"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes." --William Gibson

Another thing to consider is that the problem might not be you, it might be that the situation sucks.

SNORT I hadn't heard that quote from him before.

(Edit: Apparently Gibson attributes it to someone else he retweeted, but the internet is unclear on where exactly it came from)

Any good therapist would probably ask "So, what are you going to do about it?" Changing your situation and changing your self are both acceptable answers, but the therapist should at least point out that changing your situation is possible too.

Agreed. I didn't mean for my comment to sound like I was discouraging people from seeking therapy. The best thing my therapist did for me was help me realize that I needed to be willing to cut people out of my life.

Yes, I wish people would stop consulting various buzzwords and tech ideals and, instead, suggest OP see a therapist. This sounds like depression to me.

I would caution against calling it depression, which is a set of symptoms classified as a disease and really can only be evaluated by a professional.

However, I recently went through a period of anhedonia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anhedonia), which may be what OP is experiencing.

Things that I found that worked: exercise for pleasure (riding my bike!). Connecting with people (one-on-one -- i'd always been part of a big group before). Learning new things, new challenges. Yoga.

A book that helped me a lot was Frankl's "A man's search for meaning". I realized that I had a bit of fight club nihilism in me because I never chose my purpose in life, and so was just sitting on the metaphorical treadmill of existentialistic wallowing.

I wasn't advising anyone to self diagnose. In fact the opposite. It sounds like depression. See a therapist!

Are you me? Though mine lasts for several (many) years and other than exercise (gym 4-5 days/week) I haven't found a something that works or anything resembling a life purpose.