Psychological Alienation Concept, Causes, and Treatment

Today's world is described as a changing world filled with contradictions and rapid developments produced by the ICT (information and communication technology) revolution and globalization. Human life is no longer a constant system, and man is constantly changing. However, not all changes undergone have been positive. Many negative things affected them, especially in developing communities, consuming, and imitating developed societies.

From such things, conflicts, disagreements, and a world fraught with wars, discomfort, and loss of security, people have found themselves living in a world that cannot secure their needs and realize their desires and dreams; as a result, they have many psychological problems such as anxiety, stress, depression, frustration, low self-esteem, and unwillingness to take responsibility.

They find themselves unable to bear them in the first place, thus gradually beginning to withdraw from society's activities and tending to isolate themselves from society and all related activities. One finds themselves unable to deal with these changes, at which point they enter the so-called psychological alienation.

The problem of psychological alienation is perhaps one of the most dangerous and deadly social and psychological problems for our young people today. It is a serious problem that carries with it many crises that affect young people, such as addiction to drugs and alcohol, aggressive behavior, rebellion against the order in society and breaking laws, indifference, and loss of a sense of belonging and loyalty.

It represents an individual's identity crisis, particularly at the university level, which is a sensitive stage requiring compatibility as a condition for the student's success and preparing them well for the life profession. So, in this article, we will learn what psychological alienation means and what its causes and dimensions are, and how we face it.

First: What Do We Mean by Psychological Alienation?

Many call today's world a world of alienation. Human beings suffer from blurred vision, falling victim to the many inconsistencies, and double standards. For example, we see them hearing about the need to uphold their religious belief, while at the same time they are required to conduct secularism.

In scientific terms, Hegel is the first to use the term "psychological alienation" in his book "The Phenomenology of the Soul", and many researchers have come after him. The concepts of alienation were numerous; however, they are compiled by some elements, such as isolation, introversion, distance from the activities of society, loss of loyalty, and inability to adapt to the social environment.

In Arabic, we say "alienation" in the sense of distance from the motherland. The lexicon of contemporary psychology defined alienation as a change in self-awareness characterized by a loss of identity and a painful experience of expatriation from family and companions.

In the psychological knowledge lexicon, both "Harry" and "Lamb" defined alienation as a situation or process in which something was missing or alien to the person who originally possessed it.

Robins sees alienation as "a sense of disconnect from, or lack of awareness of our internal experiences; the psychological expatriate cannot realize who is or what they feel. They are alien to themselves and do not feel what is happening within them."

Also, Petrovsky sees alienation as a term referring to a person's life relationships with the surrounding world. It shows the contradiction between a person's work, their activity, themselves and other individuals, and between the person themselves. Contradiction is manifested in difference, rejection, and hostility, and it is expressed through feelings of isolation, loneliness, rejection, and loss of ego and self.

Thus, in psychological alienation, people are unable to play the role assigned to them or the role that they determine for themselves, and they fail to achieve a meaningful relationship between themselves and the social environment surrounding them.

Second: The Dimensions of Psychological Alienation

1. Non-Compliance with "non-standard" criteria:

Non-normative means non-compliance to existing social controls, rebellion against traditions, derogation from the ordinary, and all that is common, non-participation in social behavior and work, and rejecting and hatred of all the values surrounding an individual. It is a state of violence and aggression against the culture and values of society for no reason. People see values as just a commodity to the highest bidder.

2. Isolation:

It means the distance and withdrawal of an individual from the trends in their society and everything related to their activities and the loss of a sense of belonging. Also, it is a disconnect from society's culture, norms, and duties. People feel lonely even if they are with the group, and they often wish they lived alone in this world, away from even their closest people.

3. Disability:

Disability is an individual's sense that they are helpless individuals, unable to influence the social events they are going through. It also means that they are  incapable of self-determination, they cannot control their actions and behaviors, make special decisions, or express their opinions freely and are never taken into account, unable to uphold their rights. They are deprived of will and subject to external forces that control and lead them.

4. Meaningless:

It is a stage in which an individual loses the purpose and meaning of life, as they see the lack of purpose in this love-free world from their point of view. They often wonder about the meaning of their existence and see no meaning in their continuation of life.

5. No sense of value "self-alienation":

It means a person's sense of invalidity as a human being and inability to communicate with themselves, and that they are not worth anything; rather, they are weird about themselves, and that they are useless and do not know what they want. It's like two people in one person, each going in a different direction.

Third: Causes of psychological alienation

Many reasons lead young people to feel psychological alienation and overlap with each other, and they can generally be confined to two groups. The first is psychological and the second is social.

1. Psychological reasons:

• Frustration: When the individual's wishes and aspirations are difficult to realize and difficulties are not overcome, they are accompanied by frustration that is related to a feeling of disappointment.
• The conflict: The contradictions experienced by the individual between what they want and desires and what ought to be, and between urgent and conflicting needs leads to conflict that leads to personality disorders.
• Deprivation: When obstacles stand in the way of achieving what the individual wants, their needs remain unsatisfied. This deprivation causes various personality disorders and the individual's sense of psychological alienation.
• Anxiety: It is a result of an unpleasant event that affects an individual's sense of reassurance and is the result of a state of lack of focus and inability to relax, rest, fear, and anticipation of a bad event, and the impossibility to enjoy anything in life.
• Psychological trauma, ongoing wars, sudden crises, and trauma cases that affect young people all lead to alienation.
• Various internal stresses affected the individual in their quest for perfection and idealism.

2. Social reasons:

• Social pressures.
• The dominance of modern technology, the rapid development which the world is witnessing, and the inability to adapt and be compatible with it.
• Socialization methods and personality disorders caused by it.
• Suffering from the trends of intolerance in society, suppression of freedoms, and political instability.
• The professional mismatch and the incompatibility of the profession chosen by the young man with their inclinations and desires.
• Lack of social interaction and non-cooperation among members of society.
• The absence of a goal to guide and protect them from loss.
• Financial difficulties faced by individual and overall poor economic conditions of the individual.
• Non-adherence to moral values and their difference from one generation to another.

Fourth: How Do We Cope with Psychological Alienation?

The best way to confront man's sense of alienation is to help them realize and restore their sense of belonging. This is done by identifying the psychological and social causes of alienation, detecting them early, delving into them, and dealing with them seriously to solve them, return to the self and the unity of personality, and deepen their connection with reality.

In addition to the need to enhance communication and social interaction, keep abreast of changes and developments in various fields, correct cultural conditions within society to ensure respect for traditions and customs, improve economic conditions, work to support political stability, develop a sense of democracy and the ability to express an opinion, and enhance national loyalty and pride in the homeland.

In conclusion: 

In light of the increase in local and global conflicts, the world's lack of humanity, and the change and loss of values, Arab youth have fallen victim to duplicity and lack of clarity in vision/ visibility, and they have become suffering from psychological alienation. Psychological alienation is a general concept used to refer to a state of personal weakness and the collapse of its unity, the rupture of feelings of belonging to the group, and the deepening of the gap between individuals in society. Man lives in it as a stranger to themselves and their group, and given the importance of the university stage in shaping the identity of the individual and preparing them for practical life. It is an important turning point in their life’s journey. Therefore, efforts must be made to save young people and protect them from the danger of falling into problems of alienation.