Origin of Despair

The term despair originates from the Latin word “desperare”, which signifies “down from hope”. The notion of despair in any manner can not only impact an individual but can also emerge and dissipate through social communities. But what leads to despair? What are those factors which push down an individual’s morale and lead to a feeling of hopelessness? 

Imagine you started a social media page and it’s been a few months, you post regularly but don’t get enough likes and comments. While people constantly say that numbers don’t matter and even deep down you too know it. But still, all those numbers push you to feel, am I that bad? Is it not worth it? Should I stop posting stuff I love?. You feel it, don’t you? We all seek validation and when we don’t get it, it develops a sort of feeling of despair within us. And it’s real, it does happen with a lot of people. There are countless aspects of that though. It differs from person to person. Some people say that desires and ignorance are the root causes of despair. Failing to fulfill one’s desires tends to give rise to demoralizing an individual. This can be true to an extent, but not completely. It’s quite easy to say that “find happiness in the little things”, but we humans often point out the negatives first, that’s a bitter truth. 

Well! It’s high time that we get into the details of “despair”, what shape it takes, and what are its causes and aftermath.

The Four Types of Despair

• Cognitive Despair- It includes thoughts pertained to remorse, setback, hopelessness, and dismay. This might make an individual view other people’s actions as aggressive and reduce the significance of long-term consequences.

• Emotional Despair- It indicates sentiments of sorrow, grumpiness, loneliness, and indifference and may somewhat hinder the process of building and nurturing interpersonal connections and relationships.

• Behavioral Despair- It is interpreted as risky, abrupt, and self-destructive deeds reflecting minor to no concern for the future (such as self-harm, reckless driving, drug use, etc).

• Biological Despair- It refers to dysfunction of the body’s stress-reactive system and hormonal fluctuation.

Causes of Despair

• The aspects that appear to worsen despair are not entirely known, but they are commonly perceived as comprising a worsening of financial inequality and a feeling of hopelessness about personal financial accomplishment. This can take many forms and appear in different situations. 

• The all-around expense of livelihood in affected geographic areas, fixed salaries, and disintegrating working circumstances along with the decrease of labor federations and the welfare state, are widely assumed elements.

• The modifications in the labor market also influence social relationships that might contrarily procure security, as people at the peril of this crisis are less liable to get married, more likely to get separated, and even more likely to encounter social withdrawal. 

• Moreover, rural societies are jeopardized by globalization like never before. Young employees often decide between living with their families and going to metropolitan areas to attain better careers.

• Although the prominent reason for despair may not be solely economical, the outcomes of this manifestation are, in terms of wealth.

Effects of Despair

• Prevailing under the impact of despair for a long period may steer to the outcome of one or more of the disorders of despair, like suicidal thoughts or drug and alcohol misuse. If a person suffers from an ailment of despair, there is a high chance of demise of despair, usually categorized as a suicide, drug or alcohol overdose, or liver failure.

• Unstable mental health which includes depression, suicidal intentions, and dependence on drugs and alcohol affects people of every age, race, and demographic community in every nation around the globe.

• Eventually, current data exhibit that diseases of despair present a complex and problematic danger to the modern world and that they are not associated only with the financial strength of a person. 

• Social relations, degree of education, medical situation, mental health, working opportunities, and prejudiced intuition of one’s fortune– all of these play a key role in discerning whether someone will endure illnesses of despair or not.

•  Besides, the younger generations are very much impacted by social media and other recent technological advancements which might have unexpected and adverse aftermaths on their lives as well. 

Despair in Teens

As indicated in many international studies, various aspects come jointly to make teens more susceptible to emotional breakdowns. The very famous medical journal Lancet suggests that suicides put down to biological transitions (like serotonin imbalance which is a ‘happy’ hormone that regulates mood), character traits such as being impulsive, and inadequate social problem-solving abilities, which further merge with real-life catastrophes (parents separating, getting ditched, etc.) and psychiatric disorders (like depression). These elements make teens feel defeated and entangled more easily than grown-ups. Not getting into their dream college or not being able to crack competitive exams, are just a few instances to mention which give rise to low self-esteem in teens. 

One might not be able to conclude what is the origin of despair, as it’s a combination of many different factors. Nevertheless, the feeling of anguish and hopelessness is something one can easily slip into. That’s probably a normal human tendency, but it doesn’t mean that you should get stuck in the endless loop. If you find yourself feeling low, helpless, and exhausted, proper attention deep within you must be required. We often shrug away from our feelings because it hurts. But you must not do that. Despair can lead to serious illness, so you must not resist all that which is bottling up inside.