Summary: Many people report feeling “empty” in their daily lives. Researchers have identified mental health symptoms, including suicidal thoughts and behaviours, associated with emptiness and say this psychological experience needs greater attention from clinicians and researchers.
Source: The Conversation
At some point many people will describe themselves as feeling “empty.” Yet this common, painful experience is rarely discussed as a distinct symptom outside of its association with borderline personality disorder. That condition is typically defined by emotional instability, troubled relationships, and persistent feelings of emptiness, but the sensation itself appears in many other contexts and among people without that diagnosis.
Motivated by repeated reports of patients describing themselves as empty when accessing mental health services in Scotland, our research team set out to learn more about what people mean by that word. Emptiness was seldom addressed directly in existing mental health research, so we began asking people, during interviews and surveys, whether they had ever felt this way and how they would describe it.
This enquiry grew into a four-year project in which we listened to the experiences of over 400 people. Our aim was to determine how common the feeling is, how people describe it in their own words, and why researchers and clinicians should take it seriously.
From these first-hand accounts we were able to develop the first definition of emptiness grounded in people’s lived experience. That definition clarifies what the feeling is for the people who experience it and provides a foundation for future research and clinical assessment.
“A bottomless jug”
More than 400 participants aged 18 to 80 who had reported periods of feeling empty completed an online survey describing their experience. Their responses were emotionally vivid and consistent. Many used metaphors such as a “bottomless jug that can never be filled” or described a sense of alienation: “a feeling of othering and separation from society” that “sucks all of the life and energy out of you.”
One participant wrote:
When you feel like everything you do is pointless and you’re just going through the motions. Just trying to fill in the time until you die. Sometimes you have fun or something good happens which can distract you for a while, but ultimately there is a hollowness inside which never goes away. It’s as if you’re transparent and anything positive like love or joy just passes right through you without sticking and afterwards it feels like it was never there at all.
Other descriptions emphasised a complete absence of motivation, or the sense of existing without truly being alive:
It felt as though I wasn’t fully part of the world, I couldn’t feel anything and nothing I did made an impact on events or other people, I ‘existed’ but I wasn’t ‘alive’.
Crucially, about half of the people who described feeling empty had never been diagnosed with a mental health disorder. This shows emptiness is not limited to people with borderline personality disorder or other diagnosed conditions; it can affect a broad cross-section of the population.
We also identified a concerning link between frequent experiences of emptiness and suicidal thoughts and behaviours. People who reported feeling empty all the time were more likely to have considered or attempted suicide, underlining the potential severity of this state.
Despite not being given a predefined meaning of emptiness, hundreds of participants supplied remarkably similar descriptions. Across accounts, emptiness was characterised by an inner void, a lack of life purpose, and a sense of disconnection from others and from the surrounding world. Many described feeling as though they were “going through the motions,” unable to engage meaningfully with life or contribute as they wished.
From these consistent descriptions we produced the first published, experience-based definition of emptiness. The definition aims to help clinicians recognize and ask about emptiness, and to provide researchers with a clearer concept to study and measure in future work.
A widespread but overlooked experience
Our findings suggest emptiness is more widespread than previously recognised. It can be transient for some and chronic for others, and for a subset of people it is a debilitating experience that affects every area of life and relationships. Because the feeling has not been routinely measured or discussed, many people’s distress has likely gone unnoticed or unaddressed.
By defining emptiness based on people’s accounts, this research highlights the seriousness of the experience and opens the door for improved recognition, assessment, and support. It also prompts a reconsideration of how we think about mental health and distress: many people struggle with this profound sense of emptiness regardless of formal diagnosis.
Important questions remain. Why do some people develop persistent feelings of emptiness while others do not? What factors sustain it, and what practical interventions could reduce the distress it causes? Answering these questions could improve quality of life for many and reduce deaths by suicide.
The next phase of the project will focus on creating a reliable measure of emptiness. A validated scale would allow clinicians and researchers to identify people who experience emptiness more effectively, study its causes and consequences, and evaluate treatments or supports aimed at reducing its harmful impact.
If this article raises difficult feelings for you, help is available. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or by email at [email protected]. The mental health charity Mind can be reached by calling 0300 123 3393.
For support in other countries, consult local health services or international directories of crisis lines.
Funding:
Fabio Sani previously received funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) for projects on social identity, group processes, and health. He is currently funded by the Scottish Government for work on psychosocial determinants of non-fatal overdose among people who use drugs.
Shona Joyce Herron reports no financial conflicts of interest and no relevant affiliations beyond her academic appointment.
About this psychology research news
Source: The Conversation
Contact: Fabio Sani and Shona Joyce Herron – The Conversation
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