How can I get myself to go outside?

I've always been an outdoors person. Gardening, hiking, fishing, camping, DIY projects, hunting, foraging, swimming, and basically anything that doesn't require staying inside.
Then some things happened in the last 2 years and I don't go outside anymore for any reason if I can help it. It feels too open and I feel exposed. Nothing looks inviting out there. I don't care what a pretty day it is. Outside looks and feels like a black and white photograph. No sounds, no smells, no life, no beauty. I can see a pretty sunset or sunrise and I will say it's pretty because I know that when the sun does what it does at a certain time of day it can create a visual that's considered pretty to look at. I'm familiar with depression, but this seem like its more than that this time. I know that I have to make some changes in who I have around me, but it's a process that's slower than I'd like it to be. I'm already on anti depressants.

swirlie · F

I've encountered several people who have said the same thing to me. When you look at the time frame you speak of, that time coincides directly with the end of the Covid pandemic. I believe that many people are still in 'Covid' mode where they self-impose a lockdown on themselves and stay indoors because they feel comfort in isolationism.

A friend of mine said that he really liked the pandemic because the subsequent lockdowns that followed gave him the perfect excuse to be antisocial, irrespective of the underlying reason for lockdowns being Covid.