Emptiness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Emptiness (disambiguation).
Emptiness is described as an elusive and disturbing feeling of numbness, inability to feel anything emotionally, or not having any purpose. It can be better described as a situation where a certain lack or lacks in one's life overtake the emotional and mental focus in an obsessive, sometimes subconscious manner. Feelings of emptiness often accompany depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder. It may seek expression through different types of self-harming behaviors, and in more extreme cases, suicide.
Emptiness often involves alienation, be it temporary or acquired, and sometimes self-hatred. Persons tending to feel emptiness often come from problematic familial backgrounds. If at all there was a family nucleus, their needs were ignored, they were considered second class, they experienced many separations, or there was outright abuse. A feeling of emptiness may also be temporary, as a result of separation, death of a loved one, or other significant changes to one's life.
Signs of emptiness can be: Not wanting anything, especially material goods and money, Ignoring people and getting frustrated with what would not normally irritate a normal person, Self inflicted pain without gaining social or mental satisfaction, Trying strange things in the hope that it may give you temporary satisfaction e.g hitting yourself, fooling yourself into believing you are satisfied or insane which gives you satisfaction, No longer talking, having lost hope and having no enthusiasm or motivation towards anything, Staring forwards for long periods of time, pretending things to yourself.
[edit] Dealing with emptiness
Treatment of feelings of emptiness may be similar to treatment of depression. Some people may find psychotherapy beneficial. In cases of unemployed individuals, getting into the work market may help them enrich their lives, although pitfalls such as in the case of depression may prevent them from mustering the efforts of searching for a job. In such cases it is advisable to seek professional job placement help. Governmental agencies may offer help in this domain as well.
| Emotions |
|---|
| Acceptance • Affection • Ambivalence • Anger • Angst • Anticipation • Anxiety • Apathy • Bitterness • Boredom • Calmness • Compersion • Contempt • Confusion • Depression • Disappointment • Disgust • Doubt • Ecstasy • Embarrassment • Emptiness • Enmity • Ennui • Enthusiasm • Envy • Epiphany • Fanaticism • Fear • Frustration • Gratification • Gratitude • Grief • Guilt • Happiness • Hate • Homesickness • Hope • Horror • Humiliation • Jealousy • Limerence • Loneliness • Love • Lust • Melancholia • Panic • Pity • Pride • Regret • Rejection • Remorse • Repentance • Righteous indignation • Self-pity • Serenity • Shame • Shyness • Suffering • Surprise |
