Loneliness, its nature and forms: an existential perspective

The Existential Loneliness Questionnaire: Background, development, and preliminary findings

“…Jaspers (1970) noted that these events demarcate existence, and included, for example, finitude, chance, loneliness, and the most powerful of all-death (May & Yalom, 1995;McGraw, 1995). Transitions in life such as infancy to childhood, adolescence to adulthood, old age, and death, as well as traumas such as occupational changes, disease, and natural calamities may also constitute boundary situations and generate feelings of existential loneliness (Gaev, 1976;McGraw, 1995;Moustakis, 1961). 2 Seen as a unidimensional concept, all aspects of one's interpersonal, social, cultural, and psychological experience are assumed to be affected (McWhirter, 1990) and no distinction is made between the various types of loneliness.…”

“…However, only two 1 Boundary situations have been described as experiences or events that confront one with "frightening threats of being" (Ottens & Hanna, 1998). Jaspers (1970) noted that these events demarcate existence, and included, for example, finitude, chance, loneliness, and the most powerful of all-death (May & Yalom, 1995;McGraw, 1995). Transitions in life such as infancy to childhood, adolescence to adulthood, old age, and death, as well as traumas such as occupational changes, disease, and natural calamities may also constitute boundary situations and generate feelings of existential loneliness (Gaev, 1976;McGraw, 1995;Moustakis, 1961).…”

The Social Construction of Loneliness: An Integrative Conceptualization

“…He pointed to the need for contact in infancy, adult participation in activities in childhood, compeers in the juvenile years, acceptance in the later juvenile years, and intimate exchange beginning in preadolescence (p. 261). McGraw (1995), from a more philosophical-existential stance, expanded Fromm-Reichmann's view and depicted both the lack of intimacy and meaning in various combinations as the fundamental deficiency set in the infrastructure of all loneliness experiences. Baumeister and Leary's (1995) view which is extensively adopted in evolutionary perspectives of loneliness (e.g., Heinrich & Gullone, 2006;Rokach, 2011), calls into attention the thwarting of the need to belong.…”

Loneliness and Silence in Autism - Implications for Psychotherapy

“…High-functioning autistic adults report a pervasive sensation of loneliness in reference to their own dissimilarity and lack of belonging to the surrounding world (Davidson, 2007;Jones et al, 2001). This feeling may be compared to cultural loneliness (McGraw, 1995). Seemingly, the incapability to communicate with others with the use of a language is also a type of loneliness.…”

“…The main feature distinguishing psychotic loneliness from all the other types is its degree, duration and defenses. A very interesting idea of loneliness was put forward by John McGraw who, reaching for its philosophical sources, subdivided it into 10 categories: 1) metaphysical, 2) epistemological, 3) communicative, 4) ontological (or intrapersonal), 5) ethical (or moral), 6) existential, 7) emotional (linked with love and sexual instinct), 8) social (linked with friendship), 9) cultural and 10) cosmic (McGraw, 1995). All the aboved mentioned forms of loneliness affect healthy people with no mental disorders.…”