Have you ever felt alone or isolated from the world? Well from being in middle school, I’ve learned that some people feel as if the world revolved around them. They do things they never would’ve done. Yet, they still do it just to try to fit in the crowd. From many experiences, I have learned that it’s ok to not be with the crowd since the crowd isn’t always the best option.
Cavalli, A. (2007). Casper or 'the cabinet of horrors.’ The Journal Of Analytical Psychology, 52(5), 607-623. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5922.2007.00688.x http://content.ebscohost.com.ez.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=27182542&S=R&D=a9h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESep644wtvhOLCmr0%2Bepq5Sr6%2B4TK%2BWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGnsEy2pq5RuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA Kenneally, S. M., Bruck, G. E., Frank, E. M., & Nalty, L. (1998).
Throughout an individual's life, they are taught the expectations of society. If they differ from those accepted ideals, they are seen as weird and different. As children, humans are affected by their surroundings, and they try to adapt to adult ideas of social groups. Each person wants to belong. Yet, people feel lonely and secluded.
We all fear being alone, sometimes enough to change ourselves to fit in. In one’s life there is always a struggle between loneliness and being yourself because society makes one believe that they must change to fit in. What happens when that change however brings the loneliness you were trying to fix. This idea is brought up by Daniel Keyes in his short story “Flowers for Algernon”. In the story the main character is developmentally disabled with an IQ of 68, he goes through an experiment that makes him slowly become much smarter but as he does he finds that he loses what he thought he was going to gain, friends.
Human beings are naturally social with one another. Therefore, the mere feeling of being socially isolated is likely caused by another's ethnicity, status, mental capability, or, by appearance. When socially unaccepted, the emotion of loneliness quickly rushes into the mind along with a negative path of thinking, such as self-critical thoughts. This inner critic feeds on the feelings of isolation and loneliness, causing the victim to remain remote from crowds, or urging the need to find people they can meaningfully connect with. Although when surrounded in the company of others, the victim does not always feel a sense of belonging, due to the incapability of overcoming mental obstacles, lack of understanding, and unawareness to the idea of quality over quantity.
We have no clue how someone else feels; even if they have friends, they can still feel alone and isolated. Instead of judging, we should try to be more understanding of people’s
The Heart of the Problem The famous nun, Mother Teresa, once said, “Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.” Loneliness is a common and well-known thing that people everyday deal with, whether it's caused by one’s own actions or the twisted decision of fate. This own feeling of being alone and different from the rest drives the victim to crave that closeness and friendship the rest of everyone else has, but deny the idea that they crave for this companionship. It can also lead a person to crave the companionship and relationship that others have to the effect where it becomes annoying to those around them.
In the world of today, people of different ethnicities, cultures, and religion, live in the same communities more often times than not. Although they are technically an association, “black sheep”, or in other words outcasts, are present among the group. These unlucky or perhaps lucky, depending on the point of view, individuals are then alienated either in a positive or negative way. On one hand, there exist a variety of people who believe isolation is only experienced by a select few. On the other hand, some argue that society, at one point or another, makes everyone experience the feeling of being an outsider.
According to Flood (2005, p. 2), ‘Loneliness is a symptom of the absence of interpersonal relationships’. Australian’s are becoming lonely due to an increasing number of disconnected relationships, poor sense of belonging within communities and the rise of people living in single households (Flood, 2005, p. 3). In western societies, 25% of people are considered to be lonely and this has been increasing (Grenade & Boldy, 2008, p. 3). One third of Australians have experienced loneliness at some point in time during their lifetime (Grenade & Boldy, 2008, p. 3). Loneliness can be caused through the separation from a partner, a physical or mental illness, the death of a loved one or from being a victim of physical violence (Australian Institute
The Institute of Psychiatry in New Zealand followed over a thousand kids for twenty years. They found that socially isolated children were at significant risk of poor adult health compared with non-isolated children. The need to belong is a fundamental human motivation that, when thwarted, compromises psychological health. Lonely children grow up to be exposed to more stress.
They frequently feel alienated and unable to related to their higher-income piers, because they feel as though they are out of place. [ testimonial ]. Being unable to relate to their piers often creates a feeling of loneliness and not belonging. Low-income, high-achieving students often feel left out of activities their higher-income piers participate in, like shopping and going out for meals, because they simply can't afford it, which leads to feelings of embarrassment, a fear of being judged, and sometimes even feelings of resentment, which can lead to social isolation. [statistic].
Although isolation is known for having a physical effect on people, it’s also known to have an long-term emotional affect too. An example of isolation would be having your spouse die causing you to stay at home due to depression of that loss. In the article “Loneliness In Our Modern Age”, written by Catharine Paddock PhD,
Have you ever felt lonely during your transition from middle school to high school? The causes of feeling lonely is low self-esteem you just feel like you do not fit in. As a result, this is caused by media giving us falsifying beauty standards and making teens develop low self-esteem. Teens who have low self-esteem have doubts about themselves and how they should act. Arnett states, “Teens often have bouts of low self-esteem and feeling of loneliness as they progress from elementary school to high school” (265.)
“Exclusion is never the way forward on our shared paths to freedom and justice” -Desmond Tutu Social exclusion is the act of making specific groups of people feel isolated and unimportant ("Social exclusion definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary", 2018). Lack of self-esteem and control are common behaviors that socially excluded people suffer from. It can severely affect, in an unfavorable way, how they look at themselves.
As children are exposed to influences outside the home, they begin to develop social skills such as self-control, sharing, and relationship building. Imagine if these skills were never learned. Dining out would be an entirely different experience. Adults would be pitching fits and fighting over the menu! Sadly, there are known cases of human isolation that prove the importance social
