One could feel lonely in a roomfull of people.What does that suggest or mean to you?

That the person is not making an effort to connect.

They would rather be home where they feel comfortable.

For me it’s about how my own self esteem is tracking I sometimes feel like that and have not been able to get on top of my thoughts and just picked up and gone home

It could easily just mean that they are not finding any connection to those present. Not every social situation affords quality interactions. I know that I tend to just drift off on my own if I am not finding stimulating people to engage with. Tune out turn in. lol

It depends on the situation and the individual. Even the most gregarious person can feel lost in a crowd. It may be everyone else knows each other. Or the other people are very familiar with their surroundings and the process the meeting follows. Even in a party, if you’re the new person in a room of connected people, you can feel like the outsider.

I’m very outgoing but I don’t like going to conferences/seminars where you are then expected to mingle with a heap of strangers and make small talk. I can feel quite isolated in a room full of people in that situation. This is especially true when the people come from entirely different work backgrounds and have very little in common.

If someone has no friends in a situation of finds no one they can talk to they feel alone. Maybe they can’t get into a conversation or maybe they’re not comfortable trying to, but whatever the reason they’re alone. For me it’s usually because I’m self conscious and awkward around people.

First of all, objectively analyze the statement. How do you feel lonely in a room full of people? Anyway….In my opinion, it simply means lack of effort. It means they are waiting for somebody else to make the effort to “make” them feel more comfortable.

I suppose people who “feel lonely” in a room full of people are going to dislike the answer.

But I think in most cases I am right.

I feel less lonely than bored. In most of those types of settings I don’t find anyone interesting.

You’re not with people with whom you connect. Make a couple friends first, so you’ll know there is someone there with whom you get along. Better to have one or two real friends than a roomful of strangers.

I experience this every few days (uncontrollable circumstances – soon ending, thank goodness), and it is the worst “lonely” there is. It might be the worst feeling there is – being in a room full of people and watching them enjoy on another’s company, while knowing full well that they don’t enjoy your company and/or you theirs. If you’re stuck in that for too long, you start feeling as if those people who don’t appreciate you as a person are the only people on the earth, and if they don’t like you, life is pointless.

I think it’s easy to feel lonely in a room full of people. If you feel that everybody is connecting except for you, it’s a lonely feeling. I also think the same goes for a big city where people just walk by each other on the streets.

The person could be among people who are interested only in one another, and not the person feeling who’s lonely.

Example. Have you ever gone out with a friend and his/her old friends from out-of-town, and the group spends the entire time on “Remember When”? They talk nonstop about high school, or all the fun they had at their fraternity, or people whom they knew way back in the day—all subjects that are completely unfamiliar and uninteresting to you. You feel very excluded (and, you’re not wrong, because you can’t even join in the conversation) and just want to go home.

Example. You go out for drinks with some co-workers. You’d been looking forward to spending some time with them and getting to know them better. You’re not an office gossip, but all they want to do is trash, backstab, and talk about colleagues. You’re very uncomfortable and can’t wait to leave.

If I was the only person in a room full of rabid conservatives I would feel very much alone.

@Dutchess_III You’re my hero!

I may be the most liberal, progressive person alive. I have no problems, whatsoever, with moderate conservatives; I respect their positions, enjoy chatting with them, and can learn from them. But, a bunch of extreme, knee-jerk right-wingers? No way.

@SadieMartinPaul I feel the same way about extreme liberals…

Sometimes it’s not about lack of effort or something that is necessarily the fault of that person. Let’s face it, we’re not always going to connect or click with those around us, and sometimes people just decide that they’re not going to like you for whatever reasons.

Some people need more than mindless chatter to feel connected, so yeh, just because you’re in a room full of people, you can still feel lonely. I get that way if I have had to spend a lot of time (like a weekend) with people I don’t connect with, but everyone else seems to be cozy. Besides being boring, you have to appear to be interested and having a good time, which makes it all the worse. If I could escape and go read a book or take a walk by myself, I would not feel lonely.

It means you don’t identify with the other people in the room.

It would mean you don’t have any friends in that room.

My husband would never, ever feel lonely as long as there were people around. Everyone is his friend. Me…I’d rather be alone.

Like many people have said, it can indicate a disconnect from others in the room but it’s happened to me when I’ve been surrounded by friends as well as strangers. Loneliness extends far beyond the physical and disconnect/depression have factored into my own at times.

Introversion or a social disorder are possibilities among the many.

When that happened to me it was only because I had just broken up with someone, and I was at a social function without him for the first time, feeling lonely and diconnected miserable and blue.