13 deep questions to ask yourself when you feel despair

  1. What can be done to take control of the present moment?
  2. What am I needing right now?
  3. What am I anticipating or expecting to happen? How might my anticipation or expectation contribute to my despair?
  4. How can I manage my anticipation or expectation so that it doesn't contribute to my despair?
  5. Am I dealing with grief, loss, or abandonment from loved ones or society?
  6. Am I struggling with fear or anxiety over something in life that may happen in the future?
  7. Am I struggling with pain or illness?
  8. What am I struggling with right now?
  9. What am I looking for?
  10. How is my life going?
  11. What triggers the feeling of despair in me?
  12. What do I see as the cause of my despair?
  13. Why do I feel like I have lost all hope and can't go on living?

9 tips on how to deal with despair

  1. Therapy. This is something that I feel very strongly about. If you're feeling down, there's no shame in going to see a therapist. Quality therapy can help you understand what's going on in your life and how to best deal with it.
  2. Take time alone to reflect on what is happening in your life and why it may be making you feel bad.
  3. Strengthen your coping skills by doing things such as engaging in new activities, seeking new social interactions, or finding new ways to relieve stress.
  4. Spend some time being outdoors (especially if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder) as it can increase your serotonin levels and improve your mood.
  5. Recognize the maladaptive behaviors keeping you in a despairing place. Make a commitment to change your maladaptive behaviors.
  6. Readjust your view of hope by looking for small moments of hope, like feeling a sense of joy when eating a favorite food or when making time for a walk.
  7. Reach out to friends and family members when you need emotional support or have just a moment of despair where you don't want to be alone with your own thoughts.
  8. Keep yourself busy and productive. Our minds love to wander and get lost in the dark abyss of despair. Become productive by doing tasks that you have been avoiding, organizing your life, working on a new project, taking on new challenges or volunteering your time to an organization.
  9. Address any underlying negative thoughts in order to construct an objective reality.

How despair affects you

We have all been at a time in our lives where we felt lost. We did not know what to do and where to turn. However, the feeling of despair is an intense, almost overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety. Despair is when a person feels like they are in a dark tunnel with no light in sight. Just as one might feel hopeless or lost, despair is also one of those feelings that can be experienced by people, in this case those who feel like they have no light in sight.