No matter how many ups and downs I go through, how come every time I'm down, it feels like I'm trapped and I'm never going to get out?

I've experienced a lot of that feeling in my life, and what made it worse was to think that it was not normal, and something was wrong with me. The thing is that we don't learn or heal in a linear way at all. We learn/heal in curves, in "spirals" or cycles. Everytime you feel like you're back in the same pit you've been in countless times before, try to remember that it is normal and that nothing has gone wrong if you've relapsed". Cause that's unfortunately how it works: we heal more deeply everytime, and each time it gets a little bit better, and a little bit better, until it's good. :) Also, it is the nature of pain/feeling down to make us feel like it's not okay to feel a certain way, and also that we are alone in pain, and that there is something wrong with us for feeling that way. Yet again, there is nothing wrong with you for feeling the way you feel, we all exprience that when in pain, unfortunately :/ (until we learn to be aware of that when it happens, and then we can find relief). So there are two ways to look at this: one is that you always go down after "being up", the other is that you always go "up" after being down :). It can help to remember that.

This is a normal emotion for many of us, even the happiest of people get this feeling. Realising it’s normal is half the issue. Some people feel a sense of depression or some anxious feelings when they have downs which can correlate to that trapped feeling that you mentioned. We are all human after all. I highly recommend checking out the anxiety guide on 7 cups. If it becomes overwhelming you can always talk to a listener, we are here for you 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. There’s always someone here for you and you’re never alone.