Reader’s Question
Hi, I’m Ritika. I’m 20 years old and in the final year of college. I don’t know what is happening to me. For the past few weeks, I don’t feel like doing anything! I’ve lost interest in most of the things I used to enjoy. It takes a lot of effort to begin anything. Even writing this feels difficult.
It’s not exactly that I feel sad all the time. I just feel empty. I don’t feel like doing anything. Sometimes I cry for no clear reason. Over the past few weeks, I have also gained weight. I used to enjoy going for aerobics, but that was months ago. Now I hardly go out.
I don’t feel like talking to my friends anymore, so I’ve stopped meeting them. I have also not been going to college regularly for the last few weeks. I cannot focus in class. Whenever I sit down to study, I lose interest very quickly. I keep feeling that no one loves me. My mother seems worried and caring, but even then I feel like I am good for nothing and that nobody really likes me. I don’t know what I should do.
Psychologist’s Reply
Ritika, what you describe sounds deeply painful and exhausting. When a person begins to feel empty, loses interest in things they once enjoyed, withdraws from friends, struggles to study, cries unexpectedly, and starts feeling worthless or unloved, it usually means something important is going on internally. This is not something to dismiss as laziness or “just a phase.”
One important part of what you describe is anhedonia, which means a reduced ability to feel pleasure in activities that used to feel enjoyable. Often, this does not come alone. It is commonly accompanied by low motivation, low energy, and a growing sense that even simple tasks require too much effort. So when you say, “I don’t feel like doing anything,” “I’ve lost interest,” and “everything feels difficult,” it suggests that your mind and body are both under strain.
It is also important to notice the way you are beginning to feel about yourself. Thoughts such as “I am good for nothing” or “no one likes me” are not small thoughts. They usually reflect a painful change in self-esteem. In therapy, we often find that such feelings do not appear out of nowhere. They may be connected to inner conflict, self-criticism, emotional hurt, loneliness, disappointment, or older wounds that get reactivated during stressful periods.
Sometimes, when emotional pain cannot be fully understood or expressed outwardly, it gets turned inward. Then a person starts attacking themselves from the inside. What may look like “low confidence” on the surface can actually involve a more painful internal struggle: harsh self-judgment, unspoken hurt, anger turned against oneself, or the sense of having emotionally lost something important.
When you say that you feel unloved even though your mother seems to care, that too matters. It suggests that the difficulty may not only be around what others are doing, but also around how difficult it has become for you to feel cared for, held, or emotionally connected right now. That can happen when someone is depressed, emotionally shut down, or carrying unresolved pain.
At the same time, the fact that you wrote this is important. Even if it took effort, it shows that one part of you has not given up. One part of you still wants help, still wants understanding, and still wants things to get better. That part matters.
What you are going through deserves proper attention. It would be wise to speak to a qualified clinical psychologist or mental health professional soon, so that this can be understood more carefully and not left to grow worse in silence. Therapy can help you understand what is happening, why you are feeling this way, and what may be needed for recovery.
For now, please do not stay alone with this for too long. Let someone trustworthy know that you have been struggling. Reach out to your mother, a trusted family member, or someone who can help you take the next step toward professional support.
And if the hopelessness deepens, or if you ever begin to feel that life is not worth living, seek urgent help immediately through a local mental health professional, emergency service, or crisis helpline.
“A small line to hold onto for now: There is hope. I can get help. I can begin to come back to myself.” – Tejas Shah
Name and identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality.
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