Hopelessness
A void in the heart
Written by Dr. Madiha Khan
For an individual to experience life in a positive way, among many other prerequisites, hope is a very important one. To hope is to desire for something and then to believe and trust that this desire will be achieved. Hope can be about wishing for a good life, good health, healthy relationships, success, and an overall sense of contentment. When we stop desiring, because perhaps we stop believing that our wishes will ever come true, we develop a sense of hopelessness. Without hope, life starts feeling purposeless and meaningless. Someone who has experienced many disappointments early on in life may build a perspective that their life shall always be disappointing. They may stop hoping for good because they might feel like it is an unrealistic expectation. Our attitudes are also influenced by the people around us. Being surrounded by negative people, who always refer to life and this world as a hopeless situation we are stuck in, might make us accept a similar point of view. Hopelessness is a common symptom of severe depression and can lead to loss of motivation and the will to live. It can be very hard to drag someone out of this state of despair and hopelessness and to make them realize that life can be a wonderful and beautiful gift, depending on what you choose to do with it.
So how can we overcome hopelessness and embrace hope? Following are some ways to instill hope and positivity in life.
- Engagement: Isolation is something that breeds hopelessness, whereas the opposite of isolation can help fight it. By engaging with different kinds of people, we learn about different ways of thinking. We understand other perspectives and realize that there are many different ways of understanding life.
- Mastery: Being good at something always gives our self-esteem a boost and adds to our sense of contentment. Mastering a talent can make one feel capable, worthy, and valuable.
- Meaning & Purpose: Finding the meaning and purpose of your life can lead to a significant change. It doesn’t always have to be an epiphany of a glorious magnitude. It can be something as simple as realizing that your purpose in life is to be an honest, hardworking, and helpful person or someone who believes in a cause and is ready to fight for it.
- Community/Belonging: Having a sense of belonging can add to our sentiment of value and contentment, making us optimistic about life.
- Love & Companionship: Being in the company of someone who we value and feel valued by can add positivity to our lives and make us hopeful about achieving happiness and fulfillment.
- Faith: Believing in something bigger than us and understanding our role in the grand scheme of things can be a very uplifting and humbling experience at the same time. Having faith in most cases will be synonymous with having hope because faith makes you believe and trust, that life will not always be difficult and full of suffering.
- Giving back: The easiest and most guaranteed way of feeling positive and hopeful is by giving back to others. When we see the spark of happiness in someone else’s eyes or receive gratitude, it is impossible not to feel good.
Madiha Khan, MD - Psychiatrist
Dr. Madiha Khan is an American board certified psychiatrist skilled in evidence based psychiatry, psychotherapy and women’s mental health.
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