"Here's why existential loneliness is so harmful. It's known as a "deeper form of loneliness," than the garden-variety kind, with a participant in one study remarking, "Existential loneliness feels like I'm alone in a void that only I can see and feel and it doesn't exist or matter to others, however non-existential loneliness just makes me feel sad." (P151, 18-year-old, gender- fluid). Another study described it as feeling like " a prisoner of one's own mind.""
"We can feel connected to others and still feel existentially lonely. Take a veteran who returned home to old friends he loves, but who will never understand his experiences on the battlefield. Or take a gay man at his heterosexual friends' wedding who keeps hearing that marriage is meant for a man and a wife. Sure, he may love his friends and even feel connected to them, but that won't stop him from feeling existentially lonel"
Existential loneliness is a deep sense of being the only person experiencing the world in a particular way, distinct from ordinary sadness. People can remain socially connected yet feel that others cannot understand pivotal experiences, such as combat trauma or marginalization at social events. The feeling has been described as a void only the individual can perceive and as being like a prisoner of one's own mind. Sociopolitical events and value conflicts can heighten this alienation. Existential loneliness can be harmful but can also be addressed through coping strategies and reframing.
Read at Psychology Today
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