Revamping your entire personality and wardrobe based on the latest trends seems more customary nowadays. It promises newness in life and sometimes that’s all one needs to spark up a boring routine. As long as you’re still the authentic “you” on the inside then no exterior changes can budge you. But, what if you wake up one day wondering “I don’t feel like myself anymore”. It’s a life crisis that can impact your emotional wellbeing, ability to engage with others and to simply exist. Everyone wants to feel more comfortable in their own body and to breathe as their most authentic self. So, how does one eradicate this discomfort and find out the reason behind this strange feeling? Here are some reasons why you might be feeling different from your past self;

8 Reasons Why You Don’t Feel The Same

• The post-traumatic period is often categorized by an iffy feeling of this sort. While still in the recovery phase after surviving or witnessing an accident, people tend to feel less like themselves physically or mentally.
• You can also feel less like the past version of yourself after dealing with or after surviving a physical/mental anomaly.
• The symptoms of an undiagnosed mental and physical disorder can also make you feel like you’re not your authentic self. An example would be the presence of undiagnosed anxiety disorder that’s making you feel more on edge about public events than usual.
• People in their late 30s and 40s often don’t feel like themselves. It’s usually a stage of subtle depersonalization because of the loss in strength and increase in aging signs.
• You’ve gone through a huge life change; got married/divorced, relocated to a new city/country, bought a new house, started working at a new job, are dealing with a close relatives’ death. The change in surroundings can always trick our mind into believing that things aren’t the same anymore
• Women in particular go through major hormonal changes during PMS that can induce a shift in personality. For instance; a change in hormones can make you feel much more sexually charged than normal. Similar is the case for men with their noticeable hormonal changes. In the long run, it can make anyone wonder; What’s wrong with me? Or Why don’t I feel like myself?
• Giving someone else preference over yourself can be another reason. For instance, if you’re running your life based on your parent’s wishes as an adult, it can lead to a life crisis. You’re not doing what you want to that’s why you’re not feeling like yourself.
• The anxiety linked with the probability of being judged based on age can also make people feel like they’re not like they once were. So, the reason why you’re thinking “why don’t I feel like myself anymore” could be because of age-related paranoia, lack of self-esteem, and body dysmorphia. Aging as a concept is much harder to digest for a lot of people. For both women and men, aging can cause a decent amount of discomfort. That’s generally because of the extreme societal pressure linked with physical appearance and athletic abilities.

Self Help: 6 Tactics That Can Help You Feel Like Yourself Again

Squash Those Overthinking Patterns

It’s amazing how much power our thoughts hold over us. The reason why you’re wondering “why don’t I feel like myself?” has a lot to do with your emotional & mental state. Let’s be honest, not all of us can see the glass half full 24/7. Sometimes it is impossible not to notice that the glass is half empty. It’s the way humans have been wired for generations. Evolution has coerced us into finding the impending danger in everything just to avoid chaos.

In short, you’re not always going to have a positive mindset. Anyone’s bound to overthink some simple stuff and become anxious about something that hasn’t ever happened to them. You simply can’t avoid that but you can adopt some habits to overpower those negative thoughts. Overthinking kills happiness more often than we notice. Perhaps the first step in conjuring an antidote against overthinking would be catching yourself in the act. Whenever you find your mind drifting towards negative thoughts, catch yourself in the act and recognize that negative thought.

The next step would be finding something or someone that ends those qualms. This means you need something that regulates your brain juices and provides you with the instant dose of serotonin you need right now. Perhaps taking a look at your gratitude journal and going over the good things you have in your life might do the job for you. Another great option would be diverting your attention towards something else; a work-related task, home décor, reading a book, etc. Additionally, you can seek more solace by proving those negative suspicions wrongful. A great example would be; asking questions from your partner upfront instead of withholding suspicions and overthinking about your relationship.

Engage, Reflect & Act

What do you want? It’s a simple question with multiple answers. Even someone who’s at their best might think about something expansive or something very over the top if they get asked about this. But, if someone who’s not been feeling too well lately might be asked about it, he’s bound to be a little confused. Sometimes it’s slightly hard to tell what’s so bad. Even when things in your life seem fine on the surface, it’s hard not to feel like something’s missing.

In that case, the only person who can tell you what’s wrong is you! This is a scenario that requires you to reconnect with your own mind and body. You really need to be more self-aware and find out what’s missing instead of doing whatever you’ve been asked to do. You know yourself better than anyone else, all that you need is some decent hours of self-reflection.

If you’re in the habit of writing an everyday journal, you can always turn back pages and find reasons behind your discomfort. Look for patterns in your daily writing and find out whether you had any personal qualms in the past. It could be an unfulfilled aspiration and sorrow you’ve been holding in the back of your mind that’s been making you feel low.

Furthermore, let your body have a chance to speak for itself. Reconnecting with yourself means, not ignoring the signs that your body is giving to you. Maybe you’ve been putting an orthopedic appointment on hold that’s been slowly pushing you over the edge. It’s quite a possibility that your rising discomfort stems from an undiagnosed condition.

Undiagnosed trauma also comes into play if we’re talking about self-reflection. The events of the past directly impact how we’re feeling presently. Maybe it’s time to visit a therapist to self-reflect and talk about a negative memory that’s taking a toll on you now. Needless to say, self-reflection gives you all the answers you need about yourself.

Turn The Dial To Zero

You need a break to recharge. Believe it or not, it’s as simple as that. A few days at your parent’s place or a 3 day trip to Cancun can do the job and resettle your mind. It might sound like a cliché but we’ve all trained ourselves into believing that sitting idle is just not the vibe. On the contrary, all this mindset does is turn us into people that we don’t even recognize anymore.

Taking work-related stress every day and following the same preplanned schedule, every day can push anyone into not feeling like themselves. So, this is your cue to use that unpaid or paid leave for your advantage. If you’re not much of an outdoor person then one can always make similar arrangements at home. Turn off any cellular devices, turn on your favorite music and give yourself a much-needed relaxing session.

During this self-care session, you can do whatever you like according to your individual preferences and once again get introduced to the things that make you what you are. Nobody’s got any complaints against that other version of you but this laid-back “you” needs to show up more often. Cut back on the stress and let your mind flow. Perhaps during the next work week, you’ll find yourself feeling like you’re back to being the good old you.

Ground Yourself With Some Memories

Feeling that you’re not you anymore indicated that there’s a certain pedestal you’ve been comparing yourself to. The pedestal in question is the old you or you from the past. Perhaps you’re not as happy as you were before or you have lost the spark inside you that forced you towards new things.

The reason behind this strange feeling could be anything but the past you seem to have it all better than the current version of you. So, sit down and take a look back at the things that came before now. Grab some old photographs and let yourself swim through some memories.

Skimming through the pictures taken at family trips, office parties, birthday dinners, and friends night out you’ll find the old joy or spark you’ve been craving. It’s an experience that can ground you mentally and emotionally. All of these memories serve as a reminder for that version you’ve been missing. It can fuel you into rediscovering your passions and offer you an emotional release. So, whenever you seem to lose your way ahead, just look back and trace your steps.

Talk To Someone

That feeling inside your heart isn’t meaningless at all. How you feel matters a lot and you should be voicing it to the right people. If you think that there’s something wrong then there probably is. Losing your sense of identity is a serious thing and with a decent amount of counseling sessions, you can trace the reasoning behind this. A counselor can ask questions related to your upbringing and later period of your life to conclude the issue. Counseling can help in unearthing any emotional baggage, undealt grief, and hard feelings.

It’s an entirely safe space where the client has complete liberty to share what’s been feeling odd lately. Similarly, if you’re not feeling at your best physically and then a physician can run some regular tests to investigate the cause behind that. Apart from practicing the aforementioned tactics, talking to a healthcare professional is the way to go!

Stop Overcomplicating Things

The reason why you’re not connecting with yourself anymore and feeling more at the edge is that you’ve turned things upside down. Life’s not meant to be this difficult. You have overcomplicated relationships, daily schedules, and everything else around the house. Your choices are not as individualized as they used to be thanks to the involvement of other people’s opinions. Take a look back at the old you and how the simpler times used to make you feel more comfortable.

In order to become the authentic version of yourself eradicate the clutter, stop peeking into other people’s matters and evaluate the expectations you have from yourself now. Be more realistic with your spending habits and take a break when it comes to overconsumption of media. You’re you and not the version society or the internet wants you to be.

Final Words

Make it your life’s motto to live one day at a time. You can only do so much on your own in a limited time. So, allow yourself to catch a breather now and then. Take time to make new memories with the people that make your life more colorful and catch a breather every once in a while. Last but not least, use enough hours to spend quality time with the most important person in your life; you!