color, appetizing smell, pleasant tactile sensations, etc.), the joy of relaxation;
3. The intellectual-aesthetic form implies a loss of the need for new knowledge, a lack of joy while contemplating something beautiful, a loss of pleasure while reading books, listening to music, loss of interest in hobbies;
4. The somnetic form was introduced into use in 2017 after publication scientific article domestic scientist - V.D. Mendelevich. It is diagnosed if there is no pleasure from the sleep process;
5. Sexual and orgasmic anhedonia can be manifested by decreased libido, lack of pleasure during sexual intercourse or orgasm (if its physiological signs are present).

The disease happens:

• Partial, that is, affecting one or more aspects of the patient’s life. For example, the patient cannot experience pleasure during sex or watching a good movie, but he enjoys meeting with friends;
• Total: encompassing a full range of positive emotions. In this case, the patient will be diagnosed with manifestations of all 5 forms of anhedonia, as well as an additional serious mental disorder (for example, severe melancholy-apathetic depression of a psychotic level).

Diagnosis of anhedonia

Despite the fact that the term was introduced into psychiatry more than a hundred years ago, every year doctors pay more and more attention to this deviation. Methods for diagnosing and treating anhedonia are being improved.

Today, there are many questionnaires to identify deficits in the perception of positive emotions. The most reliable results show:

• What it is? This is a scale measuring social anhedonia. High scores on this questionnaire are reliable indicators of predisposition to schizophrenia;
• SA-SSPS – test to determine the level of pleasure and social security;
• CPS – Fawcett-Clark Pleasure Scale;
• TEPS, Experience of Pleasure Questionnaire;
• SHAPS – Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure and Joy in Life Scale;
• HDIS is a test for determining a deficit of pleasure and identifying obstacles to its experience, which includes several subscales.

Causes: why this disease appears

Decreased mood after a stressful situation. It happens that a person cannot “get over” a divorce, the death of a loved one, or a major failure at work for a long time. It’s as if he’s afraid to start enjoying himself again.

Chronic fatigue, many responsibilities, and insufficient rest can “kill” all positive emotions.

Very often, the inability to enjoy becomes a personal trait of a person. He concentrates only on the bad, constantly complains, is not happy with everything, etc. In this case, we will be talking about a bad habit that needs to be gotten rid of. The sooner a person changes his life position, the better.

Constitutional-personal anhedonia is associated with peculiarities of sensory perception. This form of deficiency of positive emotions is most often inherent in inert, inactive people. The main difference between this type of disease and all others is the constancy and stability of symptoms. That is, there is no joy in a person’s life from birth to death. This indicates a high predisposition to the appearance of mental disorders.

Anhedonia can be either a separate, independent symptom complex or a sign of serious mental illnesses: schizophrenia, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, paranoid, schizoid and anxiety disorders, depersonalization, and also occur while taking antipsychotics.

How to bring joy back into your life?

First you need to find out what reasons provoked the appearance of anhedonia. Treatment will depend on this.

If the lack of positive emotions caused fatigue, then the most the best solution will reconsider the number of his responsibilities. Some household chores can be entrusted to household members. The daily routine should include mandatory time for rest. At least 20-30 minutes dedicated only to yourself.

How to find joy in life if you are used to remembering only the negative? You should start carefully monitoring your words and thoughts, and stop complaining. Train yourself to look for the positives in any event and focus on them.

It is easier to survive a difficult life situation by communicating with other people. Don't isolate yourself. Go visit friends or make an appointment with a psychologist, psychotherapist or group gestalt therapy session.

A happiness bank is a great way to remember joyful moments. Get a special box (jar, casket). As soon as something good happens, write it down on a piece of paper and put it in your piggy bank. The next time the blues set in, re-read the notes (or at least look at the number of them).

Eat more foods that improve your mood: dark chocolate, nuts or fatty fish, bananas, hot peppers. And it is better to avoid alcohol, coffee and sweets, because they give the opposite result.

Try positive affirmations and meditations for happiness. Start and end your day with a smile to yourself. At first it will seem stupid, but the result will not be long in coming.

Create artificial stress. Sign up for a rock climbing or parkour class, or go on your entire vacation away from civilization (for example, to a remote village or yoga camp). Any extreme and unusual activity for you is suitable.

Play sports. It’s not for nothing that they say: “A healthy mind in a healthy body!” This will help improve your physical well-being, raise your self-esteem, and break up your established routine.

What to do if you can't manage your symptoms at home? It is better to consult a doctor immediately.

How to treat anhedonia?

No one can experience only positive emotions all the time. However, if a lack of pleasure in life, apathy and reluctance to do anything haunts you for more than 2-3 weeks for no apparent reason, you should think about visiting a doctor. Most likely, the lack of emotions arose against the background of some other change in the psyche.

The doctor will conduct diagnostics, make a diagnosis (or reassure you, saying that everything is in order) and prescribe competent treatment.

It is important to conscientiously follow all doctor’s recommendations, adhere to treatment periods and prescribed doses. Even if you feel much better and don’t want to be “poisoned” for another 2 months with “harmful” pills, it is better not to interrupt therapy without permission, as there is a high risk of a quick relapse.

Although anhedonia does not lead to death, it greatly interferes with life. Remember that this condition rarely goes away on its own. Start fighting anhedonia as early as possible so that your world does not become gray and joyless forever.

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Apathy and indifference arise for various reasons: after serious life troubles and stress, during depression, when life is satiated, or vice versa, if it is boring and routine.

It is important to remember here that our soul, brain and psyche need rest, so it is completely normal if you have lost interest in life for some time. And if your soul is still alive, then it’s enough to plunge again into the abyss of vivid impressions and gain new experiences - and it will come back. But how can you regain interest in life if your suspended animation lasts for several years?

Don't throw yourself into the pool headlong

Some answer the question of how to regain interest in life too naively, saying you just need to return to work, parties, sports, personal life in one fell swoop and right away. And that's wrong. Your fatigue didn’t accumulate for so long just to return instantly.

Return slowly but surely to the homeopathic dose, and take breaks on days off. Do this regularly and praise yourself for every step.

Go back to childhood

Remember what you loved to do during this golden era and develop a system of incentives for yourself. There is something here somewhere that will lift you up from the depths of despondency. By the way, your favorite things from childhood can also be an encouragement for every step towards an active life.

Learning to live positively

This is a cliché expression, and besides, the fashion for positivity has given rise to many people with fake smiles. Your task is to get a dose of jokes every day and find something funny and cheerful in everything that happens. This skill in itself will help. You can adjust your worldview with the help of music. We remove everything sad and melancholy from the playlist and player, looking for something active to replace it, something that you want to live and feel.

We are looking for friends, experimenting with communication

This is very difficult if you like to spend your free time at home on your favorite sofa. But know that a cheerful company will pull anyone out of apathy, and if you have common interests, then life will bloom with bright colors. You can perceive every new person on your path as a discovery.

Letting go of the oppression of the past

If you have lost interest in life after a series of unpleasant events in life, you just need to hammer the past with iron nails. How to do it?

First of all, analyze past events and think about what lessons you can learn from them. Now you can calmly say goodbye to your past and move on. Understand that change is normal, because you can’t get stuck in the past.

It is quite possible to get rid of fears from the past: they are now irrelevant. The only moment when you can stir up the past is in the evening of your day. At this time, it is important to determine why this day was lived, to note all your achievements, to remember what good you have done. Well, let’s praise ourselves for all this!

But not over everything at once - it’s easy to push yourself that way. If you understand that your character lacks a certain quality, first decide whether you need this quality, or whether it is social pressure and cliches. If necessary, we set goals and develop slowly. The main thing here is not to kill yourself in a month.

Fall in love

This is always a source of positive emotions and necessary hormones. Moreover, by sharing the interests of the one you love, you can find a new interest for your life. If there is no suitable object to fall in love with, fall in love with your soulmate again. Or you can fall in love with yourself! If you radiate love, then it will return to you. What we give to people comes back to us. This is the mirror.

Find a new dream

Or a goal. Let her inspire you. Now put it into practice. This way the apathy will go away on its own. If such a goal or dream is not found, remember a dream that was put on the back burner in the past and forgotten, or you never got around to it. When childhood dreams come true, adult life becomes much better.

Dramatically change your hobbies

Hobbies can be changed and there will be no harm, and the experience will expand. Therefore, if before you only embroidered or painted, take up extreme sports or music, for example. Or take courses that are unusual for you. You can also change your work schedule and style, your style of communication with your family or friends. But again, not in a month, but slowly and reliably.

Take antidepressants

Don't be afraid of these "fun" pills. Sometimes only they are able to bring us out of suspended animation. But to prevent anything bad from happening, let them be selected by a doctor, and not by you, a friend, or a popular magazine. And try not to overdose.

If pills are not your thing, just eat dark chocolate. There are also antidepressants here. Bananas will also work.

Get a dog

A universal antidepressant, if that. First of all, you won't be alone anymore. Secondly, a cheerful dog will expand your social circle and new interests will enter your life: while the dog is small, you need to take care of it no less than a child. And finally, a dog means walking fresh air, and daily. And such activity is a great way to overcome apathy.

Go to... shopping

A purely feminine method of getting rid of apathy, but the good thing is that after it you feel like a renewed person, and this awakens an interest in life like nothing else.

Question for a psychologist:

Good afternoon.

My problem is this. For about 8 years now I have lost interest in life and am in a state of passive depression. It all started with the fact that I failed to enter college the first time, and managed to do so only in the second year. It was a failure of all my dreams; at that moment I placed too much on this admission. My world then collapsed. When I finally entered, I no longer felt any interest in studying, which I literally lived for just a year ago. When I entered, due to lack of interest, studying began to be very difficult for me, problems with discipline began, I was often late, because I simply could not bring myself to get up in the morning, or completely missed entire days of classes. If earlier I could leave home early in the morning and come only late in the evening, being first at school and then at college, now I have become a real homebody. At a minimum, she was regularly late and every time she was looking for a way to quickly leave the institute, to get out early. At the very least, I stopped leaving the house altogether. I didn’t want to go out anywhere, I wasn’t comfortable with the thought of leaving my native, warm, cozy walls. The house began to be perceived by me as my fortress, as my shell, a protective shell. When I thought about going out into the street to go somewhere, for example, to the same institute, I began to feel discomfort and even a little fear. I didn't want to leave my protective shell. Also, in addition to this, as a logical continuation of what has already been described, problems with academic performance began. Even the most basic tasks gave me difficulty. I couldn't concentrate on anything. It was difficult for me to force myself to sit down and start doing something and accomplishing it. The fear of failure because of not getting in was firmly lodged in me. I put too much effort into this then, I worked very hard for this, I was very tired and I was very upset not to do it. Now I didn’t want to stress over anything at all, I didn’t want to invest in any building. I already had a sad experience when I put my soul and a lot of energy into a business and broke down. And all this pain was embedded so deeply in me that I didn’t want a repeat and therefore didn’t want to try at anything. If earlier I lived by studying, I liked to disappear all day at the institute, communicate with friends, but now studying became a real hell for me, I didn’t want to leave the house again, I didn’t want to do anything, communicate with anyone.

And this state, this apathy, this closeness from life has continued to this day for 8 years. I still can’t bring myself to leave the house again. Yes, you have to go to work, but it’s a necessity. But I can’t just pick up, get ready and go somewhere. Or I can, but it costs me no human effort. I can force myself all day, from early morning until late at night, to simply get ready and go to the store! From time to time, I still pull myself together and begin to go somewhere regularly, for example, every week to the theater or to the museum. But it’s still difficult for me to get ready, I’m always late for everything, I always force myself to go out for a long time.

Another problem is that I stopped feeling the taste of life. I have forgotten how to rejoice and enjoy life! I really love, for example, theater or exhibitions, but I don’t experience the same pleasure and uplifting emotions from them. I don’t experience emotions in any area of ​​my life! I am alive like some kind of vegetable, capable only of physical movements, but absolutely empty inside. I have been living in this constant feeling of emptiness, depression and apathy for many years. It happens a little better and I seem to come to life, I have dreams and goals again, but I very quickly burn out and again drag out a miserable, aimless existence. I have no goals, no desires, no reason to get up in the morning. I don't want anything. I used to live, I was on fire, I ran everywhere, I managed to do a lot of things, I was active. Now I can spend the whole day on the couch, staring blankly at the computer monitor. It seems to me that deep down in my soul I still have that pain for not getting in, and now I’m afraid to set goals for myself, I’m afraid to want something, because I’m afraid to lose again and again experience the pain of dashed hopes.

I seem to understand all this, but I don’t know how to get out of this state. I will be very grateful for your help!

Psychologist Viktor Vladimirovich Lyashenko answers the question.

Hello, Darina.

You wrote a rather emotional message. To write such a letter, to analyze and present everything in such detail, it requires a lot of mental strength. This indicates that there is still life in you, and you are capable of prolonged efforts for the sake of what is valuable to you, a necessity - for the sake of what you need.

You seem to really understand a lot. But what you understand does not yet encourage you to re-evaluate your choice, your attitude to what is happening and your pain, due to the fact that you began to experience yourself... perhaps helpless, incapable, weak, stupid, incompetent, unnecessary, etc., etc.

Your pain is so “deeply seated” for two complementary reasons:

1) Your world collapsed from the failure of admission only because for some reason you saw all your meaning in this admission, in this success of admission. So, the word admission to college is the only measure of both your worth and the value of life.

And then there was failure, and all the meanings collapsed... But there were no others, and there are no others. This lack of other meanings, other than some kind of social success (in your case associated with entering college the first time), is one of the main factors in your hanging in “non-existence” - you are not valuable to yourself. You have value to yourself only if you have a number of certain remarkable qualities...

2) You are hesitant to face these painful experiences. Because in this case you will have to face your own worthlessness. After all, you value yourself only for something (for certain qualities and achievements), but in and of yourself you have no value.

However, it is true that it is very difficult to face some experiences alone, and we do not always find the courage and strength to do so. But still, in order to stop running from your loser self and burying yourself alive, you need to turn to this you (yourself). Live communication with a psychologist makes this much easier (in correspondence, unfortunately, this is impossible).

Make up your mind if life, which is now giving its voice to you, is important to you.

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When the world turns gray and indifference overshadows all feelings, the surest way out is to find something you like

Why does the desire to dream and create suddenly disappear?

Joy inspires and gives a feeling of fulfillment in life. But suddenly something breaks and she leaves. Do you know the feeling of hopelessness and apathy? To cope with it, you need to understand its true cause.

Fatigue – the simplest and most common reason that the world stops being enjoyable. Feelings become dull, everything seems gray and monotonous. And the only recipe in in this case- have a good rest.

Sometimes we think that we live a very boring life. “The lives of artists (showmen, politicians, journalists...) are interesting and rich, not like mine,” we think. The paradox is that writers, artists, performers, and pop stars are all equally tired of what they do every day. No matter who you are, from time to time you need to break out of everyday reality and change the picture. Take a vacation and go further away - to another city, another country. Free yourself from your usual routine. Breathe the air of freedom. Learn new things. Often this step can restore strength and bring back the joy of each day.

But it happens that the blues become chronic. Complete disappointment, reluctance to do anything, awareness of the meaninglessness of life - these are the symptoms of this condition. “We lose joy in one case: when we cannot use life to satisfy our needs,” says psychoanalytic therapist Eduard Livinsky. – A person perceives the world through the prism of what he can influence. And if he satisfies other people’s desires and sacrifices his own, then he feels frustration. But this is exactly how we are raised! You go to work where no one is going to think about your personal needs. You live in a society that is focused on the accumulation of capital, and if you have different values, you have to break yourself. Joy is always the joy of doing one’s own work, being active for oneself among like-minded people.”

6 ways to shake yourself up and want to live

If everyday life has become boring, you need to look for a way to diversify it. Just don’t sit idly by: apathy doesn’t go away on its own!

Go on a trip. A change of environment and new experiences expand the boundaries of perception. All sensations become several times sharper. And there is time to think about what, in fact, is important to you.

Get a pet. Caring for a small defenseless creature - even a turtle - gives each of us the necessary feeling of being needed. The animal is entirely dependent on the owner: you will begin to receive joy when you feed it, stroke it, communicate with it.

Go to church for a service. Even if you are not a religious person, try to attend the service, listen to the prayers and understand yourself better. People often find peace and harmony after attending church. It's not even a matter of ritual, but of returning to oneself.

Invent a new hobby. Ask yourself: what is important to you, what have you always wanted to do and what have you denied yourself? And take this step: sign up for a dance class or a theater studio, start learning professional photography. There is nowhere to put it off any further.

Mini home renovation idea. At least rearrange the furniture and redo the wallpaper. Firstly, you will undoubtedly be distracted, and secondly, by transforming and updating your home, you yourself will want to be internally renewed.

Help those who have a harder time. When we do good, we always feel joy. We are transformed, becoming cleaner and brighter. A visit to a sick friend, help for your mother, a few kind words to your neighbor... And maybe some volunteer work.

Pamper your body and your soul will thaw

Bodily pleasure can be an excellent therapy for apathy. To do this, turn everyday procedures into a pleasant ritual. The simplest things that we often do in a hurry can give moments of genuine joy. For example, peeling: there is so much pampering and sensuality in treating the body with a fragrant scrub! The same can be said about Ayurveda’s favorite ritual of oiling, for which any slightly warmed oil is suitable (you can take olive oil and add a few drops of essential oil to your taste). It makes sense to take a course of oil massage or several sessions of stone therapy - massage with heated stones. During such procedures, we focus on our sensations and learn to enjoy touch and tactile contact. The body relaxes, unnecessary thoughts go away along with tension. We take care of ourselves - and this gives us confidence!

With a taste of sadness

There are times when sadness just rolls in. Psychologists advise not to hide from it under fake fun, but to fully experience the emotions.

• LISTEN TO YOURSELF. If at this moment you feel sadness and melancholy, surrender fully to these difficult feelings. You have a right to them.
• FIND A SUITABLE ACTIVITY. Perhaps it's time to watch a sentimental movie or look through your diary from ten years ago. Or just cry into your pillow. By the way, tears have a cleansing effect.
• THINK THAT THIS WILL PASS. No matter how bad it gets, you should always look for a thread to cling to. This thread is our hope for tomorrow, that everything will change for the better and we will be in great shape. Think about good things even in the most difficult periods - and they will certainly happen to you!

Take a brush in your hands

Express your feelings through creativity and understand the essence of the problem that worries you, provides an opportunity for art therapy (“healing through art”) – popular in last years method of psychotherapy. Blues, apathy, lack of interest in life are direct indications of it. The most simple technique– try to express your emotions in a drawing.

Depict, for example, your melancholy, and then your joy - and compare these two pictures, mentally transferring yourself to a field of joy. If you are overwhelmed with negative emotions, you can even create a sculpture from paper, old newspapers, pieces of wallpaper, and then paint it in sunny colors– try to transform negative into positive. What is good about art therapy? Firstly, you express your emotions, which means they do not accumulate inside you. Secondly, you pull the problem out and distance yourself from it. And thirdly, the creative process itself is healing and will completely capture you! In addition to isotherapy, there are many other techniques: music, dance, fairy tale, photo, game, drama and even sand therapy.

sitting at home

After a serious operation, I lost faith in myself and in life.

One day my mother brought a set for creating figures from beads. Without inspiration, I started making a heron. But the process captivated me completely. Soon I ordered books on beading online and now I am creating wonderful things. There is no time to be sad. Stranger Yoli

Where to look for life energy

To bring color back to the world, you need to start doing something. Not for anyone, but for yourself. Find the area where your efforts will not be fruitful. Seeing the result of your work, you will want to live again!

The work that does not bring joy and serves only to earn money, relationships in which the sharpness of feelings has long been dulled, constant busyness and haste, many small everyday affairs... How to break this vicious circle? You need to find an area where you can fully realize your abilities, and your perception of life will change.

the main task any of us - to allow our “I” to do something valuable for ourselves. Therefore, any activity that brings you pleasure can relieve you of the blues! The most difficult thing remains: finding something for the soul. The trouble is that we often deactivate our own “I” so much that it loses the ability to create desires. In this case, psychologists recommend remembering what brought you joy in childhood. Sewing outfits for dolls, creating collages, sculpting, drawing - it was sure to be an exciting activity. And then cast aside doubts and false shame (they say, I’m no longer a child) and indulge in what I love! Even if you don't feel inspired at first.

Very important don't isolate yourself. Find people with similar problems so you have someone to talk to. Look for those who share your hobbies, fortunately now this is easy to do using the Internet. But communication should not be limited to the virtual world: it is imperative to go into reality!

Each of us needs so that his activities are appreciated and accepted by others. Therefore, find an opportunity to participate in those collective events where your activity will be welcomed! “A single person can go on a group tour of the city: a friendly atmosphere, an exchange of opinions - and now you are no longer alone! For a young mother who feels like life is passing her by, it is enough to organize a party at home, invite friends with children - and she will perk up, advises Eduard Livinsky. “A life without meaning is a sure path to depression.”

Set goals for yourself and achieve them, and this activity will bring you out of your emotional stupor. Write down five goals focused on your own needs - what you will do for your soul and good mood.

IMPORTANT!

Any communication with children will bring you pleasure and sincere joy if you put aside all matters and devote some time completely to the child. Teach him something, discover a new meaning for his favorite activities. Nothing pleases us more than the success of our children.

Give children joy

The most common cause of apathy and depression is infantility. A person expects life to give him all the joys, not wanting to act on his own. Meanwhile, life requires effort, otherwise it turns into a swamp. Look for new meanings of existence for yourself. One of them may be caring for children who do not have parents. If you're lonely and not too happy right now, give some warmth to those who really need it! Going to the nearest orphanage on the weekend and reading a fairy tale to the kids, talking to older children - this will not require any special expenses. But the impact can be very strong. You will feel that someone needs you, that someone is happy to see you, someone is waiting for you. Which means there is meaning to live!

The Art of Gratitude

Any person feels happy when his efforts are accepted, whether at work or in the family.

Imagine that you prepared a delicious lunch, having spent the whole day fussing over the stove, and your family ate it with blank expressions and didn’t even thank you - where can you be happy? Therefore, at home - in our microcosm, where we set the rules ourselves - we need to cultivate a culture of gratitude.

Teach your children, husband and learn to appreciate what they have done for you. Saying “thank you!”, feeling this warm feeling inside yourself. And thank life for what it gives you.

Experience difficulties. And overcome with honor!

Everything is good, but everything is boring - the blues of satiety, there is no other way to put it. She's being treated!

Live in extreme conditions. For example, go camping with tents. The world will turn upside down. You will begin to notice things that you did not pay attention to before. And many problems will turn out to be unimportant.

Start running. Minimum 3 km per day. It’s not easy to tear yourself away from the TV – the favorite pastime of all those who are moping. But what joy you will feel every time you finish your run! Including the fact that endorphins are released into the blood during running.

My niece brought me out of my apathy

Just two years ago, Poltava resident Diana (26 years old) was seriously depressed. She, pregnant, was left by her loved one. She lost her child from frustration. And these were not all the trials that befell her!

At first everything worked out wonderfully. Having learned that I was expecting a child, Denis proposed to me. We had already invited guests to the wedding, when suddenly at night we quarreled over a trifle. And Denis... disappeared. And I soon ended up in the hospital. The baby was not saved.

I hated men. She lived in chronic apathy. Nothing made me happy. I went to work only because I had to live on something. One day I was walking home tired and thinking: “I want to go to the hospital with a sore throat.” Our negative attitudes are coming true: I slipped unluckily and ended up in intensive care. I was paralyzed, the doctors said that now I would lie down. But a miracle happened: I got back on my feet. I left the hospital knowing that I couldn’t get pregnant for three years.

My sister just had a daughter. And she invited me to her place in Kyiv.

She offered to change her life and stay with her, help with Karina. At first I refused, but six months later I quit my job and moved in with my sister. At first I was afraid to touch the baby. But soon I could easily change her diapers and could stay with her for the whole day. Communication with this sun charged me with energy. We walked with her for a long time, played, I read books to her. Somehow I caught myself thinking that I want the same miracle! Karina taught me to smile again. The depression has passed. Now I am looking for a job in the capital and hope to arrange my personal life.

By caring, we find harmony

Caring for plants and animals is a guaranteed way to fall back in love with the world. In the acclaimed book Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, the main character, Naoko, years after losing a loved one, ends up in a closed hospital in the mountains. People who have lost their taste for life - people like her - are treated there not with medications, but simple activities: growing vegetables, floriculture and poultry farming.

Working near the earth, coming into contact with its creations, watching how sprouts emerge, how fruits ripen, a person draws strength and is charged with vital energy, forgetting about his mental traumas. This “primitive” activity, despite all the achievements of scientific and technological progress, remains the most natural for us. But where should a city dweller look for a garden or a farm? A good solution is to grow flowers. This hobby does not require a lot of money, but allows you to fully experience the joy of communicating with nature. Flowers are beautiful, they awaken a sense of beauty in us. By caring for them, we free our heads from annoying thoughts, relax and take a break from the hustle and bustle.

Your sources of inspiration

We feel sad when we lack something. And we rejoice when we feel connected to the world and other people. And for this you need not to engage in soul-searching, but to strive to learn new things, to see the world in all its colors. And feel that you are alive!

Nature observation brings joy because it is alive. And depression is nothing more than a loss of life dynamics. Therefore, contemplation of nature is restorative. You watch how the trees bloom, the clouds float, the insects swarm, and you understand: life flows regardless of our small everyday adversities. Against this mesmerizing background, your problems seem insignificant. And nature also instills faith that you can do something as important and natural as a flower blooming or a bee carrying nectar.

Art inspires and demonstrates the diversity of life, showing that not everything around us is gray and monotonous. It also “allows” us to have our own emotions, pushing us to feel, experience, and catch fire. After all, in essence, art is emotions transfused into sounds, colors, and movements. Depression always begins with fear of one’s feelings.

Books and films with a positive storyline, dedicated to overcoming obstacles, instills faith in own strength. If the hero coped with difficulties, then you can do it too! Joy goes away because we cannot process the situation, we get stuck in it. And someone else’s example shows: there is a way out, we must look for it! And the only question is how to do it. If you can’t find a way out on your own, you should talk to a friend, a psychologist, or anyone who can help you look at the problem from the outside. And make sure: there is something to be happy about in life!

Beautiful landscapes evoke unconscious joy, so take advantage of every opportunity to be in nature. Alternate active rest with meditation or contemplation of awakening nature. Enjoy spring!

4 books that will put you in a positive mood

Osho. Hsin-Hsin-ming: A book about nothing

Our mind creates dreams. To wake up and experience true joy, you need to go beyond the mind. Osho tells how to “turn off” culturally imposed stereotypes, free yourself from the need for choice and begin to live an authentic life.

Anna Gavalda. Just together

A kind, wise and life-affirming novel about love and how to find joy in everyday life. All the characters, lonely at first, find their happiness at the end of the plot. And one of its important components is to help another in difficult times.

Sue Townsend. The Diaries of Adrian Mole

An incredibly funny book, never off the bestseller list, about the adventures of an English teenager who is prone to the blues and fancies himself an intellectual and a talented poet. Sparkling!

Victor Frankl. Man in search of meaning

An Austrian psychiatrist describes his personal experience of surviving in a concentration camp and shows that even if you find yourself in the most terrible conditions, you can find an incentive to continue living. A serious book that can change your worldview.

Many people experience periods in their lives when they lose all interest in it. People begin to remember the years of their youth, when they were interested in any events, they strived for something, achieved something. We rejoiced at every little thing and every evening, going to bed, we 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 boring

In fact, it’s easy to understand why you lose interest in life. People begin to close themselves off from the world around them, they do not want to see and hear everything that is happening. In a similar way, a person exhibits a defensive reaction, which helps to hide from the pain encountered on his life's path.

Everyone can remember how often he utters such phrases: I don’t want to see this, I don’t want to hear this, I have no desire to experience this again. When pronouncing such phrases, people trigger certain mechanisms:

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

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

Signs of Depression

If you have no interest in life, what should you do? How can you tell if a person is depressed? Psychologists define it according to the following characteristics:

• A person ceases to be pleased with 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.
• Lost interest in intimate life and goes down physical activity. Sleep became short, and interest in food was lost.
• Self-confidence completely disappears, and the 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 such a 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, distinguish a large number of shades, notice everything that happens around. As people age, their vision deteriorates, but not because they lose the ability to see. Scientists conducted many experiments and were able to prove that it can be 100% even in old age.

Visual perception of the surrounding reality depends on how ready a person is to notice and accept everything that surrounds him. Any offense, manifestation of anger and irritation “closes people’s eyes.” Diseases associated with vision loss or deterioration occur because people do not like everything they see in their lives. In children, such diseases arise because they do not want to see what is happening in their families.

Hearing is the auditory channel of perception

Hearing is the most important channel for perceiving the world around us. It also affects the ability to speak. The vibrations emitted by sound are perceived not only by the hearing organs, but by the whole body. Therefore, when a person’s ability to perceive information through the organs of hearing is closed, he is fenced off from life and the surrounding reality.

People often repeat what was said, mostly because their attention is very distracted. The auditory perception is also closed in cases when the interlocutor screams loudly, especially if it is something unpleasant. Children often have hearing problems due to loud scandals in the family, they do not want to accept it, and as a result various diseases arise.

Sensory channel of perception: sensations and feelings

A person receives most of the information thanks to his feelings, and he closes them, if something goes wrong, instantly. This often 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 connection with the perception of any smells, tastes, and tactile sensations are also of great importance.

People often resort to simple way turning off such a channel of perception is smoking. You can also dull your feelings by closing yourself off, they allow you to escape from reality into another world computer games and the Internet. Today, when technology has developed to high level, this happens very often.

How to regain interest in life? Some recommendations

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

You need to completely change your schedule. This could be a change in the route a person takes to work. Perhaps it is worth abandoning the transport he is following, or getting off a little earlier than his stop and then continuing on foot. Many people find it helpful to listen to their favorite music while traveling and on their way to work. This helps strengthen the nervous system.

How to regain interest in life? Advice from a psychologist: you need to start experimenting and stop being afraid of new things in your life. It is also important to stop eating the same foods. Change your hairstyle if it's for a long time hasn't changed, update your wardrobe. You need to start enjoying all kinds of innovations.

It would be a good idea to update the interior of your home; you may even have to throw away some old things and buy new ones. Adding new colors to the interior of the apartment also helps.

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

What needs to be done to regain the desire 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 all the events that happen 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, you just need to be a person with a capital H, believe in yourself and not commit immoral acts.

In order for the desire to live to appear, 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 who is not successful. But many people believe that success is money. Everything is much simpler, a successful person is one who realizes himself and loves his type of activity. There are people who do not have much wealth, but consider themselves successful and enjoy life.

Success does not mean having an expensive house, car, yacht. All these are just little things in life compared to when a person was able to realize himself. A successful person always returns home with great joy and is glad to meet people close to him. Such people know what their meaning in life is, they have clearly defined goals that they strive for.

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

How to help yourself: advice from psychologists

There are moments that help get rid of depression.

It is necessary, as strange as it may sound, to balance your diet. Stop making all sorts of snacks that don’t lead to anything good. It is necessary to balance your diet so correctly that you do not have to resort to additional consumption of any vitamin complexes. Good to eat a small amount of dark chocolate, it helps release endorphins.

It helps to cope with problems very well by keeping a 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 to get out of depression - this is a state of shock. These are moments when a person urgently needs to act in a given situation. In this state, he forgets about all the problems that prevent him from living normally. It is important that such actions are under the supervision 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 your daily and night routine. Analyze whether the sleep and rest schedule is correct. First of all, you need to normalize your sleep and be sure to find some favorite activity that 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 it and understand that it is rich in many positive events. You need to become more optimistic. Believe that life can change in a positive way, and begin to make every effort to do so.

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

Taking a break from your activities as a means of combating depression

How to return a person's interest in life with the help of a pause in business? There's nothing complicated about it. You just need to relax, perhaps do meditation or go on vacation in nature. Feel how pleasant it is to meet the sunrise in some of your favorite places. Spend the evening by the fire. Watch the water flow and not think about your problems. Listen to your soul and remember some pleasant moments in life.

Remember your life purpose

How to restore joy and interest in life? To do this, a person needs to remember his innermost dreams, because everyone has had them. It is as if you need to go back to the past and find what made you happy at that time, the meaning that gave you energy and the desire to live. Then it’s good to think at what exact moment the turning point in life occurred and what exactly happened, why the desire to live disappeared. Then you need to mentally return to the place and time when this happened and rewrite the past. After such a rethinking of everything that is happening, you should begin to live in complete harmony with your soul and check everything with it. Medicine that can help overcome psychological difficulties is in everyone’s soul.

How to stop blocking feelings

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

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

The best way to do this is to childhood. A child can freely, without hesitation, cry if someone has offended him, and immediately forget about everything and start playing, doing his favorite thing. This way 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 bother him most. When he has dealt with this, he needs to accept them, feel them completely, and in this way he can reset the 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 remedy to relieve 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. This simple therapy has helped many people begin to enjoy life and get rid of the negative emotions that eat them from within.

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 path.