When crying doesn't do it and it still just hurts inside so much. What are you suppose to do then?

- I found talking to someone who will listen to help a lot. Maybe you can post on this thread what's bothering you? You can also Smail me if you don't feel comfortable posting publicly. I'll listen. :)

Sometimes the pain needs time to fully seep away, but I've found talking through it with others or turning it into something physical (write or create art) helps greatly. It's a way of purging it from inside and forcing it to become something outside of you. Sometimes I need to do something physical as well to use the energy inside created from the frustration and pain. Jogging, walking, or doing small exercises can help. And when you've done these but there's still some left, distract yourself as much as possible. Find a great book that doesn't make you think about it, start a new series on netflix, go out in public. Talking, writing, art, and exercise will help, but most often I find that I still need some time for the emptied spaces to heal up.

Talking to other people is always the best idea if you have people around who are good listeners, because unconditional love is really helpful, and so are objective observations other people have. Getting out is also really helpful, anything that doesn't isolate you and leave you alone with your problems really. I have a hard time with this personally though, because I have a lot of social anxiety. For me, writing helps the most. I don't write poetry or anything fancy, I just journal a bunch about how I'm feeling, what's upsetting me, and try to figure out why I'm in so much pain at that exact moment. I can literally spend hours on this, when I'm at my worst I usually do this for two hours a day. Even just 10 minutes can help though. It's one of the main things that helps me stay alive.

Also it sounds dumb, but video games are great distractions because it's easy to get absorbed in the story line or the game or whatever and forget about how bad you're feeling. Art is another helpful thing, but only if you allow yourself to do it badly and don't criticize your work as you're making it. It sucks making art if the entire time you're thinking, "I'm a bad artist, this looks stupid, I hate it." Making repetitive stuff that doesn't require a ton of thought or effort helps too, but only if you enjoy doing it or actually want the thing you're making. Art sucks for me because I criticize myself as I'm doing it, so usually I'll sew blank books or do embroidery or something like that while watching Netflix.

Another thing I've found helpful is writing down 1-5 good things that happen every day, even if the day was totally shit and I spent the entire day crying. It takes the edge off the pain a little because it reminds you that good stuff happens even on the worst days and everything isn't constantly awful always. The good stuff can just be like "had a nice shower" or "the weather was good" or dumb little things like that. It doesn't have to be anything significant.

A lot of people also find it helpful to write down a goal for the day. Just something dumb like "go to the bank" or "talk to somebody at some point" or "eat dinner". It makes you feel more productive without trying to force yourself to do things you're in too much pain to do.

It also helps to be patient with yourself. Don't beat yourself up for being unhappy. Try to treat yourself the way you would treat a friend. Just worry about getting through the day, don't worry about getting through the rest of your life because things change and feelings change and life sometimes gets easier.

For 8 years I've waited for an answer to that question! To be honest, talking to others never helps me. Saying things out loud just makes it even more obvious how pointless my life, my thoughts, my feelings are… Makes me feel like an idiot when people just don't understand.

Not too long ago, the constant sadness changed into a feeling of emptiness. No matter what I do, I can't find a way to fill the void in my life. It's a painful thing to live with.

But every single day proves me that being alone makes my life a tiny bit more tolerable. (It's in my personality that I don't need the human contact) It's a given, though, that I'm not 'allowed' to spend the rest of my life alone.