When the whole world decides it’s a perfectly sunny day to turn against you (and trust me, it happens way more often than you think!), there's little you can do about it. You can sit in denial, go into a full breakdown without a return ticket, or you can laugh your ass off through staring straight into the depths of your pain.
In fact, there’s a whole online community dedicated to this coping mechanism where people share examples of self-deprecating humor. No wonder it’s such a huge success! Created in 2016, the r/2meirl4meirl subreddit has a whopping 1.3M members who come here for a daily fix.
I mean, if we cannot fight that pain, at least we can sit right next to it and have a good laugh at each other. So scroll down and upvote your favorite posts!
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My doctor calls me every 3 months to renew my prescriptions - the last time I left the house was to see him in Feb. of 2020.
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That's me! I live in the capital of my country and it was so great when about a third of the city's population disappeared back to their hometowns during lockdown. There was no traffic, no crowds and no restaurants making noise late in the night. I was so relieved.
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Oof. True... everyone around me losing their minds - whinging constantly about isolation, how they're crawling the walls... me? "Uhm... I... do... not see... a difference..."
The pandemic happened and the only thing that changed in my life was other people worked from home too.
Oh yes! At the beginning I did not understand why all the people are complaining 😬
OMG so true. I don't go to the gym any more because it's closed, and that's about it.
As an introvert, I can honestly say that I have been training for this self-quarantine all my life.
Exactly what I am experiencing. For me nothing changed. Was isolated before as during the pandamic. Just the contact to collegues was cut off too.
I enjoyed it... even having the kids do distance learning from home. So efficient
I have been feeling awfully lonely. I didnt care about the lockdowns but its been so much time and now I'm feeling the weight of it. 😢
Yeah, didn't really change much, and the 1,5 mtrs distance and maximum amount of people allowed in shops was a breath of fresh air for me, no biggie
I remember when people were first complaining about how bored they were, how they missed interacting with others, etc. Or they'd ask me how I was 'holding up' and I'd think, "well, nothing's really changed for me, except now I have my groceries delivered and that's awesome!" I realized how boring my life is. LOL!
dont have to leave the farm more than once a month. living the dream!
I only ever leave my home for appointments these days. I’ve probably been out my front door 2-3 times this year at most. I’m a sepsis survivor, so my immune system is weaker than most people & so I have to be very careful. Even though I’ve had both jabs, I’m still high risk of getting ill, especially with my numerous illnesses/disabilities. Despite staying in one room 24/7, I will frequently have symptoms of infection; whether it’s mouth sores, nausea/lack of appetite (dangerous because I’m type 1 diabetic on insulin), sniffles, cough, abdominal/head pain ... there’s always something wrong. Also why I don’t really interact with people, even relatives. 🤷♀️😥
My life hasn't change in the las 18 months. I've still worked all through it and nothing is different.
This is us. All essential workers, and never much went anywhere before, so...........
I told my therapist that I was going to use my agoraphobia as my superpower to get through now our third lockdown. She told me she couldn't see a problem with it. Absolutely true.
Oh yes and not having to feel guilty about not hanging out with people.
For the 4 months we were remote we literally spent 10x more outside in nature than ever. Hiking and road trips every weekend. Jogged in the parks around my house during the week. Cycled or went for walks in the evenings...it was wonderful but I'm happy to be back in the office with my team
Isolation is not always bad. I prefer to be alone rather than deal with the pathetic morons in society today.
Their DIY skills are pathetic because the Boomers DIDN'T teach them!
A growing body of research has suggested that laughing during difficult situations may help to ease our pain and distress. In order to find out how that works, we reached out to Jennifer Williams, the founder of Heartmanity, which provides people with support and vital skills needed to create a healthy and thriving life with relationships that enrich and uplift us. Heartmanity provides groundbreaking skills and programs based on brain science and 30 years of experience.
Jennifer explained that an ability to laugh during painful or difficult situations requires resilience, which is an emotional intelligence ability. “Humor and laughter during tough times don’t mean that we are not taking our lives seriously, but rather, laughing acts like a release valve on a pressure cooker.”
Moreover, “This resilient mindset stems from innate confidence in ourselves to handle life’s curveballs and challenges successfully. The quality of our life is not about what happens to us; it’s about how we interpret and respond to our experiences,” she explained.
Hard work, persistence, and never giving up... The things that arrogant toxic-positivity personal development life coaches tell you to do so you feel more miserable and buy more of their books.
Moreover, growing your inner optimist and practicing mindful optimism trains our brains to see the good even when things go awry. Jennifer said that in this way, we start seeing the world through a new lens. “Laughter and humor are wonderful ways to release stress and reset our perspective.”
When asked whether self-deprecating humor can be seen as a useful coping mechanism, Jennifer said that since she believes that we need self-compassion to be at our best, she’s not a fan of self-deprecating humor as a coping mechanism. “In my experience, when a person uses this kind of humor, they tend to be avoiding the reality of what is happening (evading tough emotions like grief or anger) and can be neglecting to take responsible action.”
Even though poking fun at ourselves is a healthy part of humility, the founder of Heartmanity believes that since deprecating means “to belittle or cheapen,” this type of humor can backfire, so you have to be careful. It may cause us to “feel more overwhelmed and less equipped to handle what we are facing in life,” Jennifer warned.
Me : "I'm depressed." Therapist : "Well, don't be." Me : "I don't pay you to sound like my parents!" Therapist : "You don't pay me, you are French."
“On the other hand, science shows that gratitude helps to alleviate stress, offsets psychological disorientation caused by unexpected suffering, and increases positive emotions and a sense of well-being. Therefore, regularly practicing gratitude is a far more effective strategy for stress.”
Jennifer concluded that “through appreciation, we keep what is most important to us top of mind, and then we can better stay encouraged in difficult or painful situations.”
How to get a restraining order, how to find the worst retirement house in the world...
I just like the way it makes my skin tingle on a cold morning. The fact that I live alone has nothing to do with it. Probably.
Same... I hate being a people pleaser only to forget to take care of myself
Looking at little screen, reads this, looks up at big screen...aw snap
Signed off work. Now have lots of weird and witchy hats that make people smile. And clothing colours that resemble an explosion in a paint factory.
Coping mechanisms are the only things that keep you alive. My favorite ones are denial and rationalization.
Comparing yourself to others is the best way to become unhappy. Thats why people love Instagram so much. It brings a lot of easy accessible misery in your life.
Looking at the way things are going in the world today, this might be the wisest thing to do.
That's just the doctrine that all governments use. "Your personal interests are not important to our society." also "Climate change happens because YOU drive a car."
Still better than "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and count your blessings".
and for each 7 year old doing that, there is probably a few thousand 7 year olds working in dangerous mines and jobs in unspeakable conditions ,
Note: this post originally had 98 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
As i understand from the comments we are many little sad bored pandas around here :(
I feel that many if not the majority of people have mental illneses. But since it is a taboo in our society we all think that we are all alone in this :(
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I find a small measure of comfort with my fellow pandas. Big hug to all. One thing a day and one thing at a time.
We aren’t alone, we may feel it but feelings aren’t facts. Putting the phone down and going in nature is the only thing that helps me. My depressed brain says isolate and zone out on screens but getting exercise and seeing the blue sky is what our brains need. I wish everyone hope and joy ❤️
i was going to coment on all the ones I relate to, but i didn't want to comment on all of them
I frequently wish I could be 'normal' for any given definition of normal. Physically I hurt like I'm a 90 year old, I'm so overweight because I'm in so much pain that it's causing more weight gain, my brain hates me, it makes me feel like everything I do is wrong and inadequate, I have zero energy to do anything but the bare minimum to keep myself clean and my clothes clean.
Can't all sad bored pandas meet up and have fun the rest of their lives?
That was really good to read.finally...i m not a spoiled brat who plays cheap drama at 37. Thank you❤🖤
I don't understand,honestly after all these discoveries,inventions and all these efforts to make a civilisations,are we all collectively becoming depressed and existential as a society?Is this really all our own faults like our brains tell us or is this just the algorithm of life you know pain - eee-pain-eee. Those eee s are me pretending to smile.I hope you're happy.
I (partly) blame TV and movies containing fake perfect living and happy endings that give us unrealistic expectations and make us feel like we don't measure up if we don't buy all the carp they're selling us to make us sexier, smell "better", feel special by getting the "next big new thing", etc.
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Hugs out to all my fellow sad pandas using our weird sense of humour.
This post reminds me of an old Monty Python skit where folks were complaining about how hard their lives had been as children, each participant trying to one-up the previous one. "Every day we'd have to get up at 3 a.m., two hours before we went to bed, and lick the driveway clean..." Was there some kind of prize in the offing for who could sound the most pathetically miserable?
The world doesn't revolve around you. Learn some empathy.
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As i understand from the comments we are many little sad bored pandas around here :(
I feel that many if not the majority of people have mental illneses. But since it is a taboo in our society we all think that we are all alone in this :(
Load More Replies... I find a small measure of comfort with my fellow pandas. Big hug to all. One thing a day and one thing at a time.
We aren’t alone, we may feel it but feelings aren’t facts. Putting the phone down and going in nature is the only thing that helps me. My depressed brain says isolate and zone out on screens but getting exercise and seeing the blue sky is what our brains need. I wish everyone hope and joy ❤️
i was going to coment on all the ones I relate to, but i didn't want to comment on all of them
I frequently wish I could be 'normal' for any given definition of normal. Physically I hurt like I'm a 90 year old, I'm so overweight because I'm in so much pain that it's causing more weight gain, my brain hates me, it makes me feel like everything I do is wrong and inadequate, I have zero energy to do anything but the bare minimum to keep myself clean and my clothes clean.
Can't all sad bored pandas meet up and have fun the rest of their lives?
That was really good to read.finally...i m not a spoiled brat who plays cheap drama at 37. Thank you❤🖤
I don't understand,honestly after all these discoveries,inventions and all these efforts to make a civilisations,are we all collectively becoming depressed and existential as a society?Is this really all our own faults like our brains tell us or is this just the algorithm of life you know pain - eee-pain-eee. Those eee s are me pretending to smile.I hope you're happy.
I (partly) blame TV and movies containing fake perfect living and happy endings that give us unrealistic expectations and make us feel like we don't measure up if we don't buy all the carp they're selling us to make us sexier, smell "better", feel special by getting the "next big new thing", etc.
Load More Replies... Hugs out to all my fellow sad pandas using our weird sense of humour.
This post reminds me of an old Monty Python skit where folks were complaining about how hard their lives had been as children, each participant trying to one-up the previous one. "Every day we'd have to get up at 3 a.m., two hours before we went to bed, and lick the driveway clean..." Was there some kind of prize in the offing for who could sound the most pathetically miserable?
The world doesn't revolve around you. Learn some empathy.
Load More Replies...