Many people who have suffered emotional or spiritual pain have learned to mask their pain with other things, like food or alcohol. Many don’t realize that they are doing this.
But what about the “hidden” areas of our life? What about the pain that comes from being rejected by a friend or family member? Or from losing a job? Or from getting divorced?
I often talk about spiritual health as it relates to our relationship with God, but what about spiritual pain? This is a topic that, I have been thinking about for some time now, and I am convinced that we need to talk about it more. Let’s understand more about it in this blog.
What is spiritual pain?
Spiritual pain, also known as existential distress, can be felt in the places of our lives where we feel helpless or out of control. It may not be as visible as physical pain, but it is still very real and can impact our physical and emotional health.
We have found that spiritual pain can come from several different sources. For example:
- When we feel like we are not living up to our potential or doing enough good in this world
- When we feel like we are letting someone down or failing them
- When we feel like no one cares about us or that we don’t deserve love
- Struggles with our identity
- Unresolved issues from childhood trauma or abuse
- Difficulty connecting with God/Higher Power
Let’s dive in deeply…
The 4 main categories of spiritual pain are:
Meaning: Struggles with the meaning of life, relationships, and the world around you can lead to painful feelings of pain, sorrow, and grief.
Relatedness: Relatedness means dealing with relationships, whether they are good or bad.
Forgiveness: the pain we feel when forgiving others, ourselves, and God.
Hopelessness: a feeling that things will not change for the better.
The symptoms of spiritual pain
Spiritual distress can vary from person to person. Some people experience spiritual pain as a sense of confusion, and others as a feeling of emptiness. Some of the signs and symptoms of spiritual pain are:
- Anger, hopelessness, and depression
- Anxiety, insomnia, and feelings of abandonment by God
- Wondering about the meaning of life or suffering
- Having spiritual doubts
- Feeling disconnected from others, yet unwilling to engage
- Feeling abandoned, alone and outcast
- Expressing a loss of hope for the future
- Feeling trapped
- The intensity of grief can be overwhelming
- Anger, shame, and guilt accompany these feelings
Some common causes of spiritual pain: 3 things you must know!
1. Spiritual pain can also come from guilt, shame, or regret over something in your past: Many times when people experience depression they are also experiencing spiritual pain because they are struggling with guilt, shame, or regret related to something in their past.
2. Spiritual pain hurts like physical pain: I know what it feels like to have my body broken down by illness and injury. But nothing compares to the level of hurt I experienced when it felt like my soul was being torn apart from within.
3. Spiritual pain can be caused by loneliness: We all know that loneliness can cause depression, which can lead to an increase in stress levels, which can lead to eating disorders, anxiety disorders, and other mental health issues. However, loneliness also affects our spiritual health as well — not just our ability to feel connected with others but also our ability to connect with God Himself. When we are lonely we feel isolated from others and isolated from God — which leads us to even greater feelings of isolation.
Dealing with spiritual pain
Spiritual pain is a part of a person’s total pain. We need to observe and deeply listen to a person in order to accurately assess spiritual pain. Spiritual pain can be a source of great distress. It is important that we work with people in these situations, not only because it is an ethical imperative, but because the long-term benefits of helping people who are suffering are so great.
Lastly, please help us help you! If you observe someone going through spiritual distress, we invite you to join our free community healing circle. This gives people a safe place to ask for support and inspiration while sharing their frustrations when life becomes messy. Or you can help them opt a private coaching with Jacqueline Kane, an experienced therapist who can help in holistic healing by realizing old pain patterns that are limiting them from stepping into their power and living their best life
