You feel suffocated and weighed down by some kind of invisible force.
And you don’t really know why, but this force is relentless … no matter what you do, you carry this knotted heaviness inside everywhere you go.
Nothing feels right anymore.
You look at your life and marvel at how it doesn’t feel like ‘yours’ at all. You desperately want to escape, you badly want to do something … but you’re terrified of destroying everything you’ve built so far.
You just can’t seem to move. You feel paralyzed.
All of us will feel trapped at some point, whether that be in a job, house, neighborhood, financial circumstance, religion, family or relationship. Usually feeling trapped can be easily remedied by simply doing something new … but it’s not always that easy. When feeling trapped becomes a persistent problem, one that makes you feel hopeless, then it’s time to take a serious look at your life.
5 Reasons Why You’re Feeling Trapped
Feeling trapped and defeated are experiences common to people who face anxiety and depression, according to psychological research. In other words, feeling trapped can create anxiety and depression, which further reinforces the feeling of being trapped. And so the cycle continues.
But the question is, why do we feel trapped in the first place? Anxiety and depression may trigger this experience, and also be the byproduct of it, but what actually creates the anxiety and depression?
Here are some common psychological and spiritual reasons why you might be feeling trapped:
1. You’re being passive rather than proactive
Passivity is often a learned behavior that we’re taught in childhood by our parents, teachers, and societies. For example, being headstrong is generally a trait that is discouraged in society because it makes you less governable, meaning that others have less influence over you. Therefore, in childhood, many of us are taught to be submissive, compliant and docile because these traits make us “good members” of a society that revolves around control and power.
As young people, how many of us felt empowered and encouraged to take a proactive approach to our life, and to be and do whatever we desired? Of course, most people pay lip service to this “empowerment” ideal (such as our teachers), BUT within the confines of doing socially acceptable things like going to university (like others), chasing after money and status (like others), and getting married and having kids (like others).
On one hand we’re encouraged to be “proactive” about our lives, but on the other hand, this “proactivity” is a disguised form of passivity which is all about following the crowd and doing what everyone else does.
Is it really any wonder that so many of us struggle with feeling trapped? Unless we have the wisdom to see through the futile and unfulfilling pursuits of society from a young age, we end up following the herd and letting others dictate our lives. Passivity is, therefore, a major cause of feeling trapped and stuck in a life that seems empty. When we’re passive, we’re literally giving others the permission to make our decisions and prescribe our existence on this earth. When we’re passive, we’re resigned to accepting our “lot” in life, without realizing that it is actually in our hands to create a life of our own choosing.
If you have just realized that you’ve taken a passive approach to life, don’t worry. Most people on this planet have. It’s not that you choose to be passive, it’s that you’re psychologically programmed to be this way. But with this new knowledge, you can pull off the blindfold and start consciously being proactive.
2. You’ve simply outgrown your current life
Here’s the thing, people are not static beings. As human beings, we are forever changing, evolving and transforming. Anything that does not change, dies, as we can quite clearly see in the world around us. When species, ecosystems, and even business and trends don’t evolve, they fade away into oblivion. This is evolution in process. And the same goes for us as people: we are changing and learning more each and every day. We might not be consciously aware of it, but we are not the exact same person as we were this time yesterday. Ask yourself, “Am I the exact same person as I was a year ago?” Likely, your answer will be no, you’ve changed! And this is completely fine!
Feeling trapped is therefore often a product of simply outgrowing your current life. Perhaps you don’t have much in common with your friends anymore, your career interests have changed or you just don’t relate as deeply to your partner anymore. This is all completely normal, yet as humans, we tend to pathologize change. We become really neurotic and fearful about it because we desperately want to control life to give us a sense of comfort and security. But the truth is that change is inevitable – resistance is futile! When you aren’t willing to upgrade your life, even when you’ve outgrown it long ago, you feel suffocated. Just imagine how uncomfortable it would be squeezing yourself into the clothes you wore ten or twenty years ago! Yes, you might feel comforted in some small way … but is the comfort and familiarity you feel worth the experience of dying inside? Remember that it’s completely normal to not want to let go, so be gentle and compassionate towards yourself. It’s OK to grow and change. It is your birthright.
3. You desperately want to fit in and feel “normal”
All of us want to feel like we belong. In fact, craving to “fit in” with others is deeply embedded into our DNA: it’s a biological survival mechanism. But we’ve come a long way in our evolution, and the proof is that the more we force ourselves to be “normal,” the more we suffer. Evolution, or rather involution, is now calling us to honor our authentic needs in order to grow as a species. Conformity is an old paradigm we no longer need to chase after. In fact, the more we conform, the more empty we feel inside. The more we try to be like others, the more we lose contact with our inner voice. The more we mold our lives to be “socially acceptable,” the more we sacrifice our inner values, dreams, beliefs, and desires.
Trying to fit in with others because we fear what they think about us, is a recipe for suffering. Understand that wanting to be accepted is completely normal, but it’s time that you start looking inside of yourself for approval, rather than outside.
4. You’ve taken on too many responsibilities
Responsibilities are a normal part of life; they teach us to be mature, accountable, patient, and empathetic. But there can come a point in our lives when we take on more responsibilities than we can handle … and we start to feel TRAPPED. Why? Usually, we fill our lives with pointless or excessive commitments because we’re trying to escape from something, whether that is ourselves, our past or some kind of emotion that haunts us like grief, emptiness, or anger.
If you’re feeling trapped, closely examine your life. Have you bitten off more than you can chew? Why? And furthermore, what can you do to decrease your workload?
5. Soul loss and lack of life purpose
Probably the biggest reason why many of us undergo the excruciating feeling of being trapped is soul loss. When we have lost contact with our souls we feel the unshakable sense that ‘something is missing’ from our lives. This feeling is accompanied by loneliness, numbness, emptiness, restlessness, irritability, and of course, anxiety and depression.
Soul loss occurs for many reasons such as a traumatic life experience or simply situations that have caused us to be consumed by the ego. The ego is our false self, the concept of “me” that we have inside of our brains. The more we serve our ego and its desires, the more empty and unfulfilled we feel because the ego is obsessed with power and self-gratification – something that is ultimately unfulfilling. Our soul, on the other hand, is focused on love and unity: on learning how to love, behaving with love, speaking with love, and ultimately, becoming love. When we are in contact with our souls, we discover our life purpose which helps us to stop feeling trapped by our circumstances. We start to feel empowered and begin to listen to the voice of the heart rather than the voice of the mind.
How to Stop Feeling Trapped
Feeling trapped can be a self-perpetuating cycle: we begin to look for more and more proof to confirm our belief that we are victims. For example, we might try to stop feeling trapped, but then, our inner saboteur might do something that causes us to fall back into that feeling again. As a result, we confirm the belief that we’re trapped, thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. So be careful. Understand that feeling trapped can actually be a very addictive role because it makes us feel like a victim – and the ego loves feeling like a victim. Ironically, feeling like a victim is actually very empowering because this role revolves around blaming, justifying and making excuses – and all deflect self-responsibility.
With that in mind, let’s explore some methods which can help you to stop feeling trapped:
- Take responsibility for your life. As I just mentioned, feeling trapped can cause us to adopt the victim role which revolves around avoiding self-responsibility. It’s normal to feel sad about your situation, but self-pity ultimately gets you nowhere. In order to feel better, you need to take responsibility for your life, which means deciding to create change. Realize that happiness is what happens when you step up and claim ownership of your life.
- Make little changes each day. Do something new each day. Approaching your life differently little by little will help you to regain faith in your power. Think about what you would like to change and experiment with new approaches.
- Make a bullsh*t list. Sit down and think about all the things in your life that you believe are limiting you. For example, on your bullshit list you might write things like: going to after work parties with colleagues, commitments with old friends, pretending to like what my partner likes, “mandatory” luncheons with extended family members, etc. By becoming very clear about what is making you unhappy, you’ll find it easier to escape the cage that has been built around your life.
- Throw away social norms. Trying to be socially acceptable wastes so much time, energy, and money. Try to keep only what is essential in your life. If you have to step on a few toes, so be it! If you’re not pissing someone off, you probably aren’t doing anything meaningful with your life! No matter what we do, we’ll always have naysayers. Be courageous and do what makes you happy, even if that means cutting some people off. Those that do not support you tend to hang around you like dead weight.
- Create energy barriers. Are you over-extending yourself and getting bogged down by too many commitments? Learn how to notice your energy levels and step away when you’re getting too overwhelmed. Draw a line and don’t let anyone cross it, not even yourself.
- Say “no thank you.” There is nothing wrong or impolite about saying “no thank you.” Yes, you may offend a few insecure people, but you have the right to say no to doing things you’re not interested in or don’t believe in.
- Embrace fear of the unknown. One reason why we remain stuck in feeling trapped is that we’re scared of the unknown, i.e. what will our lives look like if we make a leap into drastic change? Embrace this fear and take care of yourself.
- Take a plant medicine. Obviously there is a disclaimer here: plant medicine is best taken with an experienced shaman or healer and you should seek professional advice if you suffer from mental illness. But going through such an experience can quite literally change your entire perspective of life. Research practitioners who hold San Pedro, Peyote, Ayahuasca or Psilocybin Mushrooms ceremonies either in your country or one nearby. Taking plant medicine is a sacred and profound experience which can help you develop new perspectives on your life, and even cure illnesses such as depression.
- Reconnect with your soul. Plant medicine is one powerful and foolproof way of reconnecting with your soul. However, if you prefer other methods, you might like to explore practices such as vision quests, journalling, meditation, mindfulness, catharsis, artistic self-expression, music, and other alternative forms of medicine that can help awaken this deep presence within you.
***
Tell me, why are you feeling trapped? When did it start … and most importantly, what are you planning to do about it?
Reading your articles on authentic self and feeling trapped. Boy do they seem like they are speaking directly to me! I know that I am ready for an upgrade or a change, but I don’t want to change just for “change sake”. That is where I am struggling a bit. Great insights, Thank You. Just discovered you today. Dan R
Hi. So glad I came across this article. Cos it is exactly how I feel. I am actually seeing a psychologist at the moment (kinda forced by my company ). And I am trying to explain to him about to I feel trapped in my job and in my religion. It’s like I can just SCREAM and let it out. But his comment is I am irresponsible and irrational cos I have bills to pay and a family to provide for, so I can’t just get up and go. Like I don’t know that, which exacerbates the feeling of entrapment. Sometimes I feel probably the only way out is just to kill myself. I just don’t see a way out anymore. My religeon demands from me. My job , I absolutely hate it. To the point I feel like I can’t breathe. My wife doesn’t understand. No one does. I’m an artist. It’s in my blood. And I soooooo much wanna do this for a living. But hardly do artists get rich. And all I wanna do is make a living. I just can’t see the exit.
I’ve been going through my life so far searching for its purpose. I’ve learned so much deep information that my soul has been craving, and longing for. I feel like a weight is off of my shoulders. I’ve learned so much about myself practicing everything I’ve learned here. My thought patterns, destructive behavior, and commitment too toxic relationships have all come too a cease. I’ve embraced the wolf inside of me and I’ve never felt so empowered Thank you very much for doing what you do!
This article definitely makes sense, but I’m still unsure how to make changes… I have so much anxiety, which prevents me from finding a job, which prevents me from having money, which prevents me from pretty much doing anything…. So I am basically stuck in my house day after day, and I just feel like I am missing out on life…
Rebecca, its scary how i feel exactly the same. i dont even know what i want to do in life, let alone going in that direction. it sounds like we’re stuck in a vicious cycle. or im thinking maybe its todays obsession to have to DO something thats taking a toll on me.
id love to hear how you’re doing now <3
I think I might be meant to be trapped… so that others don’t have to be. I can remember the imprisonment from a young age and not fully understanding what was going on it got worse and worse. I self-fulfilled a way to always be trapped and am not sure how to get out actually. I do not have the immediate luxury to but I think plant medicine might be my last try.
I have started to feel like this is the case for me too. Like I am sup posed to be trapped so that I can exist only as a warning to people as to how not to live their lives. It seems like I have cycles and they just repeat…trapped in school by math, got out of that but never grew past it and now I’m here, trapped again. Over a decade is a long time to live with this. I have tried and tried and I keep coming back to the thought that it’s not changing because I’m an example. Of how not to live your life. So I am going to try mind altering substances and if that doesn’t work then I’m just going to to out and buy a gun and take that exit. I’m tired of fighting this with no results for over 15 years. I feel like a stagnant pool of dead water where nothing grows or lives except hatred, anger, sorrow and loneliness.
This was a profound and timely post for me. My family of origin was/is very conforming and competitive, yet I never wanted to “fit in” or compete with them as a child. As a repercussion, I was severely scapegoated, rejected and traumatized. Through my adult years I have methodically worked at healing the unconscious numbness, pain, grief and anger that got lodged in my body, and I have begun to deny the demeaning messages about myself that I was brainwashed with. This year seems to be a turning point for me. I have wholeheartedly said “Yes” to my soul’s needs and “no” to doing anything or being with anyone that does not serve me anymore. This has resulted in cutting ties with many people and things, and doing many socially unacceptable things. Happily, I have begun to reap the fruits of my efforts! I hear my divine inner voice so clearly now, and many wonderful people, blessings and experiences have entered my life. I am truly beginning to love who I am. I feel like I have come home! I have even recently changed my first name to reflect the newfound peace of my soul-“Meadow.” Thank you Sol for validating my spiritual path.
It’s taken me thirteen years to finally start making the baby steps toward what I really want to do in my life, and yet I still find my motivation in that direction a challenge. Not sure if it’s because I’m just so exhausted in general? It’s like I know what I want to do/become, so why is it like pulling teeth for me to take the steps to get there?
Great article! Thanks for this. It helped me to see more clearly where I’m doing well, and where I can focus my efforts to break out of my shell and move forward.
The Ego has gotten a bad rap, the addicted Ego, the one who want’s more of everything and is never satisfied is the Ego out of control. In reality, once our addictions, both physical and emotional are controlled, the Ego is the part of us which drives. The Ego has experience and knows what it is seeing, feeling, etc. The Ego can take messages from higher source, as intuition, and can mitigate the fears of the inner child. I would like to be able to shed a brighter light on the Ego, but we still need to deal with shadow. It will express it’s self, over the Ego at unexpected times, and reek havoc in our lives. As a loner, I have had time to look at these facts in depth. It is not easy to look at ones self, but it is worth the pain.
Very insightful, and all the reasons you list have, and are, contributing to my feeling of being trapped. I have long thought that treating my depression with pharms is not the answer for me (emphasis on ‘for me’). I am at my job right now hiding out in the server room for a quick break and decided to read this article instead of shop or skulk my ex-. I have been in this body too long and with too many tools to continue this charade and blame game. Metamorph’ing can be painful and oh so slow, but the alternative is spiritual annihilation. Peace & Blessings.
I admire your courage to realize and accept what you have, once we see through the veil there’s no way of unseeing that.
The biggest reason I feel trapped is because I am worried about my parents’ health if I tell them I no longer want to partcipate in relgious activities. Religion is so sacred to them that they will worry about me to the point of getting dangerous diseasses like heart attacks, cancer… etc. I don’t want them to be that worried yet I need to tell them I don’t want to go to church with them anymore. I don’t know what to do
Firstly you must understand that you are not responsible for others emotions or reactivity no matter who it is (this includes our family). You can’t get cancer from worry about someone and even if that’s the case, we cannot live enslaved to others because of their inability to deal with changes and allow what is perfectly natural, the evolution of growth in individuals.
hi mateo&luna; knowing the cause about something does not solve it but helps greatly towards the resolution of the matter described in your excellent article … / just perfect
Omg! The right article read at the right time! I fought for these principles when I was young but slipped into a stagnant life. So much wisdom, TRUTH, insight…tools to fight for living a REAL life….not what society, family, friends expect us to live. Awesome.
How could you know this is EXACTLY what i needed to read right this moment!? I read all your information and take the tests to empower myself to move forward each and every day. Thank you for being you and helping so many of us who are on our path to enlightenment. Blessed Be
I know! I felt the same. ..I really needed to hear this. Good luck
I let inspiration guide me when choosing what to write about, perhaps it’s synchronicity :). I’m thankful you’ve shared how much our work influences your journey and humbled to be able to share it with you.