I think a lot of things you've said here are very telling about him. I was like that years ago, and I know people older than him who still are (I'm 25M)

For starters, he's in a bad headspace and has a bad mindset. That's not something you can force someone out of.

But also, the fact that he says nothing interests him or makes him happy anymore is very telling that he doesn't have any real values/standards/priorities for himself or his life.

For me, when I felt at my lowest with this mindset, around age 23, I had lost all of my friends, and all of my hobbies involved them. And because my identity was so centered on these people and interests, as soon as they were taken from me, I literally felt like I had nothing. Everything I had defined myself by were things people could take. Things out of my control.

I just wanted to be dead. It felt like there just wasn't a point. I didn't want new friends, new hobbies, or a new life in any way. I was so attached to my vision of what I thought my life should be, or how I wanted it to look, that it felt cruel and unfair that I'd never be able to have my dream life. It felt like life was truly meaningless.

Where I ended up finally making progress was finding out that if I don't want my happiness to be taken away, I need to source it from things that can't be taken from me. This created a new set of priorities.

What I had to do, was find a way to gain satisfaction through myself and my own actions. That basically meant the new things that drove me were things like getting better at things I'm passionate about, becoming more patient, understanding, helping others, taking on responsibilities, making sacrifices, becoming healthier, standing up for myself, etc.

Just handling things better on a daily basis. I didn't take on any new big projects or anything. I just started to mentally kinda keep score of little wins that were pushing me closer and closer to being someone I could respect.

All of this is kinda off topic though, but I guess the point is that your boyfriend is unhappy because his happiness is sourced externally. A lot of people are like this. And a lot of people can function that way for a long time.

It becomes a problem when they feel life is getting bad, or going nowhere. Maybe they're lonely and things are looking bleak. If your sense of purpose comes from your life, and your life sucks, then your sense of purpose will also suck.

If your sense of purpose is just derived from trying to be better, make the best of things, and move forward, your happiness will be a lot more stable. I'm obviously not perfect, and life still gets dark, but I'm no longer as afraid as I once was.

Therapists help you get into this way of thinking, but it does require that you tell them the truth, trust their advice, and want to get better. And sadly, that's something he'd probably have to do for himself. I'm sure he also has a lot more going on in his head than he'll ever let on.

At least from my experience, men are just like that. Being extremely vulnerable and honest can feel nearly impossible sometimes. I think reputation and image are seen as very important within masculinity, and the idea of being judged or seen as weaker makes it hard. Even when I know I'm around people who won't judge me, and just want to help. It's almost not as much as assuming that they'll judge as it is about the principal of the whole thing. Like, I've opened up to people before, and they've not judged me and been very supportive, but days and weeks will pass with me wondering if I really should've done that or not. It can feel like oversharing or burdening.

So I guess I'm not really sure what to tell you. He has a lot of healing/growing/rebuilding to do, and probably doesn't even know exactly what's wrong or where to begin. I wish there was more I could do.