Bakgrund: Ålderdom påverkar livet, kroppen och sinnet. Långvarig, ofrivillig ensamhet är skadligt för hälsan och vanligt förekommande bland äldre personer. Existentiell ensamhet utgör en form av ofrivillig ensamhet och definieras som en plågsam insikt om att vara separerad från världen och andra människor. Nästan alla erfar det någon gång i livet, särskilt i samband med kriser eller att man upplever sig stå inför döden. Inom existensfilosofi och existentiell psykoterapi beskrivs ångest och lidande som grundläggande livsvillkor och existentiell ensamhet är ett resultat av detta. Lidandet är i sig meningslöst men med hjälp av copingmekanismer och stöd kan man ta sig igenom lidandet och skapa mening. Äldre personer uttrycker ofta ett behov av att samtala om existentiella frågor medan sjuksköterskor inte sällan undviker dem då de upplever samtalen som svåra och ofta känner sig otillräckliga. Stöd till vård- och omsorgspersonal är därför viktigt. Samhällsutvecklingen pekar mot ett allt mer ansträngt läge inom vård och omsorg och arbetsgivare och fackförbund tvistar om ansvarsfördelningen. Ansvaret för äldres hälsa ligger dels på individen själv, dels på vård- och omsorgspersonal och samhället. Syfte: Att undersöka äldre personers upplevelser av existentiell ensamhet. Metod: En systematisk litteraturöversikt genomfördes. Urvalet bestod av tio kvalitativa vetenskapliga originalartiklar publicerade mellan år 2003–2023. Deltagarna bestod av äldre personer från 60 år. Materialet tematiserades med en induktiv ansats, därefter diskuterades resultatet i relation till Katie Erikssons lidandeteori. Resultat: Tre teman med underteman togs fram ur resultaten: Det första temat var Att känna sig frånkopplad från världen med undertema meningslöshet och När orden inte räcker till. Det andra temat var Att förlora och omdefiniera sig själv med undertema Frihetsförlust, Kontrollförlust och Identitetskris. Det tredje temat var Att leva i ett relationellt tomrum med undertema Att känna sig isolerad och Tankar på döden. Slutsats: Upplevelser av att sakna djupa relationer samt att förlora kontrollen över sitt liv kunde utlösta existentiell ensamhet hos äldre personer. Det gjorde att de kände sig frånkopplade från världen och andra människor samt upplevde meningslöshet. För att kunna hjälpa äldre personer med dessa känslor behöver sjuksköterskor kunskap om vad som orsakar existentiell ensamhet och vad den innebär. / Background: Old age affects both life, body and mind. Long-term involuntary loneliness is harmful to ones health and common among elderly people. Existential loneliness is a form of involuntary loneliness and is defined as a painful insight in being separated from the world and other people. Most people experience it sometime during their lifetime, especially during a time of crisis or when one feels confronted with death. Within the realm of existential philosophy and existential psychotherapy, anxiety and suffering are described as fundamental conditions for life and existential loneliness is a result of this. Suffering itself is meaningless but with the help of coping mechanisms and support, one can get through it and create meaning. Elderly people often express a need to talk about existential concerns while nurses can be avoidant since they find these conversations tough and feel insufficient. This makes support for the nursing staff an important matter. The societal development indicates an increasingly strained situation within healthcare and elderly care, with employers and trade unions disputing over the allocation of responsibilities.  The responsibility for the health of elderly people lies partly on the individuals themselves, partly with healthcare and care personnel, and partly with society. Aim: To explore elderly persons’ experiences of existential loneliness. Method: A systematic literature review was carried out. The literary sample consisted of ten qualitative, scientific original articles published between 2003–2023. The participants in the studies were elderly people from the age of 60 and older. The material was thematized with an inductive approach, thereafter it was discussed in relation to Katie Erikssons theory of suffering. Results: Three themes with subthemes emerged in the results. The first theme was To feel disconnected from the world with the subthemes Meaninglessness and When words aren’t enough. The second theme was To lose and redefine oneself with the subthemes Loss of freedom, Loss of control, and Identity crisis. The third theme was To live in a relational void with the subthemes To feel isolated and Thoughts on death. Conclusions: Experiences of lacking deep relationships and losing control of their lives could trigger existential loneliness within elderly persons. This made them feel disconnected from the world and other people and made them experience meaninglessness. To be able to help elderly persons with these feelings, nurses need knowledge regarding what the cause of existential loneliness is and what it means.

This dissertation deals with people with mental illness that currently live in their own accommodation in the community. Common to all mentally ill people is their serious difficulties in carrying out activities and meeting needs in important areas of life. Terms such as "normalisation" and "integration" into the community of this group were important words full of promise at the time the psychiatric reform was carried out. However, there is some strong evidence that the psychiatric reform has not been completely successful. Despite the knowledge that loneliness and social isolation commonly occur among people with mental illness, there is little research that describes how mentally ill people themselves experience their life situation. The overall aim of the dissertation was to gain deeper understanding of the life situation of peop with mental illness via their own narratives on how their day-to-day life appears to them, ar through this gain knowledge of the type of support needed for them to live a satisfactory life. Various data acquisition methods were applied. Study I involved in-depth interview of two men and two women on their daily life. Data acquisition in Study II was via participant observations, an activity unit for people with mental illness. Photographs were used for Studies III and IV Eight informants were issued with disposable cameras and asked to take approximately 10 pictures of objects, situations and/or individuals. These photographs were then used as a basis for follow-up interviews. Results from Study I showed that informants were aware both of their illness and their psychosocial disadvantages, and that they had insight into what was required of them to influence their situation, while simultaneously having insight into their poor ability to tak initiatives. Informants in Study II experienced themselves as unwelcome, vulnerable and marginalised individuals with little hope of a change in existence, resulting in anxiety over the future. They felt trust was lacking in relation to other people and experienced themselves as not accepted in the company of others or by society. Study III provided description of informants occupied with themselves and their existence. The informants tell of a form of spirituality giving them a sense of peace and tranquillity, but which only exists for them at the beginning and end ol life.  Animals are more loyal than people and make no demands, but are however, according to the informants, in a position of dependence on humans. Possessions are of significance to the informants, meaning they see their possessions as part of themselves. In Study IV informants related how they would like their future to appear. They also told what having an identity meant to them, how identity is formed in individuals, what having a mental illness and feeling good means. The informants showed a longing to be seen, but at the same time not wanting to be seen. Finding a meaning with life was important since it could end at any moment. In summary, the findings point to an existential loneliness that consists of a life pattern consisting of an interaction between the impact of the mental illness and the identity as a mentally ill person feelings of marginalisation and abandonment. Experiencing that life has a meaning, possibility o social exchange and a sense of control seem to be important for the persons with mental illness in this study. Consequently, it can be inferred that if the care of people with mental illness pays attention to the dimensions of existential loneliness persons with mental illness may be helped to experience that life has a meaning despite their disability.

In this thesis, I will discuss the conceptualization of existential loneliness in the early writings of the German psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), especially his lecture “Einsamkeit” (1915/1916) and Philosophie (1932). I will try to elucidate the dynamics and processes involved in existential loneliness and its overcoming in existential communication. I will show that the shared objective world is the only medium for existential communication. The intersubjective encounter in the shared objective world is the occasion for the reciprocal taking/demanding responsibility, which will stimulate the inner dialectical movement of existential loneliness, i.e., between autonomy and authenticity. I will argue that existential loneliness is not something substantially negative or a disease that we must cure but a vital and creative process that makes us human. Blocking this process will have devastating consequences since it will impede the isolated person from being him/herself. Furthermore, I will discuss a few possible applications of the examined processes in human-robot interaction since the efficiency of the robots in helping humans overcome their existential loneliness will depend on their capacity to perform the processes discussed in this thesis.

Existential  loneliness  is  a  specific kind  of  loneliness,  associated  with decreased emotional  well-being.Existential loneliness differs from physical aloneness and is connected to negative feelings and  moods;  in  contrast,alonenesscan  be  experienced  as  something  positive  and  emotionallycharging.The institutionalized elderly care is an integral,part of the Swedish Welfare state. The Swedish population is getting older, factors likedemographic changesand migration flowinfluence on  the  traditional  welfare  system. Societal  culturesand  lifestyleare  underestimated  health determinants affect subjective(emotional)well-beingof the citizens. Sweden demonstrateshigh rates of single households,and a traditional societal structure encourages social isolation. A sense of belonging, the importance of the presence of attachmentfigures,and supportiverelationshipsincrease the individual’spossibility to a positive aging processwith a transition from a materialistic to a cosmic coherencedue to the Theory of Gerotranscendence. The sense of belonging increasesfeelings  of  being  attachedand the presence  of  attachment  figuresenhance  understanding  of protection and security in times of need;both of those concepts boost emotional well-being. Being attached and  belonged  keep  functioning  throughout  life  as aninstinct  of  human  beingsandno one  is  completely  free  from  being  relianton  others. Constructive social,  individual,and institutional supporthaspositive effects on the overall individual and societal health.Individuals’ life circumstancesand experiences define thekind of social, individualand institutional supportdesiredand needed.

Ensamhet och bristen på tillhörighet bland människor i det moderna samhället är ett utbrett och växande problem. Strävan efter individualitet och självuppfyllelse präglar individer i det moderna individuella samhället – ett samhälle där friheten och möjligheterna även genererar i rädsla, ångest, otrygghet och existentiell ensamhet (Bauman, 2002). Längtan efter gemenskap och samhörighet, efter en koppling till kollektivet leder människan till ett sökande som ibland kan bli livsfarligt. Syftet med denna studie har varit att belysa samt få en ökad förståelse för den process som sker då individer i det moderna samhället söker sig till kända farliga grupperingar såsom sekter genom att besvara frågeställningarna: varför lockades de tidigare sektmedlemmarna till sekten? Hur upplevdes tiden i sekten av de tidigare medlemmarna? Hur kan ett sektmedlemskap förstås med utgångspunkt i teorier gällande tillhörighet och trygghet i det individualiserade samhället? Det teoretiska ramverk som tillämpats vid analysen av empirin är Zygmunt Baumans (2002) teori om det individualiserade samhället, Anthony Giddens (1999; 2010) teorier om ontologisk trygghet och försvagningen av traditioner i den globaliserade skenande världen, Robert Putnams (2001) teori om avsaknaden av kollektivet samt David Riesmans (1999) teori om den moderna människan som gruppstyrd. Metoden är kvalitativ och empirin utgörs av massmedieprodukter i form av inspelade intervjuer tillgängliga via internet. Resultatet av studien visar att människor söker sig till sekter då erbjudandet om tillhörighet, gemenskap och svar på existentiella frågor lockar mer än de fria valen. Sektmedlemskapet medförde dock efter en tid ett större lidande än det tidigare sökandet och den existentiella ångesten gjorde, vilket fick medlemmarna att sakna det de först ville komma ifrån – det enskilt betungande identitetssökandet. Resultatet utifrån denna studie pekar dock på att kollektivet alltid är starkare än den enskilda individen. / Loneliness and the lack of belonging among people in the modern society is a widespread and growing problem. The pursuit of individuality and self-fulfillment characterizes individuals in the modern individual society – a society where freedom and opportunity also generates anxiety, insecurity and existential loneliness (Bauman, 2002). The longing for community and togetherness, a connection to the collective, leads the individual towards a search that sometimes become dangerous. The purpose of this study has been to elucidate and gain a greater understanding of the process that occurs when individuals in modern society decides to join known dangerous groups such as cults by answering the research questions: why were the former cult members attracted to the cult? How was the time in the cult experienced by the former members? How can a cult membership be understood on the basis of theories of belonging and security in the individualized society? The theoretical framework used in the analysis of the empiricism is Zygmunt Bauman's (2002) theory about the individualized society, Anthony Gidden's (1999; 2010) theories of ontological security and the weakening of traditions in a globalized world, Robert Putnam's (2001) theory of the absence of the collective and David Riesman's (1999) theory of the individual as group controlled. The method is qualitative, and the empiricism consists of mass media products in the form of recorded interviews available on the Internet. The results of the study show that people join cults when the offer of belongingness, fellowship and answers to existential questions attract more than free elections. However, the cult membership, after a while, caused more suffering than the previous search and existential anxiety did, which caused the members to miss what they first wanted to escape from - the burdensome individual identity search. However, according to this study the result shows that the collective is always stronger than the individual.

KRÁTKÁ, Eva. The Issues of Meaning of Life and Selected Aspects of Existential Anxiety. Prague, 2012. Dissertation. Charles University in Prague, Philosophical Faculty, Department of Psychology. This dissertation explores issues of experiencing the meaningfulness of life and of selected aspects of existential anxiety, and it verifies whether there is some connection between some measure of meaninglessness of life being experienced and some measure of knowingly experienced existential anxiety and some selected factors which can influence our awareness of our anxiety. The research is focused mainly on adolescents and young and middle-aged adults of different genders, degrees of education and residences in the Czech republic. The survey included 170 respondents and was done with use of quantitative method. Obtained data were processed using the SPSS statistical program, and they are presented in the form of tables, graphs and commentaries. This study confirms an importance and frequency of existential beliefs and experiences and it shows that they are closely connected to an experienced meaningfulness of life and to some personality traits and circumstances of life. Therefore, a deeper research of this area seems to be beneficial and helpful not only from the therapeutic point of view alone.