11 Small Signs Of A Woman Who Is Deeply Unhappy With Her Life
Even an unhappy woman can put a smile on her face and hide her pain from the world.
Leszek Glasner | Shutterstock When someone is miserable, it can often be difficult for others to tell. Women, specifically, typically do not walk around crying all day, making their internal turmoil clear to the rest of the world. The small signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life may be subtle, but her sadness is something that is obvious to her.
According to the CDC, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression than men, with some research showing that 1 in 6 women grapple with depression at some point in their lives. While various factors may contribute to a woman's deep sense of unhappiness, the subtle behaviors she exhibits often reveal similar signs in every case.
Here are 11 small signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life
1. She avoids talking about the future
DimaBerlin | Shutterstock
One of the small signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life is her belief that things won't improve for her anytime soon. She may avoid having any discussions that involve her future since it seems pointless and depressing.
Research from 2023 shows that people who battle mental health issues that affect their happiness, such as depression and anxiety, have little motivation to discuss their future or even think about it. And it makes sense, as living with unhappiness is already draining enough.
Thinking about long-term goals and a future that may never look the way you hoped only adds to feeling emotionally drained and metally exhausted.
2. She mindlessly scrolls social media
Zamrznuti tonovi | Shutterstock
A woman who is unhappy with her life may spend hours on social media consuming other people's lives and comparing them to her own. To her, it can be a form of emotional avoidance and escapism from the life she's currently living.
Since it is so often just at the touch of our fingertips, mindlessly scrolling through social media is a quick and easy way to fill the downtime that unhappy people would otherwise spend being depressed. Looking through social media may also be a way for an unhappy woman to insert herself into other people's lives, imagining that she is experiencing all of their joy and adventures along with them.
According to research from MIT Management Sloan School, people who compare themselves to others on social media tend to have higher levels of anxiety and depression. For unhappy women, limiting screen time is a great way to refocus on what is important: her self-care.
3. She procrastinates making decisions
Stockfour | Shutterstock
Unhappiness can drain a person's energy and enthusiasm, making it difficult for them to find the motivation to get things done. Women who are unhappy often procrastinate on everything from making doctor's appointments to completing projects at work.
They promise themselves that they'll tackle their to-do list tomorrow, and end up resenting themselves when they don't before the cycle repeats.
According to a study on procrastination and coping from Individual Differences Research, 20 to 25% of adults worldwide are chronic procrastinators. This is often linked to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.
When all hope seems lost, it can be hard to muster up the drive to complete everything that has been sitting on your checklist for weeks on end, something unhappy women know all too well.
4. She experiences changes in her eating habits
Pormezz | Shutterstock
When her eating habits suddenly change, it's one of the unfortunate but small signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life. That's especially true if she's not on any sort of dieting plan that requires her to do so.
When she is filled with unhappiness, she may find the most simple tasks of everyday life, such as eating, to be nearly impossible since severe stress and depression can strip one of their appetite. In other instances, she may view food as her comfort, and spend most of her days binge-eating.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, people with obesity who have binge-eating disorders typically struggle with some sort of mental health illness, including anxiety or depression.
5. She impulse-spends
maxbelchenko | Shutterstock
While some may assume that having the energy to shop and treat oneself indicates happiness, it could actually suggest the opposite. Some unhappy women find shopping to be an escape from their reality and an effective way to deal with their emotions. Buying cute clothes and dropping hundreds of dollars on plane tickets for a tropical getaway is how she masks her true emotions.
According to research from the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, compulsively buying items, even if you know you cannot afford them, is a behavior that is associated with depression. In some instances, people who struggle with depression may have tendencies to seek external validation through all of their expensive purchases.
6. She's not sleeping enough or is sleeping too much
Ground Picture | Shutterstock
Our sleep patterns can tell us a lot about the state of our emotional health. When an unhappy woman cannot seem to fall or stay asleep, she may be struggling with emotional turmoil that makes it hard to quiet her brain and get some rest. If she is sleeping most of the day away, it may be her way of escaping from the world around her.
According to research from Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, sleeping troubles have been linked to depression. Depression often brings out emotional pain, anxiety, and a general feeling of hopelessness, which can make it difficult for the brain to fall into a healthy sleeping cycle.
7. She dreads the start of a new week
Anton Mukhin | Shutterstock
When Monday rolls around, nobody likes getting back into their normal routine, especially after a fun and fulfilling weekend. However, normal people don't feel the same crippling hopelessness that unhappy women often face when they have to go through another week.
Since they are so miserable, the thought of repeating the same unfulfilling routine can be demotivating. The monotony of a typical workweek can feel draining and purposeless, filling them with dread rather than anticipation and viewing every week as a fresh start.
8. She lacks interest in the hobbies she once loved
Josep Suria | Shutterstock
One of the saddest signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life is her disinterest in things that once brought her joy. Because miserable women often grapple with emotional fatigue, it can make it difficult to do anything, even the hobbies she once loved and took to every single day.
The energy and attention she once put toward reading her favorite books or going to gym classes is now consumed by negative thoughts and feelings of hopelessness. She may also feel so disconnected from the rest of the world and struggle to have any enthusiasm to engage in everything she usually couldn't wait to do.
9. She constantly talks badly about others
coka | Shutterstock
When a woman is deeply unhappy with her own life, she may spend her time dragging down others to her level of disappointment. She may feel insecure and inadequate as a result of her feelings towards herself, and tries to make herself feel better, even temporarily, by talking badly about others, even her own friends and family.
Talking negatively about others can serve as a way to deflect attention from her own shortcomings or boost her self-esteem by putting others down. She also may feel envious and resentful of the people she chooses to constantly bash.
If these people appear to be much happier than she is, talking negatively about them may help her cope with her feelings of jealousy.
10. She has emotional outbursts and is more irritable
Cast Of Thousands | Shutterstock
According to clinical psychologist Arlin Cuncic, unhappy people who struggle with depression may express their sadness in the form of anger. As Cuncic pointed out, "Research indicates that depression in men sometimes manifests itself in explosive, uncontrollable anger, among other symptoms. In contrast, this kind of rage is less frequently reported by women with depression."
Still, women may feel angry when they are experiencing deep emotional pain and have emotional outbursts as a result. Their complex emotions make it difficult for them to express themselves in a healthy way.
Without the tools or mental space to process emotions in a healthy way, they may act impulsively, leading to sudden outbursts or irritability.
11. She engages in negative self-talk
Prostock-studio | Shutterstock
Unhappy people are their own biggest critics. They often have extremely low self-esteem and little confidence. And as one of the small signs of a woman who is deeply unhappy with her life, she may spend a lot of her time dragging herself down, believing that she is unworthy, inadequate, or incapable, causing her to focus solely on her shortcomings.
She does not give herself much grace since she believes that her unhappiness makes it unworthy of it, and finds it difficult to break free from negative self-talk.
Marriage and family therapist Maxine Langdon Starr, PhD recommended a few ways unhappy women can combat their obsessive negative thoughts, including looking inside themselves, accepting themselves, and putting themselves first. Only then can miserable women take one step towards happiness.
If you or somebody that you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, there is a way to get help. Call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or text "HELLO" to 741741 to be connected with the Crisis Text Line.
Megan Quinn is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.