We often feel stuck when we we've tried everything we can think of to change our situation, but it still doesn't seem to make much difference. You might notice yourself thinking the same negative thoughts over and over again, until you start to feel powerless, helpless or hopeless.
When you're stuck in your mind, you're withdrawn from reality. You're in the universe inside your head, which is often a highly pessimistic place, rather than engaging with people around you or focusing on the present moment.
Feeling Trapped - A Major Component of Depression.
These can be things like:
a difficult living situation. not having friends or family around to support us. a difficult relationship with family, friends or partners. believing that we don't deserve to feel good or that we're not good enough.
Feeling stuck is like having an aching sense that you need to do something, anything to propel you out of your current state – but you can't. It's like you're frozen. Nothing feels available or good enough.
Anyone can become emotionally stuck as a result of traumas they experienced or parenting they received. Regardless of the root cause; being emotionally stuck will affect every area of your life including: relationships, physical health, mental health, your career and your finances.
What drives this is underlying anxiety. Common forms include worrying, perfectionism, struggle with making decisions, and excessive control over yourself and others. Keys to coping include getting your rational brain online, using your gut reactions as important information, and taking acceptable risks.
For those who struggle with letting go of past pain or regret, they can feel trapped by their situation and unable to move forward in their lives. Feeling unable to let go of the past can lead to clinical depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or even suicide. Pain has a way of making us feel stuck.
Feeling stuck in the past may suggest you're experiencing what we call traumatic stress symptoms. Most people who go through traumatic events have temporary difficulty adjusting and coping, but with time and support, they usually recover naturally.
When trauma impairs your ability to develop full emotional maturity, this is known as arrested psychological development. Trauma can “freeze” your emotional response at the age you experienced it. When you feel or act emotionally younger than your actual age, this is known as age regression.
Depression is more than feeling down. It may physically change your brain. This can affect how you think, feel, and act. Experts aren't sure what causes these changes.
There's no cure for mental illness, but there are lots of effective treatments. People with mental illnesses can recover and live long and healthy lives.
Stress. Stress is one of the “usual suspects” when you can't seem to stop thinking. Stress causes your body to release cortisol, and cortisol helps you stay alert. This means that your brain stays alert, too — even when you don't want it to.
Anxiety can keep you feeling trapped — and once you feel this way, it's difficult to know how or if you can ever feel better. If you suffer from anxiety, take heart. Studies show that simple anxiety-reducing habits can go a long way toward improving how you feel.
The good news is that getting unstuck is entirely possible. Depending on why you're stuck, it can be as easy as finding a new hobby or doing something you've always wanted to try, or as difficult as rearranging your entire life and reconsidering your purpose. Either way, getting stuck doesn't mean you're stuck forever.
Anxiety that leads to excessive amounts of fear and worry (rumination), can trigger a cascade of physical and emotional responses (such as a panic attack) that may overwhelm you, make you feel trapped, or may prevent you from being able to function at all.