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You Can Fight the Desire to Isolate
Reluctance to participate in life is always a problem for me when I’m depressed. To leave the house feels like an intimidating chore. If I have to do something outside, I want to get it over with early. I like to get things out of the way.
That’s not enjoying life. That’s just existing, getting by.
It’s not laziness. Is it a lack of ambition? The inability to see oneself as an adult? Lack of confidence?
One of the best techniques I have learned in this process is to reframe. It’s not a chore. It’s something you get to do. It doesn’t have to be nervouness, it can be excitement. Change the language you use in your head to describe the things you do not want to do.
Working toward a specific goal is also really important. After graduating from college, I started to feel very listless. Without a goal to work toward, it is really easy to feel forgotten in the world. So much is happening around you, but you don’t feel like you have to participate. Learning to set goals rather than to have goals set for you is important.
And finally, I have to offer my least favorite piece of the advice. It is the advice that always works but is the hardest to follow through with: just do it. Fake it. Do something new, and feel encouraged by how that goes. Even if you hate it at first, even if you do not want to do it. Just do.
