I’ve been in this weird headspace lately where life is just… strange. On the surface, everything is fine. I go to work, eat relatively healthy, try to stay on top of errands, keep things running — the usual. But underneath it all, there’s this constant feeling of dull pressure, like I’m being stretched thin by things that don’t really matter. It’s like I’m always busy, but rarely present.
Every day feels packed, but nothing sticks. I go through the motions, check off tasks, scroll a bit, eat, sleep, repeat. I end the day drained, like I ran a marathon in my head — but can’t really remember anything meaningful that happened. It’s not burnout in the dramatic sense, just this low-grade hum of tiredness and disconnection that never really turns off.
Socially, things have gotten quieter too. I barely see my friends anymore. Most of them are still into drinking and going out — stuff that used to feel exciting but now just feels… loud and repetitive. There was no big falling out. Just different rhythms now. Slower ones. And sometimes I sit with that and wonder if it’s just part of growing up, or if something deeper got lost along the way.
And then my brain starts spinning, usually late at night, when everything’s quiet. I start thinking about the future — and it honestly kind of scares me. Not in a dramatic, apocalyptic way, but in that creeping “things-are-moving-too-fast” way. AI is suddenly everywhere. Wars are happening in the background of our everyday lives. Economies feel fragile. Everything seems more unstable than it used to be, like we’re just pretending things are normal while the ground shifts under us.
And weirdly, my mind keeps drifting back to 2006. I don’t even know why exactly — maybe because it felt slower. Simpler. The internet was just fun and weird, not all-consuming. There were fewer screens, fewer existential threats in the news feed. Boredom existed, but it didn’t feel dangerous — it felt open. It felt like space to breathe. Now everything feels compressed, even rest.
I don’t think I’m depressed. I’m not miserable. But I feel… detached. Like I’m watching my life from the outside, waiting for it to feel like mine again. There’s this quiet emptiness running underneath everything, like background static. Not loud enough to break me, just enough to make everything feel slightly out of tune.
Anyone else feel like this? Have you figured out how to shake it — or at least live with it in a way that makes sense?
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As much as I can’t really help directly - except to say that I absolutely identify and empathise with your current state - can I just say that I really liked the prose of your post. Maybe you could write, if you don’t already? Be it short stories, a novel or a diary, you seem to have an inherent talent already.
Writing, I find, can help soothe the mind, too. 😊i started traveling when i felt like something was wrong with the way i was living and then did not stop traveling.
I’m living how i want to now, and the world is beautiful.
I’ll also say that not using the internet, even for a couple days, is incredibly relaxing, like letting out a held breath.
Explain how you afford to permanently travel, because this just sounds like bragging that you’re rich, not advice.
Get some hobbies that involve leaving the house regularly and preferably other people. The more alone you are the more times per week you should try to book things, but start with one day a week. Lots of sports leagues start around now, it might be to late to join a team, but you could be a sub. Maybe you have a local shop that has a board game night, or there’s always Friday night magic. Find a local bar that does trivia and get some of your friends to make a team. See if there’s a local maker space you could join. There could be some running or biking groups. Another option is finding a church, it has a lot more baggage, but it can provide a strong social group. There’s lots of volunteer groups, probably at least one in your area that could be a good opportunity. Find somewhere to do a hobby you normally do at home, find a stitch and bitch or a book club.
It sounds like you have some level of depression. It may or may not require therapy or drugs. It could be too much social media. Either way real in person interaction is generally good for you, even introverts.
Anyone else feel like life is stressful, boring, and kind of quietly empty — all at once?
This is just exactly how extreme stress tends to feel.
Basically you can’t unwind enough to relax and enjoy yourself, and so the times where you should be happy just feel empty.
You see a lot of stuff about WWII just talking about the boredom.
If the stress is work related, you’re experiencing burnout and it’s time to find a new job.
If it’s US related, you might want to look into emigrating. It’s not an option for everyone, but if you can get the fuck out, you should think about it.
Sounds familier, but Ive got no answers
And weirdly, my mind keeps drifting back to 2006. I don’t even know why exactly — maybe because it felt slower. Simpler. The internet was just fun and weird, not all-consuming.
It’s up to us to make it like that again.
Anyone else feel like this? Have you figured out how to shake it — or at least live with it in a way that makes sense?
I stopped participating/consuming into anything that is algorithmically managed. It means that I cut back on everything online that is not… man-made. I don’t do Twitter/X, Facebook, Reddit, and so on. I even almost completely quit using YT beside a couple channels. So, I use Lemmy, watch vids on non-YT platforms (peertube, for example) and I do read blogs and websites… all contents that are all created by actual persons (not some SEO-optimized or AI-crap), actual people that care about what it is they’re talking about.
I feel… detached. Like I’m watching my life from the outside, waiting for it to feel like mine again.
The thing with those corporation-owned ‘occupations’ is that our live don’t belong to us anymore. It’s theirs. Our live is a product they are exploiting (mining) and at the same time it’s… a service they’re selling back directly to us, as well as to other people that the algorithm thinks will (dis)like us.
Realizing that, I decided I did not want to be the product anymore no matter how much I liked their ‘services’.
And that was liberating. I would not want to go back to their precious little apps and algorithms. I spend a lot less time online, but I appreciate almost every second of it. Which to me at least seems like a good compromise ;)
edit: clarifications & typos.
I second sticking to social media platforms without an algorithm feed. When I scroll lemmy or mastodon, I feel satisfied sooner that I’ve seen what I’ve wanted to see, and actually get tired of content.
Exactly. Algorithm are trained to keep up unsatisfied, they’re literal drug dealers.
How exactly does one go on peertube? There’s probably a lot of instances and it seems kind of overwhelming to “choose an instance I like”.
How exactly does one go on peertube?
For me, it’s by word-of-mouth. You stumble upon someone mentioning a video you might be interested in. A bit like the web used to work prior to its corporate take-over (and its ensuing enshitification), aka thx to careful curating made by actual people that want to share quality/useful info. So, a good starting point would be to start reading blogs focusing on whatever you may be interested in (not IA written or SEO-optimized crap, obviously) or to chat with actual people on forums related to that same interests of yours.
There’s probably a lot of instances and it seems kind of overwhelming to “choose an instance I like”.
One doesn’t go on peertube like one go on YT. There are many instances and that’s one of the quality compared to YT, imho. It’s not owned by a single corporation, the price being that’s is messier and less centralized (ease of use is the main Trojan horse used by corporations to make their ‘service’ so popular and, very quickly after that, a must have/use). With peertube almost anyone can (dedicate resources to) create a peertube instance. Like on Mastodon, or here on Lemmy. So, no one can force you to use ‘their’ instance (or can prevent you from watching whatever content they decided to not stream, and can’t force you to watch some other content either).
If you want something more centralized (but filled with questionable content) you may want to consider odysee.com. Also, keep in mind there is no alternative to YT: it’s unbelievably huge, you wont be able to find a 1-1 equivalency content-wise anywhere else. I think I explained in other thread that I severely reduced the amount of ‘creators’ I watch and not just on YT, in general.
Thanks for the explainer. So it’s more “discover as you go” if I understand correctly, and peertube is just where videos happen to be hosted but discovery generally happens outside of it.
Yeah, I’m aware of odysee. Can’t say I like it much. Maybe if they did some actual moderation instead of letting it be flooded with, as you say, questionable content.
So it’s more “discover as you go” if I understand correctly, and peertube is just where videos happen to be hosted but discovery generally happens outside of it.
for me, yep.
Can’t say I like it much. Maybe if they did some actual moderation instead of letting it be flooded with, as you say, questionable content.
Like with peertube, human-curated recs may do a difference.
For me it’s a smouldering anxiety that everything is going to explode. Nothing I do today matters, because it could all be gone tomorrow. But if I give up and stop working, everything explodes. It feels pointless.
No I do not, life is fun. You know why? I’m on a serotonine medication
It’s the 21st century. Don’t be unhappy. Be happy. It’s better.
Build a family
I don’t live in the 21st century, I live in isolation and without medication. And I assume others in the thread are similar.
No I can’t imagine any path to even living in a different place in the US, let alone getting out. Even some of the edge cases I likely won’t ever have the connection(s) for it to be a possibility.
Depression has episodes. Which means that at some times you will feel surges of energy. It’s up to you to start doing anything you can to keep supplying your brain with serotonine then. Can do this by working out for example.
How much would a SSRI cost for you?
I’m well aware, I ride my bike on a trail (though not many destinations and heat can be an issue) and I even reorganized my room recently. Though it seems like it’s impossible to control/sustain.
For me (carless) it’s more about the distance to even picking up medication (more-so care esp not-the-closest-hospital), paperwork and appointments, time slots and waiting lists. Family is anti-doctor. Many of my issues likely won’t be helped much by standard medical options, even depression (particularly when something like a personality disorder is part of it) already seems like a coin flip.
Also with the current administration I don’t trust that if I got started I’d still have access before getting stable (plus you cannot just take a break from most brain meds w/o tapering off).
Give it a go anyways, it’s medicine. It alters your brain chemistry. For some it’s effective, for others not.
Depressed people are pessimistic because they are depressed, so everything you’re saying I’m literally just ignoring and telling you to get the help you need.
I likely have a personality disorder too, otherwise I wouldn’t be required to job hop every year. Which I completely ignore. See how that works? If I don’t want help, or even see a reason for help, then nobody can help me anyways.
Only reason my depression got treated was because I was self aware and wanted help there. The moment I had suicidal thoughts because of an episode, I just went to the doctor the next day and got medication. Been on meds for 2 years now, never better.
Psychologist said I have mild autism, but she’s probably wrong on that. But what do I know, she’s the one with a PhD and decades of work experience. I just don’t see it.
I just went to the doctor the next day and got medication
If it were that easy sure, but it doesn’t work that way here (certainly not walk-ins, phone doesn’t work for me). That was my thinking when replying to your top-level comment, that most people (in the US at least) will have more trouble getting there.
Do it anyways.
