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My answer isn't gonna resonate. It's so frustrating how being depressed makes getting off the couch to go for a walk just feel like... Jumping into a mosh pit ot something.
Find a 2 mile walk to do every day. Must include at least one hill or set of stairs or something. Works best if in nature.
Have you tried getting a pet?
Having another life to care for can give your life meaning.
This^
traveling to Asia is like 300 bucks, and hostels are $4 a day. food is a dollar a dish, and you can hang out in parks at the beach or at home and watch movies all day.
living abroad is much cheaper than what you're paying now.
you said you save most of your paycheck.
If you have a few thousand saved, you can easily live abroad for a year and figure out something you like to do more than a job that sucks around a bunch of people that you don't like in a situation that's making you depressed.
Or if OP is concerned about being too frivolous with money and is under 40 (more ideally under 30) with a college degree, it's really damn easy to get a job teaching English in Japan. These days most of those positions pay peanuts but it's enough to live on and you generally have enough free time to go around and see some things in a new place.
China and Saudi Arabia still pay 3 to 6K US a month, and it's even easier to get a teaching job in those countries than japan(taught for a while myself, so I like checking the salaries every now and then)
I agree, he should get out there.
Maybe try fostering a pet and see if you want to adopt one. They give me meaning and joy.
I would also recommend traveling. It costs money, but you can find good deals, and it's worth it.
Commit crimes for the greater good.
Idk if you'd consider it a "hobby" (even though I'd say that has more consumerist connotations), but I'd strongly suggest finding a creative outlet. Personally I believe that there's no such thing as an "uncreative" person, it's just that most people never get the opportunity to learn a creatively rewarding skill well (and even when they do, many are left with no time/energy after work). It's a catch-22. Still, unless you want to keep being a cog in the machine you gotta sacrifice something.
Also, art (in a general sense) is a lot better with human contact, idk what you're talking about that is "doesn't work". You gotta find like-minded people. Sometimes you're lucky and meet like-minded people by happenstance, sometimes you gotta go out of your way to find them (even if by saying it like that I still feel like I'm underplaying how hard that can be).
A final but perhaps more important suggestion is, learn about something. Instead of binging another tv show every week, mix it up with some educational internet browsing, or books, or perhaps you enjoy videoessays more. Again, an environment where you can meet people is better, but higher education has also turned into a human grinder that spits out ready-made workers for the machine so I can't sincerely recommend it. But it could still be worth considering (depending on where you are... definitely not worth a 100k debt).
TL:DR find ways of satisfying your inner curiosity and creativity.
There are some decent comments here overall with stuff I bet would help you. But it sounds to me like you have lost the appreciation and rewards from life and the world around you. I would wonder if you have undiagnosed anxiety.
This isn't going to sound great probably, but the problem isn't the world around you, it's just you. The good news, 'you' is the only part of this you can fix. The rest, totally outside of your control.
You need to retrain your brain. Slow down to appreciate the smaller things. Even the tiniest things. Read up on the raisin technique. I think raisins are kind of dumb, but apply it to everyday things. Go slow. Examine. Savor. Eat slowly. And with each bite think of the process that got that very thing into your mouth. From growing the ingredients, raising, milking, whatever. The process and storage, maybe inspection, transporting it to the store, you buying it and cooking it. The skill it took to do that and the history of you cooking to get there. It's an awful lot packed into each bite. Do that with as many bites as you can. Be mindful. Repeat it. You don't need a different thought every time. Just keep thinking it through. And apply that to more things throughout your day as you're able to. It's not an overnight process but it's much faster than you might think to regain the value, passion for things. Do this people as well. Forgo the NPC thoughts, and delve in. How they got to be who they are. Ask questions over time and build a mental roadmap.
That's pretty much it. I could have easily written your post word for word a decade ago. With therapy and general learning, fighting anhedonia was a process. And still is. But I do appreciate things and I look forward to things. I often look forward the most to me not being me tomorrow but a slightly better version of me.
These are classic signs of major depression.
It's like I don't give a crap about anything or anyone
Well, there you go. This is most likely the culprit, and it is something one can train. If caring does not come readily, you’ll have to train it, just like reading, writing and other human skills.
Good luck.
I have no suggestions for you, but I at least wanted to let you know that you’re not alone in this world. I hope you find whatever you are looking for.
Life has no point, you’re just energy given form (literally, not metaphorically or superstitiously or some shit, mass and energy are the same thing)
Hedonism is easy to fall into, and arguably fine, if you don't find life worth living but can't muster the enthusiasm to end it, you should try to change your environment.
For me, life is worth living for stories, I love books and the experience of being something different for a time. I have built my life around lazy evenings on the sofa with my cat on my lap reading a book, or playing a comfortable game, nothing else matters to me at all. It's easy to be content if your requirements are minimal.
Life is an odd phenomenon, we're blessed or cursed with consciousness, may as well do something you enjoy. If you don't know what you enjoy then try more stuff.
Honestly, if you're in the US especially, mutual aid might at least be interesting. You can try Food Not Bombs or MADR or a regional/local org.
There's pscilocybin or MDMA for a break from the shitshow or even a guiding light.
Therapy is kind of difficult since it's expensive and you need to sift through multiple therapists to find one that clicks with you. It's the most likely thing to benefit you as long as you find the right one. Maybe antidepressants will help?
At the end of the day you have to choose something to do for meaning. Change is going to take months or years. Silver bullets are the rare exception.
Anti-depressants might help.
Get a pet, you need a distraction and to look outwards a little bit perhaps. Mine give me a point since I enjoy their antics and need to be around to sustain them
Only do this if you're going to be responsible tho. There's enough deadbeats with pets that shouldn't be trusted with an egg-timer let alone a moving, breathing, lifeform
I sometimes feel this as well. Without my family, my hobbies, my job, and my vices I’m totally empty, and I do have a religion.
Therapy.
You’re going to get a lot of advise about what makes life worth living, but it sounds like you have low level depression. Talking to a therapist and looking at an antidepressant are your first steps, along with the other things that can help with low level depression.
Okay. Hear me out.
Minecraft and cough syrup.
In your position I'd be donating some of that money that's otherwise sitting around doing nothing. But then again, I avoid tv and streaming shows like the plague and have actual niche interests that inspire me. I see people struggling, feel a fundamental urge to help them, and sometimes DO when I can afford it... And that shit is like a DRUG to me. Generosity feels fucking amazing @_@ oxytocin, adrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, it's ALL there!
I feel you, I get like this sometimes as well, it's what we call "getting in a rut". When I become self-aware of the situation, I just treat myself to something, could be a new keyboard, or PC part, or maybe it's just going out with friends for a few drinks.
This tends to at least put me on the path to climbing my way back out of it
so you lack enthusiasm and ideas huh
you need to find a spark, something that drives you and makes lost in the moment
explore your likes, interests, values. Go from there. I know you said you don't care, but your lack of care and enthusiasm is your current jailor so perhaps start working on the keys
Sounds like you are dealing with an existential issue. Personally I've dealt with this by learning and teaching others, through this I feel I have found purpose. I also find it through political activism and volunteer work. There is nothing as fulfilling as helping others just because you want to and can.
Gym, Meditate, Therapy, Volunteer, Meetup, Hobbies. Any combination of these, at least 2.
Accumulating money doesn't count as character building nor living. Spend money wisely, but do spend it. Wisely is subjective, but see above for what I think that means in this context. Good luck.
Edit: wording.
Is there anything that you would like to do, any bucket list items etc?
Books, podcasts, niche youtubers, video games. Jusy keep trying different subjects until you find something that interests you. Learning is usually a draw for a lot of people. You could also try volunteering in some way. Maybe that will be more fulfilling.