Does anyone ever feel empty inside like I do?

I'm just wondering, is this part and parcel of being lonely, or something else? I can't seem to shake it. It's like something is missing inside of me, like an empty or partially filled stomach. But if I had to pinpoint where the feeling resides, it resides in my chest, rather than my stomach. This has been going on for at least a decade, if slightly more.

Anyone else have this empty feeling inside them, or is it just me?

Yes

We are designed that way for a reason

*hugs*

SophiaGrace said:

I'm just wondering, is this part and parcel of being lonely, or something else? I can't seem to shake it. It's like something is missing inside of me, like an empty or partially filled stomach. But if I had to pinpoint where the feeling resides, it resides in my chest, rather than my stomach. This has been going on for at least a decade, if slightly more.

Anyone else have this empty feeling inside them, or is it just me?

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Yeap, I got to the point of feeling like an alien because of this feeling, it's like there is a secret to a carefree life that everyone knows but me, and no one tells it to me.

Internally numbed....think it's some form of coping stratedgy the alternative is to be presented with a reality you would much prefer to avoid....so in some ways you could almost if you were inclined view it as an upside

Yeah I get that a lot. Sometimes I'm just sitting somewhere on my own thinking 'yeah I'm doing my own thing! I'm trying to live!' Then it all sort of comes along that dead weight in your chest, the hollow feeling. The emptiness can numb you. I think being lonely does this and maybe we'll have to live with it for life.

You can be lonely and not feel empty.

I think you probably feel empty if you don't know your purpose and aren't doing anything that makes you feel worthwhile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emptiness

Same thought had occurred to me but I guess we will both continue to try to avoid that live and breath be hopefull at least in those rare moments when I'm not totally ingulfed in a sea of self pity...sometimes I really think I need a bloody good slap

I feel this way at times, but I've realized, over the years, that it's often caused by, or magnified by, external sources. Some people are very sensitive to these external influences and may not even realize it.

EveWasFramed said:

I feel this way at times, but I've realized, over the years, that it's often caused by, or magnified by, external sources. Some people are very sensitive to these external influences and may not even realize it.

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I think you are right. I am very sensitive to external stimuli. I constantly must adjust my screen brightness, and noise bothers me more than most. I sense the effect of whatever I might put into my system instantaneously, whether it be medication, coffee or alcohol. I am very in tune to the nuances of my body's rhythmns too, knowing that when I turn my monitor down low at night, my body is releasing the chemical melatonin, or I know that when i get ovary cramping that my period is a few days away. The sun makes me wake up, or my medical machine being out of liquid wakes me.

Going in a group of people anywhere inevitably exhausts me mentally. I like people, I do, and I may even really enjoy being with them, but paying attention to so much at once is tiring. I'm also the type of person that pays attention closely to a person's facial expressions.

I cry easily, I'm not easily calmed down from anger…it takes a long while for me to regain equilibrium once upset.

Yes, I'm sensitive. Other people have said so as well.

sorry you feel like that
is it possible that you haven't found your life goal yet? or that you are missing something really basic for you, and that creates that feeling of emptiness?

about sensitivity: have you ever seen the book the Highly Sensitive Person?

there is also a test online
http://www.hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

some find it a real breakthrough, to realize and accept high sensitivity

Peaches said:

sorry you feel like that
is it possible that you haven't found your life goal yet? or that you are missing something really basic for you, and that creates that feeling of emptiness?

about sensitivity: have you ever seen the book the Highly Sensitive Person?

there is also a test online
http://www.hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/

some find it a real breakthrough, to realize and accept high sensitivity

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Took the test, scored highly. Some of the things though like "rich inner life" seemed a bit vague. What does one consider to be a rich inner life?

As for a life goal...I don't think I have a purpose in life. I don't think I contribute meaningfully to the world. I think I am useless and that I am not really talented in anything. You know? Some people have pride in "Hey I'm good at x,y & z" but I don't have that, least not anymore since this past semester. There's nothing I am really good at. There's no point to my life it feels. Hence I get suicidal thoughts (though this isn't the only reason, threat of failure or loss of some sort seem to be another trigger for them).

I have no sense of worth.

But the emptiness really feels like a lack of connection with other people, though it may be tangentially related to lack of meaning in my life in general. I wish I had someone in my life who really understood me, cared, was supportive and kind. Someone who I could bond with so I wouldn't be alone. I hate feeling like I'm adrift in space. I don't think I'll ever find that though since I think there's something wrong with my attachment style that's different from other people's. I seem to want and desire more closeness that others do.

i feel different. i feel heart tug sometimes .
feels like i have no long life.
i realize mixed feeling of happiness and sadness in me
i'm ok
i feel alone but i give smile
im ok `_`

Human beings are social creatures. One can argue, reasonably, either way whether this is by design or by necessity. Regardless, people feel an emptiness that is filled only with connectedness to others - people and perhaps even spiritual. If you didn't have any need for connectedness, you'd possibly be a sociopath. (I realize that is an antiquated term.)

Yes, I have had this inner feeling of emptiness all of my adult life. I think it is part of loneliness. Sometimes it is a physical pain in my chest as well. It is like being drowned in a void.
SophiaGrace-I share your longing for someone kind, supportive and understanding. I always strive to be this way myself towards others.
I doubt that you have more need for closeness that anyone else does. Your need for closeness is not being met and this is why it feels so vast.

As you know, Soph, I've been feeling this for months now. I'm sorry you feel it too.

Frodothelost said:

i feel different. i feel heart tug sometimes .
feels like i have no long life.
i realize mixed feeling of happiness and sadness in me
i'm ok
i feel alone but i give smile
im ok `_`

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(hugs) It's okay to feel different than I do.

It's good that you can feel some happiness.

Disappointed expectations can lead to a sense of emptiness or failure. There is no way that life " should " be ..just what happens and what you do.

I have never bee entirely keen on the whole idea if having a life purpose or goal, because it can seem like failing if you basically have no idea. I have no idea and never have had, really.

Thinking it was this or that or the other, and then it not coming to fruition was, I dont know, emptying? upsetting? Disappointing and depressing certainly. ..

. Letting go of the idea that I "should" have a life goal or that my life " ought" to be a particular way was quite liberating.

Basically, my life purpose is just ..to live. Some days are good, some not so, sometimes I feel crappy, other times I don't.

That's life.

^ that makes great sense, I guess with "goals" (very american, individualist concept, if you ask me, that puts competitive pressure even on self-actualization) I mean find something that creates enduring joy and satisfaction - like - the bee makes honey, that is its life purpose
the lion chases the gazelle, that is its life purpose

on the other hand, is the bee, is the lion happy? I wouldn't know

jaguarundi said:

Basically, my life purpose is just ..to live. Some days are good, some not so, sometimes I feel crappy, other times I don't.

That's life.

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This. The king and the peasant both go to their graves in the end. No matter how you live your life, the end is the same for everyone. There is no reason to fret about goals and success to the point that you forget how to live.

How empty...to just exist. To wake up, go through the motions, and go back to sleep until you die. To drift through life. I don't think anybody really knows what they are doing anyways. They look at Life and say "I'll take a whack at it", and in the end we all die anyway. Life is a silly and ridiculous zero sum game, but some lives are able to accomplish and do more than others. But, most don't. How do people cope with that?

Some people go through life never questioning the meaning of existence, I envy them.

But these are generalizations about Life itself rather than specifically applicable to my own self worth and feeling that something is missing.