I feel guilty for not wanting to be vegan anymore
22F. I've been vegan for like 6 months and tbh I'm really ambivalent. The movement is something I believe in but at the same time it's stressful being excluded from 99% of foods because it contains animal products in some form. I never want to eat meat again (I was vegetarian from 12-17, and a meat eater from 17-21) because the guilt is awful and the meat industry is cruel, but I wonder if it means anything. The dairy and egg industry is similarly cruel because it's all linked but at the same time I do feel it's not so bad to be vegetarian bc of things like buying free range.
I have ADHD and a few other disorders and it's stressful having to take like 8 supplements a day. I feel like I'm dying if I go a week or two without taking them. And I do wonder if it's something I can or even want to keep up long term. I wonder if veganism is fully natural, since animals do eat other animals, but then the farming industry is very manufactured and unethical. I don't know. I feel veganism is valid but then there's extreme sides to it, like no aquariums or pets or whatever. I don't feel I fit in with the community.
Idk what to do, bc if I switch to being vegetarian I feel the guilt would hurt, but it seems more doable for me. On the other hand, I feel veganism has health benefits (dairy makes me break out/flares eczema) and there's a peace of mind. And then the sun will will implode in 10 billion years and nothing matters anyway?
Posted Dec 4, 2025, 9:51 PM UTC