The Difficulty In Facing The Feeling Of Emptiness

” I have everything I want in life, but I still feel empty. “This phrase is very common to hear during psychological consultations. You have everything you ever wanted and longed for, but still do not feel happy. In this situation, it is quite common for individuals to do anything to stay distracted and to avoid thinking about the feeling of emptiness.

Usually, sooner or later there will be a day when they can no longer stand it. It is in this moment that the person often realizes that the right thing to do is to confront this void. But doing so is not always easy. To learn the causes of this emptiness can be a painful, however, a necessary thing to do.

The feeling of emptiness

You will not find the right words when you talk about the feeling of emptiness. If you’ve had this feeling at some point in your life or even right now, you know very well what we’re talking about. Sometimes an “existential crisis” can arise, as emptiness evokes thoughts about the meaning of life.

The feeling of emptiness can create extensive discomfort. In fact, this can be so intense that people do all sorts of things to make it stop. But they fail again and again. Controlling the feeling of emptiness can be like cupping your hands and trying to carry water with you for a long distance. This discomfort, coupled with the uncertainty of not knowing where to go or what to do, makes many people feel hopeless.

Believe it or not, many people experience this daily. This is the usual scenario: a person who seems to have everything they wanted, a good job, friends, a partner, but they still feel dissatisfied. There is also another common scenario: imagine that you succeed in reaching a long-term goal with a lot of effort and commitment. You thought it would make you feel happy and perfect, but in the end, you are disappointed instead.

Trying to fill the void

This feeling of emptiness is so disturbing that the initial impulse is to fill this void as quickly as possible. People who feel this way often try to alleviate this feeling with tools that do not work in the long run.

One thing these people tend to do is focus on avoiding boredom. That way, they have no time to think about the existential crisis they are going through. One thing that is worth noting is that they often have strong feelings of anxiety during moments of inactivity or in their free time.

Another resource they use to alleviate the feeling of emptiness is related to the acquisition of tangible property. It is very common to hide feelings of anxiety through coercion; they buy things they do not really need. For the same reason, they may resort to other addictions, such as alcohol, gambling and overeating, among other things.

Undoubtedly, all of these strategies have in common that they provide a temporary palliative relief to the feeling of emptiness. However, these types of addictive behaviors can generate other health problems, financial problems or relationship problems that often force the person to seek help.

Why does this feeling occur?

The feeling of emptiness is associated with symptoms related to the mood, so-called anhedonia to be more specific. It refers to the inability to enjoy what previously gave joy in the past. It is important to mention that this deficit is related to various brain functions.

In addition to this, this feeling is related to various psychological pathologies or important times in life. Let’s look at some of the most important:

• Mood disorders such as depression. When a feeling of emptiness becomes chronic, a depressive illness can develop, this is because the main symptoms of this disorder are hopelessness and anhedonia.
• Sorg. When you lose a loved one or go through a divorce, life suddenly changes as you feel it, which can put you off balance. It is quite common and completely natural to feel empty after such an experience.
• Excessively high expectations. When a person puts all their efforts into a goal, whether it is to get a stable job or to start a family, it is normal to have high expectations. But if they do not get things going the way they want, they can not escape disappointment. For example, we can see this during the so-called age crises.
• An excessive need for control. The main feature of neurotic spectrum disorders is the feeling of wanting to control everything that happens. For this reason, these individuals love to plan every little thing. Once they realize that many things are out of their control, the feeling of emptiness and hopelessness awakens.

Facing the feeling of emptiness

The feeling of emptiness is linked to a deep and non-specific discomfort. The person feels very anxious and has no idea how to stop feeling that way.

In addition, this void produces such intense emotions that it is common for people to resort to ill-considered strategies to solve the problem (such as staying busy, abusing drugs, or compulsive shopping) to try to alleviate it. However, these behaviors are only emergency solutions that can create more difficulties than the original problem itself.

The causes of this feeling are very different, and. In fact, they usually depend on the age of the individual. However, when the feeling of emptiness becomes chronic, a mood disorder, such as depression, can rise to the surface.

Although painful to realize, a certain level of emptiness or existential crisis is required during certain important stages of life, as it is a major motivating factor for change. When someone is facing this void, there is nothing to do but dig deep into themselves to find the cause.

In fact, this allows the applicant to reconstruct a new and better identity, with which the person can feel happier and overall satisfied. Sometimes we need to engage in self-introspection in order to reinvent ourselves.