Understanding Emotional Hunger: How to Cope with Low Mood and Seasonal Depression

As sensitive, emotional, complicated humans, most of us have experienced a feeling of low mood or emotional depletion. While it may surprise you, such feelings have a very important purpose.

I once met a child with a rare condition. He was bright, sharp, and intelligent, but due to his syndrome, he couldn’t connect the feeling of hunger with the need to eat. That’s terrifying. If no one reminded him to eat, he could literally starve to death.

Just like physical hunger is a natural signal that your body needs food to survive, emotional hunger (or in plain terms, low mood) is a vital emotional signal. It tells us that our soul, our inner world, is starving. It’s a wake-up call to nourish our spirit and purpose.  Without this signal, none of us would feel a need to seek deeper meaning in life or pursue the mission we’re meant to fulfill.

When you feel down or empty, understand that it is emotional hunger. In those moments, following are three essential rules to follow:

1. Accept the Feeling. Don’t Judge Yourself.

When you're physically hungry, you don’t shame yourself for it. You don’t say, “What’s wrong with you? Why are you hungry?”

The same is true for emotional hunger. Phrases like “You have everything, why are you feeling low?” aren’t helpful when others say them, or when you say them to yourself.

Statements like that only increase the inner distance and isolation. You begin to feel disconnected (“No one really cares”),  misunderstood (“No one gets me”), and guilty (“This is my fault. I need to snap out of it.”)

Instead, try saying to yourself: "I’m having a very human moment. It’s okay to feel like this."

2. Acknowledge It. Don’t Deny It.

Just like you don’t argue with your stomach when it growls, there’s no point in denying emotional hunger either.

Thoughts like “I’m probably just imagining it. I need to get over it,” are not helpful. At best, they delay the healing. Like with physical hunger, the longer you wait, the worse it can get, leading to fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and nausea.

Instead, say to yourself: "Yes, I’m feeling low. I feel empty." That simple truth is the first step toward relief.

3. Allow It. Don’t Fight It.

When you're physically hungry, you don’t scream at your body: “Stop being hungry!” You feel it. You live with it until you find food.

The same is true for emotional hunger. Don't resist it with inner shouting such as "Go away, sadness! Leave me alone! I don’t want to feel this!" That doesn’t work. It’s like yelling at your stomach and expecting it to stop growling.

Instead, try this approach: "I’m willing to feel this sadness. It’s trying to tell me something about myself. I want to listen."

Just like physical hunger invites you to eat, emotional hunger is inviting you to feed your soul. The question becomes: How will you nourish it?

Feeling Low? These Are 3 First-Aid Tips

1. Focus on what is good in your life.
   Think about what you do have. The people who matter to you, and those whose lives you matter to. That’s real.

2. Think of tasks that bring you meaning or joy.
   Even simple ones. What kinds of activities lift you, energize you, or give you that feeling of, “I’m glad I did that”?

3. Start small. Really small.
   When you're physically starving, sometimes you just need a quick snack to get by until the full meal is ready. Same here. Until you figure out your deeper nourishment, find tiny things that fill your emotional tank such as a short inspirational reading, a small act of kindness, or a helpful task that reminds you that you’re capable. These won’t solve everything, but they can give you just enough breathing space to find the bigger solutions that will.

If the feelings Intensify, it’s important to recognize when you might need help from someone else such as a therapist, counselor, or a friend who can really listen.

One of the greatest gifts we can give to someone in a dark place is simply allowing them to talk. By listening without fixing or judging, we provide them with the validation that feeling low is part of being human.

When a person feels safe enough to say “This is what I’m feeling, and I know you’re with me”, a lot of suffering already begins to ease.