I’m not talking about post trail depression, but anybody deal with depression while on thru hikes? Has it made it better or worse? I’m looking at how beautiful my surroundings are and getting upset about not feeling as happy as I should be. I feel as tho im unable to enjoy where im at a lot of the time. While I love all the people I’ve meet so far, being around people so much is draining me and making things worse. I didn’t expect the social aspect of a thru hike to be this intense. In my everyday life I need time away from my partner, family & friends to recharge. Its hard to have alone time out here. I love hiking & backpacking, so i expected the trail to help my mood but it may be making it worse. I feel like im the only person who feels this way.
and getting upset about not feeling as happy as I should be.
You're not supposed to be anything, just be. Sometimes that's happy, others it's sad. You're a human being doing a very human thing; walking. Just be present and aware of your surroundings, you'll experience a whole range of human emotions that way.
Let come what comes, let go what goes, see what remains of your feelings and meditate on those.
I’ve fought depression most of my life. Attempted suicide late last year, recently got back after 3 months inpatient recovery and trauma therapy. One of the biggest things I learned, that I’m still trying to apply daily, is to stop telling my self I should be this or should be that. As one of therapists said:
“STOP SHOULDING ALL OVER YOURSELF.”
Easier said the done, I know. I catch myself thinking daily how I ‘should’ be different. But recognizing how that type of thinking impacts my mood helps a lot.
Youre right. I need to keep remind myself to let go of these expectations I put on myself and stop policing my own thoughts and feelings of what i deem i “should” be feeling.
And just do your best to do that. When you catch yourself get stuck in the ‘should’ thought loop, just kindly remind yourself there’s nothing you ‘should’ve be doing. Don’t get upset with your mind for thinking how it’s used to thinking. That only makes it worse