Post-Graduation Depression: The Thing Everyone Gets, & No One Talks About

Hi there everyone!  I know that I’ve been gone for a while, and I’m so sad about that!

I started this blog, and I had a great plan.  I was going to post 2-3 times a week,  I had an editorial calendar and a vision in front of me.

Then I graduated, and the strangest thing happened to me.  Instead of having this great drive to constantly work and improve upon this amazing new blog, I began to feel as though I had no energy to do anything.

This feeling of lethargy didn’t just stay with my blog: it touched every part of my life.  I had no desire to do anything.  I didn’t want to get out of bed, I didn’t want to try to find a job, I didn’t want to even go outside on a walk.  I was constantly feeling stress about everything in my life, big or small.

So why?  Where did all of the excitement from graduation go? Where was all of that spunk I had for so long?

My old roommate was talking to our other roommate and me when she said something that finally felt like an answer: post graduation depression.  Her mom had mentioned it to her, and when she mentioned it to me I finally felt as though I could understand what had given me such a dramatic shift in attitude.

It completely makes sense, too.  Suddenly my entire world was shifted completely: no more school, which had been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  I’m expected to move out of my parent’s house and become independent with my new job.  The bar was suddenly set so high for me, and I wasn’t ready to deal with that.

Unfortunately, my feelings aren’t necessarily unique.  So many people deal with the exact same scary changes that I do and feel the same or similar feelings that I do.

So why don’t we talk about this?

I wish I could give a concrete answer!  Maybe because society stigmatizes mental illness so much that no one wants to discuss anything related to it.  Maybe because people are afraid that if everyone knows that there will be negativity associated with college less people will want to go there. Who knows!

I completely understand that people all have different experiences when it comes to graduating college, or really any big life event.  My experience with this depression may be totally different from someone else; some people may only feel a brief sadness for the life they had that is now behind them.  It’s completely subjective, but I feel like it needs to be talked about for people like me, who are hit with a serious fear of the future and don’t know why.

I hope this helps someone, or creates dialogue for people to consider in the future!  Either way, I’m a message away if anyone needs to chat!  I will be returning once more to the blog, renewed and ready to go.