Since going vegan i feel depressed again

ski

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in a sense of just looking around seeing people eat meat at home when i go out in my head i am saying to myself no one cares i bet everyone i interact with today is not vegan what is the point i know this is the wrong way to look at it but it is how i feel
 
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I know how you feel, it is heartbreaking that people still support animal cruelty, however many people are not aware. Try to ignore the bad things people are doing and try to look at the good parts about the person, try to have a more positive view on this world. Instead of thinking about all the people who are not vegan, think about all the people who are turning vegan. We can spread the word of veganism by showing how positive and healthy we are to make people think veganism is cool. We can't help animals if we can't help ourselves
 
I know how you feel, it is heartbreaking that people still support animal cruelty, however many people are not aware. Try to ignore the bad things people are doing and try to look at the good parts about the person, try to have a more positive view on this world. Instead of thinking about all the people who are not vegan, think about all the people who are turning vegan. We can spread the word of veganism by showing how positive and healthy we are to make people think veganism is cool. We can't help animals if we can't help ourselves

nice to know that someone else feels this way i am not the type to talk about veganism to friends / family it seems to go in one ear and out the other i guess i need to just surround myself with like minded people **** gets so lonely when you feel like the alien in the room
 
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yeah, If educating them doesn't help, try being the most influential and positive person so they might take veganism seriously
I Hope What i said helps
 
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I do this sometimes, even after four years, I'm like "grr my cohort and some of my professors are such freaking hypocrites" and then one of my roommates is vegan, but then the other only cut out "red meat" for the environment (we're trying to convince her otherwise but as our housemate we can't exactly steamroll her over) and when I was working on a campground in a more conservative area during the summer I practically wanted to run back home to where I live, at least.

So I get it. Those feelings are real, and they're not necessarily temporary.

I've actually had to get into meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy in order to live with my responses. It's not good for you to feel that way all the time, and unless you're using it to go rescue animals from labs or farms, it's not helping anyone else either. If you let yourself be miserable then you'll be too drained to help the animals (or environment, whatever).

I recommend you look up some meditations that appeal to you, and also try to focus on what you can do rather than what you can't (on the campground, I started a recycling program and talked about my veganism openly but casually, and that was like worst case scenario because I had no suburban or urban or university outlet to DO anything organized) ...also practice self-care, there's something called "activist burn-out" and "empathy burn-out" that affects people with the sort of personalities you and I seem to have. You cannot think about the end of the world all of the time and be sane.

Good luck.
 
I do this sometimes, even after four years, I'm like "grr my cohort and some of my professors are such freaking hypocrites" and then one of my roommates is vegan, but then the other only cut out "red meat" for the environment (we're trying to convince her otherwise but as our housemate we can't exactly steamroll her over) and when I was working on a campground in a more conservative area during the summer I practically wanted to run back home to where I live, at least.

So I get it. Those feelings are real, and they're not necessarily temporary.

I've actually had to get into meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy in order to live with my responses. It's not good for you to feel that way all the time, and unless you're using it to go rescue animals from labs or farms, it's not helping anyone else either. If you let yourself be miserable then you'll be too drained to help the animals (or environment, whatever).

I recommend you look up some meditations that appeal to you, and also try to focus on what you can do rather than what you can't (on the campground, I started a recycling program and talked about my veganism openly but casually, and that was like worst case scenario because I had no suburban or urban or university outlet to DO anything organized) ...also practice self-care, there's something called "activist burn-out" and "empathy burn-out" that affects people with the sort of personalities you and I seem to have. You cannot think about the end of the world all of the time and be sane.

Good luck.
before being a vegan id look at the "crazy vegans" and be like **** no way id be like come to find out i might be one of those people on the inside soon to active
 
before being a vegan id look at the "crazy vegans" and be like **** no way id be like come to find out i might be one of those people on the inside soon to active

Hmm. I was never like that, I started trying to be vegetarian in childhood and had battles with my family, and by high school I kind of admired vegans, but I almost looked at them like they were stronger people than I was, and I didn't completely "get it" then either, I thought they were like monks or priests, like "special people."

And that's another reason I don't advocate simply having people "accept" us, because I remember how my teenaged self saw vegans, and if all my friends who eat meat see is a "special" person who is so "strong" then that's not going to prompt them to actually change their own way of life.

What did help me though was knowing vegans. The first time I tried when I was young, I wasn't sure what I was doing and felt insecure about it, being in a culture of vegans through doing yoga and going on yoga retreats, and having access to people around my age making channels on YouTube - or rather, discovering that it existed, the Vegan Zombie has been around like ten years, I just didn't know it - and being pushed to LOOK, LOOK, LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENING.

So never be silent, that's what I say.
 
I think that being aware of your reaction to non-vegans is the first step to changing those reactions. There is currently way too much, these days, of "us" and "them" and you see it playing out violently this past week. We are all one, flesh and blood and all at different levels of self awareness. Self righteous indignation is an easy emotion to reach for when so many aspects of life are polarized.

Let's try to be tolerant of others' journies as most of us were there, too, just a short time ago. We can dislike a behaviour without demonizing the person and we can agree to disagree without being hateful or depressed. Let's work on those things as we work on saving the animals, the environment and our health.

Emma JC
 
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Ignorance is a bliss. You have to understand many people just don't care or don't know...
I agree with Emma JC... Try to be tolerant and kind to people around you.
 
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It's very difficult for me as well. I don't have a huge social circle and I'm used to and comfortable being on my own - have been for a long time - I'm very independent and I'm cool with that. But, it does get difficult sometimes. If you really want to alienate yourself, stop drinking alcohol as well - then you'll have zero friends to hang out with, LOL :joy::joy: But seriously - sometimes I just feel like no one cares - about anything. The animals (of course almost everyone I know has pets and they adore them, but they don't make the connection with the animals on their plate), their health - even when everyone around them is sick or dying of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. When they have have all the information (and have read it), and still continue to eat meat out of "tradition," it utterly boggles my mind. And this season is especially difficult, what with everyone celebrating all of the holidays by eating turkeys - and posting photos of it all online - it's sickening and depressing.

What has helped me is finding a couple of vegan Meetup groups who get together frequently. It's really nice to be with a group of nice people who are on the same page. Maybe try to find on in your area? It helps to give you a small sense of hope that at least *some* people are getting it. Also - keep in mind that while there's only 1-2% of the world's population that are vegan, that is millions of people, and that number is growing rapidly. Things ARE changing, and I believe they will change - to the point where eating animals is the exception, vs. the way it is now. It doubt it will happen in my lifetime, but I believe it will happen.

My 16 y/o son was raised pescatarian from birth, and he recently gave up all dairy & eggs because he realised it exacerbates his acne, and he has learned that eggs aren't good for you, and, he's learning from what he sees around him (sick & dying relatives). I'm still working on him with the fish and oil, but I'm proud of him, and it gives me hope that people can and do change.

Try to look around you and find people who give you hope - they/we are out there, but because we are a smaller segment of the population, we're just more difficult to spot (and, contrary to popular belief, we really don't go around screaming "Go Vegan!" wherever we go - I don't, anyway.
 
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Remember that you used to eat meat. Everyone is at different stages in their journey. Everyone started out in different places at different levels. Accept things as they are. You are changing the world by changing yourself. Teaching by example is all that is needed. What others do is their own free will. The free will you value so much for yourself. Let go of what you think should happen. You are happening. That is the most important. Pay attention to your own journey and let others be on their way. Expect good things to happen in your life, you're at the wheel. Every thought you have is an order you put out into the universe. The law of attraction works that way you see. So pay attention to what you want more of and ignore the rest. That's how you move forward. Problems don't get solved by paying attention to problems. They get solved by paying attention to solutions. And you are the solution. Each and everyone of us is the solution.
 
“Correcting oneself is correcting the whole world. The sun is simply bright. It does not correct anyone. Because it shines the whole world is full of light. Transforming yourself is a means of giving light to the whole world.”
— Sri Ramana Maharshi
 
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