There is a specific kind of loneliness that only hits people who are surrounded by others but understood by none of them - Silicon Canals

"The loneliness that doesn't look like loneliness happens inside marriages, friend groups, open-plan offices, and family group chats that ping forty times a day. You are surrounded. You are not alone. And that, paradoxically, makes the loneliness worse—because you can't even explain it without sounding ungrateful."

"Psychologists have a term for this: existential isolation. It's distinct from interpersonal loneliness. Research from Pinel, Long, and Helm (2017) found that existential isolation—the sense that your inner experience is fundamentally separate from those around you—predicts distress even when people report having plenty of social contact."

"What this actually means: the number of people around you is irrelevant if none of them see the version of you that matters."

Loneliness exists in two distinct forms: isolation from physical absence and existential isolation from proximity without depth. The latter occurs within marriages, friendships, workplaces, and families where people feel surrounded yet fundamentally unseen. Psychological research distinguishes existential isolation from interpersonal loneliness, showing that inner experience feeling separate from others predicts distress regardless of social contact levels. This invisible loneliness is harder to articulate because external circumstances appear connected and inclusive. Standard advice to simply reach out and be vulnerable fails to address existential isolation, as the problem isn't a deficit of contact but rather a lack of genuine understanding between people who are physically present together.

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