My favorite quote is, “Life has an interesting way of pulling its strings.” It is like we are puppets and life is the puppeteer. Whenever it feels like, it makes us do what it wants. Sometimes, when life hits us, we withdraw ourselves from the rest of the world and lock ourselves in a room, surrounded by the silence of our own thoughts. At some point in our lives, we have all felt the need to isolate ourselves, to withdraw from the world and hide behind the curtains. Now, the big question is; why do we isolate ourselves? Why do we feel the need to lock ourselves behind doors and not want to see anyone? What drives us to shut ourselves from others. The reasons for isolation vary from one person to another. For some, it might be simple reasons and they just need time to get out of that phase. For others, it might go deeper than that, and they'd need help from family and friends to battle the phase. For Day 4 of the Inleo prompts, we are asked to discuss the reasons we isolate ourselves.
One of the reasons we may isolate ourselves is because of traumatic experiences. Trauma messes with our psychological well-being. As a result of traumatic experiences, we may pull away from the world, hiding behind the curtains to prevent ourselves from future pain. Recently, I watched a movie- See You on Venus- The movie is not great and I wouldn't recommend you watch it, but it is applicable to this topic. The main character had a traumatic experience- while on a journey with two of his friends, they had a terrible accident in which one of them died, the other got his legs broken and might be unable to walk again, but he, the main character, came out with only a few scratches. That experience marked a change in his life. He used to be an outdoor person who played football every day. However, after that traumatic experience, he locked himself indoors and wouldn't even want to talk to his parents.
People who have had ugly experiences like abuse may find isolation as a coping mechanism. For example, a teenager who got abused by a predator, exposing them to such an ugly experience for the first time. Such an experience may affect their psychological well-being that even merely seeing people will remind them of such an experience. These are the kind of people who need help to overcome their fears.
Moving on, another reason why people may isolate themselves is as a result of grief and loss. People who have lost a partner, a close friend, or even property may find isolation to be a coping mechanism. I once shared a story about how my friend's parents lost their property, worth millions, to a wildfire. Imagine building your entire life and channeling every bit of energy and resources you have into your business, only for it to be destroyed by a wildfire. This was exactly what happened to my friend's parents. It was a Sunday, a day when most people don't go to their workplace. In the evening, they received a call that their shop was on fire. Apparently, the transformer that distributed electricity had caught fire. To make matters worse, it was located in the middle of many shops, causing the fire to spread quickly. Before they arrived, their shop and everything inside had already been burned, almost to ashes.
They stopped coming out. Usually, you see them every evening on their way to church. But after that incident, they stopped going out. After a few months, they overcame the terrible experience and started building again from scratch.
Some other reasons why we may isolate ourselves are addiction, social anxiety, physical illnesses and so on.
Thanks for reading.
