Existential Crises - Not too many people go to Yahoo Answers for help on this topic .. or do they?
I'm feeling very depressed basically because I recently thought long and hard about my religious belief system and decided to turn away from it. I feel alone, confused, misunderstood by my parents, and miserable. Have you ever been in a deep depression and how did you get out of it?
---- My Answer: ----
Yes, I've had deep depression at one point in my life and thankfully asked for help, probably if I hadn't I would not be here today. It seems like you are going through some kind of existential crisis, since it is related to your belief system. I understand this too, being a formerly-religious person who was raised that way. My best guess is that you are suffering from mild depression as a result of grieving the loss of your "religious" world view and finding yourself in a world without ready-made answers to why you are here, what your purpose in life is, and where you go after you die. Religion supplies answers to all these hard questions, but demands "faith" in return, which in essence means "don't ponder these questions too deeply, we already have the answers here for you". Obviously you and I did not fully buy into that proposition. The best way to finish grieving is to keep talking about how you are feeling. Find a good, non-judgmental friend who can hear you without trying to fix you or offer lots of advice. Hopefully, in time you will transition to the last stage of grieving, which is "acceptance" at which point you will feel a little more comfortable with and accepting of your new reality. Exercise, keeping up a regular routine, and breaking isolation will help this process along too. Above all, don't "medicate" your feelings with unhealthy bad habits, that can lead to addictions, and thus more problems.
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