Please, does anyone else lose all hope?

gracy225

gracy225

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Location
New York
The beloved hockey player, Adam Johnson, who suffered a horrid death a few days ago, has sent me spinning to a downward spiral. With all the deaths currently and all the mayhem, this instance was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I don't know why; maybe something to do with my son playing hockey? Or maybe (if I'm honest, more accurately) it's something to do with yet another incomprehensive loss of life. I have to get out of this hole; I have MS (of course, the worst type) and that depresses me enough.
 

@gracy225 i suspect everyone does occasionally, but some of us have to work hard to keep the despair at bay, at 'tolerable' level so it can't take over our lives. The reasons to feel hopeless accumulate and for those with chronic physical health and /or mental health issues we have a base that never leaves us, so it doesn't take as much for us to reach that point of being overwhelming, tho there are strategies to cope and help it pass quicker.

Then there's the fact that as we age it can feel like the 'losses' pile up faster and heavier and many may begin to think more about their own mortality, some for the first time. In any event it is normal, natural but it can be handled.

Different people, however, need to find what 'works' for them. There are threads on the forum for discussing mental health and talking with others learning their strategies for making 'hopelessness' be temporary can help someone find their own. Most people here will be supportive.
 
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Please, does anyone else lose all hope?​


No
As a Christian, I know this temporal life is but a moment
.......no matter what happens

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I agree with Gary O. For all who are willing to accept God's offer of salvation through Jesus Christ, this earthly life is but a tiny moment . . . important but so very, very brief. In the light of the joy of our eternal life, despair has a hard time getting traction. :)

I'll be praying for you, Gracy.
 
As a Secular Humanist, I believe that we,as people, must solve our problems without recourse to mythical religions.

Life is full of random and unpredictable events, and it's how we cope with them that matters.

We cannot solve every problem by ourselves and allowing problems that do not directly affect us, does no good whatsoever.
Gracy, please try to concentrate on the good things around you and not the bad things that do not affect you.
 
I still have hope. I hope to die relatively quickly, and I hope to die without a lot of pain.

I hope to find my children and my parents and both my wives waiting for me when I do die. My Christian faith tells me I will.

And I hope The Ohio State Buckeyes beat Michigan, and go on to win the National Championship.
 
I have a strategy that keeps me moving when I approach the hopeless zone.
I call it the percentage consideration: "I've lost 90% of my capacity to cope. OK then, the 10% I've got left will get me through until next week and by then I should be back up to 25% and if I'm prudent and mindful and don't screw things up, then I ought to be able maintain the positive momentum and extend the good trajectory on into the future."
So far it's kept me alive, relatively sane and out of the homeless shelter.
 
I'm sure your son playing hockey made this seem more personal to you...especially since Adam Johnson was such a young man. I try no matter what to, as Jesse Jackson said "Keep hope alive!" In the past few years, I've lost my dear husband, one of my best friends, 4 treasured online friends (one of whom was also a classmate), my beloved daughter-in-law (who was like a daughter to me) then three months later, her twin sister, who I also loved, a first cousin and another cousin.

Each loss was devastating, but due to mt faith & with the help of relatives and friends, even those online, I found comfort. Appreciating the beauty that was still around me, also helped me be able to get through those difficult times. That included loved ones, nature, music and the ability to still laugh. I think once hope is lost, that one's spirit can be destroyed. It can make us feel empty inside. I never, ever want to feel that way! I sincerely hope you can find a way to get over your downward spiral, even though it seems the world has gone mad and everything is upside down.
 
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While a junior and a senior in high school, I was totally in love with a beautiful young lady that I had hoped would have been my wife after my time in the service and then college. She died in a freak accident and my parents knowing it was going to be a real shock to me made me sit down and my dad actually handed me a half glass of wine to sip on before they gave me the news.

When I was told, I felt my world had ended and life no longer mattered. My parents put me in counseling for 7 weeks before I regained my will. It was the worse experience of my life back then and still is today. I look back at it now and it still hurts, but then I look at what I have accomplished and how great a family I have. It relieves the pain.
 
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Repondering said:
I have a strategy that keeps me moving when I approach the hopeless zone.
I call it the percentage consideration: "I've lost 90% of my capacity to cope. OK then, the 10% I've got left will get me through until next week and by then I should be back up to 25% and if I'm prudent and mindful and don't screw things up, then I ought to be able maintain the positive momentum and extend the good trajectory on into the future."
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This is so absolutely wonderful that I'm going to "steal" it to use for myself when needed.
Thank you! @Repondering
 
I've been there, in fact I struggle with it more than I like to admit. My spiritual path helps, which is an eclectic, non-organized religion path.
What draws me down the most lately is a huge disappointment in humanity as a whole. This feeling of being in a different reality, figuratively speaking, where I see horrible mistakes being made again and again. Not that I see myself as being perfect or having all the answers. It's hard to explain right now. I feel a deep sadness for this world, a grief that can be overwhelming. That's when I try to focus on being productive, helpful, appreciating the little things, etc.
 
I think it helps to avoid the news.
I did not used to be that way. I even have a degree in Journalism (which is worth about $5.00, I believe). But so many parts of the globe are going insane, the rich are winning, clearly winning, and the middle class and poor are being crushed. And so it goes.

Some people find peace in thinking about the afterlife. I don't find much comfort in that because I will die and I'll leave my kids behind and they will have to cope with the world's evil next. I give them lots of warnings when I can. When I think I know what the rich are going to do next, I try to warn them because surely, no one but the Almighty warned me. I try to warn my friends too.

And we can't trust major media to warn us because, golly gee, their most prominent faces and voices are wealthy too!

But I'm tellin' ya, the War on the Poor has become so naked and obvious in the past 15 to 20 years and for that, I am grateful. The alternate source of news, which is the Internet, has exposed that. NOW the rich will try to cover up their evil deeds again with A.I.

I guess the poor will have to revert to paper newspapers after the rich let A.I. write every online story.
 

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