Inner Emptiness What Does It Feel Like?
Lots of things can make us feel empty inside. Grief, loss, hopelessness… but how do we explain it and what does inner emptiness feel like.
This feeling of inner emptiness can feel differently to each person who is experiencing it. Emptiness depends deeply on an individual’s situation, experiences, personality, and more. It can feel like something one day and another the next and may come and go in many combinations.
Though inner emptiness feels differently from person to person, there are some qualities and aspects of the experience that tend to show themselves most frequently. Having a basic understanding of these common ways to describe inner emptiness makes it a little easier to understand such an abstract description of feelings.
With this in mind below are a few descriptions of how inner emptiness may feel and can be described uniquely.
10 Ways Inner Emptiness May Feel
1. Something Big or Important is Missing From Your Life
Some people describe inner emptiness as if they’re missing a big, important part of their lives. It is described as if they are missing a piece of a puzzle. This feeling of incompleteness can stem from loss; for example, a person going through divorce, a job loss or the death of a loved one. All of these are examples of how some people may describe their inner emptiness. “something major missing from their lives”
2. Empty Inside Lack of Emotions, Good or Bad
Inner emptiness can feel like a lack of emotion or feeling. Rather than just missing the good, pleasant feelings, someone experiencing inner emptiness this way may have a hard time feeling anything.
For example, something that once would have angered them may no longer stir any feelings. This type of inner emptiness causes the person to lack both positive and negative emotions – instead, they feel an absence of them all.
3. Physical Emptiness, as if Something is Actually Missing Like Your Heart and Gut is Ripped Out
Inner emptiness can be felt on a physical level, too. When people experience inner emptiness this way, they often feel like something is physically missing inside of them. The missing aspect of themselves can feel like a piece missing from a puzzle or something that isn’t aligned properly. This feeling is physical, as if someone plucked the missing piece out of their chest, leaving behind an emptiness.
4. Inner emptiness Can Feel Like Your Trapped or Stuck
Another sign of inner emptiness can feel like you’re trapped or stuck in the same place. Perhaps your life has slowed down or changed in a way that doesn’t let you feel like you’re moving forward or progressing toward greatness. When this happens, you may feel so unmotivated and jaded about life that you lose the desire to keep trying to go forward.
5. Inner emptiness Can Feel Like Total Exhaustion
It’s not uncommon for people experiencing inner emptiness to feel incredibly tired. Dealing with emptiness is difficult, and because the experience can be so unique to each person, understanding how to handle it can feel overwhelming.
When you deal with this inner emptiness for a while, it’s not unusual to feel extremely tired. You may feel like your emptiness (and the factors causing it) are wearing down your energy levels, causing you to lose motivation and focus quickly.
6. Boredom and a Yearning for Something More
One of the most common signs and complaints is boredom. When someone feels empty inside it may manifest in boredom or disinterest in activities you normally enjoy. When you’re feeling empty, you may be bored with how your life is currently going . Often there is a yearning for something more, but you aren’t sure what it is or how to achieve it.
With these feelings weighing you down, you may feel defeated with the prospect of moving forward but also tired of the way your life currently is.
7. Feeling Empty Inside Feels Isolating and Lonely
When you’re feeling empty inside, it can be difficult to express your experience and feelings to other people. As you struggle with this challenging experience, you may have a difficult time trying to connect with others and get them to understand how you’re feeling and why.
This can create a barrier between yourself and the rest of the world, leading to isolation. As you grapple with your emptiness, it may be coupled with a sense of loneliness.
8. Like It’s Mounting on Top of Other Existing Issues
Struggling with other mental health issues such as depression or anxiety can complicate feelings of inner emptiness. Besides feeling empty, you may also feel worried, depressed, scared, and a variety of other complicated emotions.
As you oscillate between emptiness and your other emotions stirred by your mental health challenges, it can be difficult to discern what’s causing specific feelings to arise – your emptiness or your mental health challenge. Struggling with mental health can also cause you to feel a sense of emptiness.
9: Inner Emptiness Can Feel Extremely Overwhelming
Feeling empty can feel like you have a lack of substance to steady you in life. For example, you may feel easily overwhelmed or often confused about what’s happening around you.
Instead of knowing what’s going on, you may feel like you are trapped in a chaotic, unpredictable whirlwind of events that are difficult to predict and understand. This can cause confusion and even more disconnect between yourself and the rest of the world, making emptiness feel worse.
10: You Feel Like You’re a Spectator of Life Rather Than a Participant
Inner emptiness can make you feel like you’re not really a part of the action happening around you. Rather than being hands-on in life by making decisions, experiencing new things, and living for excitement, you may feel like you’re watching your life happen through a window.
This kind of living can feel a lot like watching characters in a television show – you see people speaking and acting around you, but you never feel like you fit in or get to be involved in the action.
