Skip to main content Skip to bottom nav

Why do I feel depressed even when my life is going great?

291 Answers
Last Updated: 05/14/2022 at 3:02am
Why do I feel depressed even when my life is going great?
1 Tip to Feel Better
United States
Moderated by

Alex DS Ellis, MA, LMFT

Marriage & Family Therapist

Feeling depressed or anxious can be so overwhelming. I want to help you feel better and be able to enjoy life. You are not alone and you deserve emotional support.

Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
May 31st, 2018 2:21pm
I had experienced this once. Well sometimes you really nees to clear up your mind. Don't about others' thoughts. Do what you like and you want. No one can stop you. And by the way, keep smiling and say to yourself, " i am doing great today and no one can stop me. Today is a perfect day for me to shine! "
juniper20
June 20th, 2018 4:58pm
Depression can effect you even when the circumstances don't match up. There are parts of depression. While the situational part isn't there, the genetic component might be. See a doctor and get treated for your depression.
HurricaneSunshine25
June 24th, 2018 3:58pm
Depression can hit at any time. Anywhere. Anyone. Even people with awesome lives get depressed. You're not weak or over exaggerating because you get depressed.
DayCap1
June 27th, 2018 4:14am
"Going great" is very subjective. Society has typical measures of success, be it grades, finances, and strength or amount of relationships a person has. Some people, however, do not conform to the notion that achieving success in these areas bring happiness; they may seek happiness in other areas of their lives such as finding meaning or purpose in life. When people are unable to find happiness by succeeding in that area, they may feel depressed, unable to achieve the goals they most cherish.
Anonymous
June 27th, 2018 11:25pm
Depression is a mental illness. It's when certain chemicals in your brain aren't balanced, so you could have the best life in the world, but still feel depressed.
Anonymous
June 28th, 2018 9:55am
may be you're not doing what you love, or may be you dont have inner peace and fulfilment. absence of these things will question you abt your existence.
myfriendat1
June 29th, 2018 7:32am
Identify the stress,where you feel depress.self evaluation is important.we are human so sometimes we feel depressed with out any reasons but actually there must be some hidden feeling which makes us to feel like this.do practice healthy workouts ,maintain diet ,engage with friends and family.take time for your self.do what you feel happy.
Anonymous
June 29th, 2018 11:12pm
A lot of the time people cannot help but compare themselves to others; the other has a better career than me, they are more popular than I am.. and so on. It is only natural as we are humans after all. Try to list your blessings and work on what you wish to improve.
cuddlyWaterfall11
June 29th, 2018 11:24pm
Oh believe me when I say I understand. I felt this way on a number of occasions throughout my life. You might feel depressed because you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy
delicateZebra
June 30th, 2018 9:38am
Honestly you need to look at your life and work out what is making you depressed, you could have the best life ever however if you are unsure on one area this could give you doubts and build up the depressed thoughts
Anonymous
July 1st, 2018 6:43pm
It's natural to feel like that. Even if life is going great for you, it doesn't mean you'll automatically be happy. After all, some rich people are never happy even though they seem to have everything, and some poor people are happy even if they have nothing (though this is probably a bad example). It depends on what you are lacking or needing in life at the moment, and that means you might have to take a good look at yourself to figure out why you are feeling depressed.
LucieG
July 1st, 2018 10:18pm
Depression is an illness, and even though your life may be going well, which is a positive and welcome thing, you may still need to seek help to get to the route of the problem
Anonymous
July 4th, 2018 3:23pm
I feel depressed even when my life is going great because I have issues with self-worth and anxiety about many aspects of my life. When things are going good it almost feels worse because then I feel like I have more to lose. All I can do is try my best in life and hope that I am rewarded for my effort. I just focus on working hard and being a good person.
Anonymous
July 5th, 2018 6:19am
Sometimes even though our life is great we just feel that something is missing maybe isn’t that great for you maybe you need more, try doing things you like and maybe it can help
Bettis36
July 6th, 2018 6:17am
Unfortunately that's the way depression works. Our brains can be such jerks to us sometimes. We will be doing fine then all of a sudden here comes the bad feelings and the lows. The key to battling depression is to know its not just something we do when we are in a low period. It is with us always and doing the right healthy choices at all times to manage it even when we don't have symptoms. People with asthma still have asthma even when they aren't wheezing. They still take their inhalers with them. This is what we need to realize about depression in order to manage it most effectively.
blueyes1993
July 6th, 2018 3:01pm
even the happiest people get depressed only you can know why you are depressed what are the reasons you feel depressed of and then when you know you can work on getting rid of the things in life that make you feel that way
Anonymous
July 18th, 2018 12:09am
Depression is an illness that does not discriminate. It is often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and thus does not depend your lifestyle.
CLMarshal57
July 25th, 2018 6:33pm
I know how you feel mate. I have a perfect family, and yet I'm depressed. Nothing is worse than when someone asks you why you are depressed, and you can't give them a reason. Often I find myself making up things just so I can have a reason. And honestly, I liked it better when my life was horrible, cause I at least knew why I was depressed. But now, now I don't know why. This makes it very hard to help yourself for I never know where to start. So just know this; your life doesn't have to be in shambles for you to have a mental illness. Mental illnesses come from all sorts of privileged lives. Just because your life is going great doesn't mean that you are immune from a mental illness. Sadly, no one is.
Shivam501
July 26th, 2018 12:11pm
It is probably when you think that after having a good time certainly there will be a bad time about to come.
ObliviousCupcake92
August 11th, 2018 2:56am
Clinical depression is a chemical imbalance therefore things may be going great and we still feel depressed. If this happens for a period of two weeks or longer, the person should seek professional help.
Ikwan777
August 11th, 2018 5:01pm
Depression could be caused by unresolved core beliefs and certain automatic thought patterns. Some of these thought patterns disqualify positive outcomes and reinforce negative beliefs such that one could still feel depressed even when life is general going great.
YourCaringConfidant
August 23rd, 2018 2:17pm
Because depression is real! You can have what seems like a great life. Cars, beautiful home, loving family, money, etc. On the outside it could seem like you are blessed and you are... but because you suffer from a mental illness called depression, you can't help but still be in a "down" mood. Hard to shake the sadness but all you can do is surround yourself with people who love you and have your best interest at heart! If you need to, talk to someone you know and trust so you can get help you need. Stay strong because you are strong!
wickedDahlia33
August 25th, 2018 3:54am
It could be a chemical imbalance in the brain manifesting as depression. When I had postpartum depression after I had my baby I was so confused. Life was great yet I felt miserable. I got onto an antidepressant and that has helped immensely. Therapy is a great option too to work through whatever latent issues you may have. Sometimes these spells last for a couple weeks. Other times months. Some people clinically have depression and it's something they face their whole lives. But there are so many different avenues to help you cope with it no matter which it is.
Anonymous
August 25th, 2018 7:21pm
From my experience, the same routine that you are following everyday is making you depressed. In life, there should be a change to feel alive, there should be hurdles and challenges that makes you more strong and thus you feel more alive. If there is nothing in your life for you to do, by following the same working routine you will feel more like a robot so what you actually need (in my humble opinion) is something new. That could be a hobby, a part time activity or maybe just go start talking with stranger while jogging in early morning or be a listener here.
Kleink
September 13th, 2018 3:55am
You are allowed to feel depressed even when it appears life is going great for you. I understand it is confusing for you feel like there is no reason to feel depressed yet you do feel that way anyways. Depression is a mental illness and can be both due to events that occur/ period of your life or it can also be biological factor/ chemical imbalance. Both are not the fault of yourself and you should not feel guilty about the situations, for it is not something you asked for. It is kind of similar in the sense of people who need glasses because they do not have 20/20 vision, they did not ask or choose to not have perfect vision, in a way that is what it is like with mental illness. It is not based on what is occurring around us all the time, sometimes it is just the way our brains function. This is perfectly normal and there is no shame in it. Luckily we have the technology advancements that allow us help with these situations! Some stuff works for some people and some stuff does not, do not feel discouraged about that. Feeling a certain way is okay because you and your situations matter. Just know you are not alone and things will get better even though it may seem impossible now!
CreateYourOwnMagic
September 16th, 2018 4:22am
Because depression impacts your brain in a way that still affects us despite how good our life is going. Even days where we think "I should be happy right now" we can instead feel empty, sad, or other emotions related to depression. Depression can go deeper than external events. In fact, during parties, vacations, or other happy activities we may feel even more depressed than usual. This could be for a variety of reasons. Depression, if severe enough, may also dampen our ability to feel positive emotions with the same intensity. So in short, sometimes experiencing depression doesn't change if our life is going great or not great. Depression just is. Going to counseling or working through the underlying causes of the depression might help to attempt to balance the parts of your brain that are making you feel this way.
CaseysTea
September 19th, 2018 11:56am
Sometimes depression can feel like a mystery when external factors are going well but it's the internal ones that are most important as you need to be able to truly enjoy and find fulfillment in what you do and achieve in your life. if you're not able to do so, even if from the outside things look great for you, you can be left feeling depressed, empty and unfulfilled by an otherwise 'great' life because your emotional and mental needs are not being met. We all have the very human need to feel connected to our own lives and to each other, to feel enjoyment in our lives, to make meaningful connections and impacts upon ourselves and others and to feel understood and supported by those around us. Without that, we can be left feeling adrift and unconnected.
Anonymous
October 3rd, 2018 8:50pm
Well in my personal experience, it can have to do with how things have been in your past not necessarily how things are now. Or maybe a bad experience you had at work/school or something similar. Maybe it's because of the way other people that are close to you have treated you, there are loads or different reasons. Some have to do with a chemical imbalance in the brain, others are to do with grief or missing some one close to you. It depends entirely on you and your life. How you see things, your opinions and how you approach tasks in life. The way in which you look at or experience the world can have a drastic effect on how you feel.
Dontletyourselfdown
October 7th, 2018 4:48pm
Depression is a mental illness and the people who have it first of all I salute to them because they are living with every single day and I'm one of them too... the reason you feel depressed even when you are happy is because the depression messes with your chemicals in brain and the solution of this is yoga and exercise because exercise releases endorphins and it helps you boost your mood and feel refreshing... that's all I can say... I know it's so hard to live with it... but we all should always try to find ways that we can improve ourselves each day... Good Luck! :)
AlanValdez
October 12th, 2018 8:42pm
Depression is not about your life going great or bad. It is more so about the chemical disbalance in your organism. In your body, there are millions of tiny neurons, especially in your brain. They communicate everything that happens to your body, all your thoughts and feelings and so on. To do so, they need help of neurotransmitters - their personal messengers. One of these messengers is dopamine. Low levels of dopamine are associated with depression. Therefore, your depression might be caused by your body not producing enough dopamine to support neurons. Fortunately, you can fix this by performing activities that activate your reward centre, responsible for producing dopamine. This includes exercise, walking, doing activities you enjoy, eating chocolate and more.