Feeling trapped in life is a common experience and can have various causes such as lack of change, lack of direction or purpose, unsatisfying relationships or fear of change. Feeling like you’re trapped is a devastating feeling that, in itself, is a clear sign that something is wrong. Although this sensation can be suffocating, well managed, it can propel and redirect us in that direction that allows us to feel alive again.
In this Psychology-Online article we will talk about why I feel trapped in my life and what to do. We analyze what sensations this situation produces, the causes that have led to it and the possible ways to redirect our lives to recover joy and vital motivation.
What do you feel when you say “I feel trapped in my life”
When a person says “I feel trapped in my life” they feel suffocated and prisoner of the current vital moment, as she has accepted and helped establish. Feeling trapped in our own life can make us feel like a “caged animal” that, no matter how much its basic needs are covered, lacks the freedom to walk and make its own way.
While feeling trapped is a symptom of a life crisis, it can drive profound change. Even so, if it is not cared for properly and it lasts longer than it should, it can cause the following: Negative effects:
- .
- Frustration.
- Resentment and aggression against others or against oneself.
- Vital demotivation and parasitism.
Addressing the feeling of being trapped allows us to seek the necessary resources to get out of this situation of personal blockage, completely and deeply rebuilding our life and inner being.
Why do I feel trapped in my life?
If you want to know why you experience the state of “I feel trapped”, you should keep in mind that the origin of this feeling comes from the fact that what you expected your life to be turns against you and submits you. Your own life deprives you of such important values as joy, freedom and strength of spirit. This usually happens when, even though you believe you have created the life you wanted to have, you feel empty.
Although at first glance the fact that “I feel trapped in my own life” may seem unusual to you, in reality it is a very widespread emotional state today, to a greater or lesser extent, among all human beings.
But why do I feel trapped? The causes that lead to this state of demotivation and lack of vital force are linked to the fact that the ideal of life to which we have been told we should aspire is a western modern style. What until now seemed like a perfect dream to achieve is nothing more than a social trap in which the community is separated and isolated into small groups.
Alone, small families must deal with everything that was previously attended to together for an entire community, such as the supply and provision of basic resources, the care of neighbors, the acquisition of cultural and ancestral values and knowledge, conciliar coexistence in union with nature, etc. Precisely, one of the symptoms of this situation is the fact of feeling stagnant or trapped in life.
How to free yourself from yourself
If you say “I feel trapped in my life”, it is necessary to redirect this situation to promote a deep personal and vital reconstruction that frees you from the old self and helps you find the being that you really are, and the life that you really long to have. Below, we offer some tips that will allow you to free yourself from yourself:
- Learn to differentiate the perishable from the imperishable: money, material goods, social position do not last forever. On the other hand, imperishable things, such as peace, love, freedom, goodness and brotherhood, can be infinite. Become aware that only what is imperishable will bring you true happiness.
- Assess what causes you to feel trapped: Value the dedication you put into the different facets of your life and what values you nourish in them. If it is not what you deep down want, you may feel stuck and cornered in life, and if it is it will make you feel free.
- Enhance what makes you feel alive: Select the aspects that keep you “asleep” and those that can bring something good to the world. From there, strengthen everything that nourishes your life and yourself.
- Value money only as a means: Keep in mind that it is a resource to cover basic needs, but if you give it too much importance it can trap you in a meaningless lifestyle.
- Resume contact with nature: it is a medium to which we belong and nourishes the freedom of our being.
- Take care of an animal: If you feel that way, commit to having a pet, but only if you are completely sure. This will help you not feel trapped.
- Take care of your loved ones: Take care of your family and friends by trying to resolve all conflicts and misunderstandings that may separate you.
- Make small gestures: Contribute every day with a small action that makes you improve as a person, that brings joy to others and improves the world.
- Be happy as you are: be a living example of a full, joyful, happy and truly free life. In this article you will find more information about .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Estrada, JA (2010). The meaning and meaninglessness of life: Questions to Philosophy and Religion. Trotta Publishing House.