Existential Isolation

Existential isolation is the subjective feeling that every human life experience is essentially unique and can be understood only by the person living it, creating a gap between that person and other individuals and the rest of the world; it falls under existentialism and was addressed by Martin Heidegger in Being and Time in 1927 and explored further by Irvin Yalom in Existential Psychotherapy in 1980, where Yalom defined it as one of three forms of isolation, alongside intrapersonal and interpersonal isolation, and the only one of the three that can never be overcome. While every person can experience existential isolation, not everyone feels existentially isolated, and those who do report a weaker connection to others and greater questioning of their own beliefs due to a lack of social validation. Psychologists have only recently begun to study the concept, distinct from the more established study of loneliness and social isolation, and empirical work has found that scoring high on existential isolation is associated with lower life meaning and well-being, lower need satisfaction and purpose in life, greater death-related concern, and a positive correlation with anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and belief in conspiracy theories.