In either case, when you're unable to set goals and follow through with plans, either personally or professionally, you may feel a tremendous sense of hopelessness and helplessness and begin to question your self-worth. Research has identified various forms of treatments that help alleviate the depression that makes people feel stuck. Physical exercise can counter depressed moods. For some, psychotherapy provides a useful way of moving out of emotional recession. Antidepressant medication, or a combination of therapy and antidepressants, have also proved successful in helping individuals regain focus and a sense of purpose.
Life is short.
Don't be afraid to ask for help when it doesn't seem worth living. When someone is ill or facing death, it may seem that opportunities to exercise initiative are a thing of the past. But The Reverend Chuck Meyer, Episcopal priest and counselor to the bereaved, stresses that as long as we're alive, we can continue to make choices -about how we want to live, and how we want to die. Although Meyer's training as a priest prepared him for his position as vice-president of operations at St. David's Medical Center in Austin, his acquaintance with illness, death, and dying is highly personal. Meyer speaks from experience when he admits that reaching out to someone who is sick can be daunting.