A picture of a person trying to hitchhike on an empty road running through the woods to represent the topic of the article - Feeling Unwanted And How To Overcome That Emotional State

Feeling Unwanted And How To Overcome That Emotional State

I’m surprised I hadn’t touched on this topic before, given my long history of being made to feel unwanted, the title of my blog. Plus, the fact that I have a section dedicated to my readers sharing their own stories of feeling unwanted on my blog, too. Well, as they say, better late than never, so here’s my article on how to handle feeling unwanted #YoureNotUnwanted.

 

 

The Causes Of Feeling Unwanted

 

Below is a list of examples of how we can feel unwanted, although it isn’t a complete list.

 

Relationships

It’s easy to be made to feel unwanted in a relationship, especially if you have borderline personality disorder (BPD) like me. If you feel you’re not being heard or you’re experiencing a lack of attention, then feeling unwanted can feel painful, more so when coming from a romantic partner. 

 

Anxiety

One of the more annoying traits of having anxiety is over-analysing. You can spiral into a deep depression if you get stuck in an over-analysing cycle. For me, this would happen every time I tried to sleep, which caused me to develop insomnia. My over-analysing issue is also a problem when my mind isn’t kept busy enough. Thus, it’s likely that your perception of feeling unwanted is really just your anxiety playing tricks on you.

 

Self-esteem and confidence

Much like anxiety, if your self-esteem is low and you lack confidence, then you’re likely to struggle with self-doubt and will assume the worst. Having self-doubt will cause you to struggle with a low opinion of yourself, which will cause you to have negative intrusive thoughts that will further erode your self-esteem. The knock-on effect of this is feeling unwanted because we believe if we don’t like ourselves, then how can others? Even though this is a false belief, that doesn’t stop us from believing it.

 

Trauma

Trauma is traumatic. It’s not easy to get over and it’ll warp the world around you. The trauma I carry with me from my childhood is also a huge factor in my insomnia. Certain types of trauma will have a bigger impact on how we feel about others wanting us. For example, sexual abuse can often leave people feeling dirty and unlovable. Again, this belief is a false belief, but that doesn’t stop us from thinking that way.

 

People-pleasing

Often when we’re feeling unsure about ourselves, we seek to win or keep people’s friendship and love by giving up our needs and seeking to satisfy the needs of others instead. I know I’m guilty of doing this while trying to make friends and keeping friends while enduring a childhood of racist abuse. Being a people-pleaser can also be a response to abuse and trauma. The fear of rejection and being unwanted will mean we’ll sacrifice our own wellbeing for that of others in the hope they’ll ‘want’ us in return.

 

If you’d like to read more about the dangers of people-pleasing, then check out my article on that topic by clicking here.

 

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How To Overcome Feeling Unwanted

 

Self-love

We live in a world where our values are dictated by society, whereby we’re all expected to work ourselves to death. We’re also now expected to have side hustles rather than having jobs that pay not only a living wage but a wage that we can enjoy a good work-life balance with. As we conform to these ideas that our value comes from work, how much we earn, and the narrow definition of what beauty is meant to be, the world grows unhappier by the day.

 

Therefore, it’s time to ditch society’s norms and values to draw your self-worth from, and pick your own on which to build your happiness. Put self-love first, priorities your needs and loving yourself. 

 

You are worthy

 

Negative thoughts

Negative thoughts will single-handedly bring you down if you let them. I know they did for me for YEARS. I’ve had extremely negative intrusive thoughts since primary school, which then led to me being a suicidal child by the time I was eight. Anyway, the way to combat your negative thoughts is to not leave them unchallenged, which can be done in several ways.

 

One way is to seek out evidence for and against the intrusive thoughts that are antagonising your feeling of feeling unwanted. For example, if your thoughts are saying something like “everyone at work hates me and I’m no good at my job” then you need to ask yourself if that is actually true. You could just be having a bad day, which happens to all of us, but bad days can easily cause us to descend into a downward spiral.

 

You might have just had an unfortunate encounter with a co-work, but that doesn’t mean everyone hates you. Or you could have just had a bad meeting whereby your manager applied the criticism sandwich rather than constructive criticism, which can easily make you feel terrible. Therefore, looking for evidence and asking yourself some pretty simple questions can help you stop these negative thoughts in their tracks.

 

Another way is to take your negative thought and flip it on their head to reframe them. For example, if you’re having intrusive thoughts like, “no one wants me around” then you can tell yourself that “people do want me around, and I am worthy of being loved and of friendship”.

 

For more information on negative thoughts, check out my article ‘What’s The Truth About Intrusive Thoughts?‘ by clicking here.

 

Check your relationship

The first thing you should probably do if you feel unwanted in a relationship is to check to see if the relationship is toxic or abusive. If the relationship turns out to be toxic, then you might want to ask yourself what you would like to do about the situation. You could try talking to other people in the relationship to try and fix it, but it could also be to end the relationship to priorities your mental wellbeing. If the relationship is abusive then there are support services out there that can help you (see support section).

 

If you’re interested in reading more about what abuse is, then click here, and if you’d like to read my experience of being in two abusive relationships, then click here.

 

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Talk

If you’re feeling neglected, ignored, or not being heard, then maybe it’s time to open a dialogue with the person you’re having these concerns with. You might find that the other person has an issue they need help with (maybe they’re depressed, for example) which is why you’ve not been getting attention from them. Alternatively, it could just be something that can be fixed by sharing your concerns. You won’t know unless you talk to them. 

 

My partner and I have had to have several long in-depth conversations about our relationship due to the difficulties I have with attachments, which is the root cause of my BPD. My partner is the committed and affectionate type, whereas I go through periods where their mere touch and can disgust me. These periods have happened to me in every relationship I’ve ever had, but I’d normally end the relationship when they start at around the two-and-a-half month mark.

 

Previously, only ending the relationship would end this feeling of disgust. However, I’ve been with my partner for a long time now and that’s completely due to us being able to talk and feeling safe to do so when we do. 

 

It’s important to be able to express your needs, because often the people that are causing that feeling of feeling unwanted might be a result of simply not knowing what your needs are. Thus, telling them your needs may elicit them to change so you can feel wanted again.

 

If you’re interested in reading more about my issues with relationships due to my BPD, you can do so by clicking here. Although I should stress, not all people with BPD will have my issues with relationships and attachments, and those that do may experience it in a completely different way.

 

Boundaries

Having boundaries is an important step in having healthy relationships with everyone around us and ensuring that our own needs are met, thus improving our overall quality of life. You’re entitled to protect your own mental wellbeing and to have your needs respected, so ask yourself, “what do I need?”

 

To find out more on boundaries, check out my article on boundaries by clicking here.

 

Make the effort

One common thing I’ve noticed between people with self-doubt that causes them to suffer from feelings of feeling unwanted is that they don’t make the effort. What do I mean by that? Well, people, I included, will go on and on about how the people we know never send us messages, call, or ask to do stuff with us, whereas we also aren’t messaging the people we know, calling them, or asking them to do stuff with us either.

 

Therefore, put in the effort and message the people in your life, call them for a chat, and ask them to do stuff with you. Don’t leave it all to the other people in your life to make the effort to connect with you. They have their own lives as well.

 

Another thing you could do is to arrange regular date nights with your partner to help bring the attention back to your relationship. You could even apply the date night idea to doing something similar with your friends, like a monthly get together on the first Friday of each month.

 

Hobbies

Taking up hobbies and connecting with people who have similar interests is another way you can overcome feeling unwanted. There are plenty of groups on Facebook you could join to do that or even websites like Meetup.

 

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Ditching the people-pleaser in you

There are several ways you can overcome a people-pleasing tendency, such as learning to say no, working out what your needs and priorities are, setting boundaries, and using positive self-talk.

 

If you’ve like to read more about how to overcome being a people-pleaser you can do so by clicking here.

 

Love language

When it comes to your romantic relationships, the cause of the feeling of feeling unwanted might be due to not knowing each other’s love language. My partner introduced me to this concept while explaining that my main love language is ‘Gifts’. I tend to buy my partner gifts for no real reason other than because I can, the gifts being mainly personal to our weird relationship. 

 

Gary Chapman first wrote about the five love languages back in 1992. The five love languages are words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts. Setting up a date night is a way to embrace the quality time love language. 

 

  • Words of affirmation – Verbal acknowledgements of affection, which can include using and creating cute nicknames for each other.
  • Quality time – Pretty much does what it says on the tin, spending good quality time together.
  • Physical touch – This doesn’t always have to be sexual in nature. Handholding, scratching your partner’s head, and bopping your partner’s nose are other ways you could show affection that’s unique to your relationship.
  • Acts of service – This is when your parent goes out of their way to help you, like looking after you when you’re ill.
  • Receiving gifts – It’s not about the value of the item you gift your partner, but rather the symbolic nature of it as a visual symbol of your love and affection.

 

We can all express love in different ways and we need to be aware that we might not realise that the other ways to express love that are different to how we do it, exist. Thus, it’s a good idea to sit down and consider if your partner expresses love in a different way. If you’re still struggling with how they might show their love, then you could also ask them. Talking is one of the most important tools in maintaining a healthy relationship, after all, so never stop talking to each other, and by that, I mean really talking to each other, not just small talk.

 

Volunteering

A good way to feel wanted and to feel like you’re doing something to help others is to start volunteering. I’ve personally worked as a volunteer for several mental health and substance abuse charities. I don’t get my sense of self-worth from the amount of money and stuff I have, but from my ability to help others, hence starting this blog. Thus, I highly recommend volunteering as a way to feel connected to others and as a way to feel good about yourself. Two birds, one stone, as they say.

 

Professional help

Never feel ashamed or that you’re not worthy of getting professional help if that’s what you need to do to improve your quality of life. That’s what support services are there for. I’ve heard this concern a lot while working in my volunteer roles and it’s something I’m always having to reassure people about. Don’t wait for your situation to get worse before seeking help. Be proactive.

 

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What If You Can’t Make People Want You?

 

I guess the real question is, why would you want to make people want you and what does it matter if people don’t? Look, not everyone is going to like you. That’s just how life is sometimes, and love, well, love can be fickle. We can’t control who we fall in love with and we can’t control who we fall out of love with, as we’re at the mercy of our hormones.

 

Being happy isn’t about how other people can make us feel, but rather how we can make ourselves feel. The people in your life are just a bonus. So be your own best friend. Figure out the qualities you’d want in a best friend and be that for yourself. Friends build each other up, not tear each other down, so apply that to yourself and focus on celebrating the wins rather than getting stuck in the losses. Furthermore, be your own cheerleader and be your own coach while you’re at it as well. 

 

If you’d like to share your Unwanted Life stories with my blog and my Unwanted Life readers, then let me know by contacting me through my social media accounts or by going to the contact page. Also, why not check out my blog’s Unwanted Life stories by clicking here.

 

As always, leave your feedback in the comments section below. Also, feel free to share your experiences with feeling unwanted and how you overcame them in the comments section below as well. Don’t forget to bookmark my site and if you want to stay up-to-date with my blog, then sign up for my newsletter below. Alternatively, get push notifications for new articles by clicking the red bell icon in the bottom right corner.

 

Lastly, if you’d like to support my blog, then you can make a donation of any size below as well. Until next time, Unwanted Life readers.

 

 

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Support

 

ManKind

National Domestic Violence Helpline

Refuge

Live Free Fear – Wales

Dyn Wales/Dyn Cymru

Respect

Galop

Forced Marriage Unit

Action on Elder Abuse

Southall Black Sisters

Halo Project

BAWSO

National Stalking Helpline

Women’s Aid

Ananias Foundation

Ending Violence Association of Canada

National Domestic Violence Hotline – USA

The Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP)

Freedom Programme

Men’s Advice Line

60 thoughts on “Feeling Unwanted And How To Overcome That Emotional State

  1. This about sums it up for me: “I guess the real question is, why would you want to make people want you and what does it matter if people don’t?”

    Be happy with who you are, don’t seek approval or validation from others.

  2. A really interesting read. I’ve definitely had feelings that made me feel unwanted throughout my life and it was really tough. During my teenage years, it was bad. I’ve grown and learnt a lot about myself in my twenties – my needs, what adds happiness and positivity to my life.
    This post brought some feelings back but I feel like I’m in a good place. I know my worth, I back myself and while my self esteem is up and down, that’s because of me and not others!

    Rosie

  3. This was another interesting post! I had been having these feelings throughout my high school years until not long ago, every time I managed to get out of it there seemed to always be a time to get back into it. I think that therapy as well as affirmations, getting to know myself and the boundaries I created helped a lot in this situation! You have to be your own cheerleader as you said x

    • Boundaries are extremely useful, that’s for sure, and it’s great that you found a combination of methods that helped you overcome feeling that way

      If you’d ever like to share your unwanted life story, I’d love to have it on my Stories page

  4. Feeling unwanted is such a horrible feeling, and I hate those social situations where you feel as though you could just leave and no-one would notice. This is a very insightful post and I love the idea of being your own best friend x

  5. Thank you for this. My self-esteem is the issue. I know that people think I’m great but I don’t have that for myself. Learning to speak to myself with love is the hardest thing I’ve done, but I’m worth it. Lovely post!

  6. I struggle with people pleasing a lot. My whole I life it has been difficult for me to stop people pleasing. I am learning now in my life to stop people pleasing and to take care of myself. I also am learning what is my love language and that is definitely helping me with my relationships in my life.

  7. Omg these are all true! I agree with your tips because at some point I realized I needed to do this. Im an overthinker and it took me a lot of years until I slowly learned to put things in good perspective and not just listen to my negative thoughts — somewhat also being practical and object in thinking about things. Praying for everyone’s mental health <3

    beyond beneath

  8. I used to be such a people pleaser. I’d go out of my way if someone I knew needed anything, and it eventually became a pattern that people would call me when they needed something and ignore me the rest of the time. I thought we were friends, but no one ever wanted to just hang out. Finding real friends, and not just people who only turned up when they needed something, made such a big difference in my life.

  9. Great detailed post! Thank you for sharing. It’s nice to be reminded that we’re not alone with our struggles. We’re all trying our best.

  10. The people-pleaser fit me like a T. I’m someone who go out of their way to pleased people, to make them like me but it always thrown back at me. So, i often think what the point – be happy with yourself and ignore the ones who try to change you. This was an interesting read. xx

    http://www.annanuttall.com

  11. Being your own best friend is definitely the best way! I’ve had lots of times where I’ve felt unwanted, more so in my younger years, however as I’ve grown in age I’ve also grown in self confidence and self belief. I used to be such a people pleaser whereas nowadays I’m a bit more selfish, but in a good way!

    Claire.X
    http://www.clairemac.co.uk

    • It’s not really being selfish when done in a good way, you’ve just redrawn a healthy balance in your life that factors in the importance of your own needs

  12. This post is so spot on. I suffered from depression throughout my teenage years and into early adulthood. I still bout with it on and off, but honestly I’ve learned to disconnect from things that harm me. I keep toxic people at a distance, do what I love, and stick to positive activities. Through all of my experiences I have grown to love crafting and many other hobbies that keep me feeling happy. All of these things are helpful and your post is truly uplifting. I hope it can offer some assistance to others along the way!

    Shyla

  13. I admit I am a bit of a people-pleaser at times, and have trouble with over-analyzing things. For the past couple years I have enjoyed reading out daily affirmations and pinning a list of things I want to work on, such as being more interactive and asking for help. The daily reminder has been a big help in giving me a conscious reason to step back and look at the way I approach a situation so I can change it.

    I love the bit you share on love language! The simplicity and symbolism of it connects with me, and I love that you put important into being able to communicate and talk honestly with your partner.
    Thanks so much for sharing! <3

  14. Hello, great post!

    I also suffer from BPD so I usually have a very hard time dealing with rejection. People-pleasing has been a sport for me my entire life, but lately I’ve been learning to put my needs first and my life has improved very much. I’m very proud of myself.

    I love the concept of your blog so I’m going to subscribe to the newsletter right now.

    Congratulations and keep up the good work!

    Norma | chaoticreverie.com

  15. Great read, I recognise so much in it. I have in the past been a people pleaser I spent a lot of time in counseling working on this and learning to put myself first and recognising toxic relationships and letting them go. Thanks for sharing

  16. This is such an incredibly important post. I think many of us have times in our lives or parts of our live where we feel unwanted. These feelings have definitely stalked me since my teenage years. And when my mood is low the negative thoughts can really prey on my mind. I think it’s so important to think about where these ideas are coming from. And lay down those boundaries or lessen relationships with people who make you feel this way.

  17. There have been so many reasons as to why I’ve felt unwanted over the years.i think since having my daughter, the assumptions of not being wanted are at the back of my mind, I know I’m needed now which has helped a lot.

  18. Again, thank you for sharing such an incredibly honest post. Setting boundaries are so important in every relationship. Also, being honest about your feelings are vital for a healthy relationship. The thing about people pleasing is that you learn you really will not be able to please everyone and that’s ok.
    Pastor Natalie
    Letstakeamoment.com

  19. Having suicidal thoughts as a child is just so sad and unbelievable 🙁 so horrifying… Hope you’re doing better. Feeling unwanted can come from diff people just like the examples you mentioned. I love how detailed you explain your thoughts. Self-love all the way, slowly but surely. Thanks for sharing your inspiring story as always..

    http://www.lifebeginsattwenty.com

  20. I had a traumatic childhood, and it definitely made me feel unwanted for a really long time. But building positive relationships with family and friends can help erase that feeling over time.

  21. It is so extremely hard to ‘get over’ feeling unwanted etc, I have an amazing relationship, my children are wonderful but I cannot shake the scars from a previous abusive relationship, I find it extremely difficult to accept compliments and it doesn’t help that also I was bullied in school. But I am trying and people know I am trying. Physical scars heal fast but mental scars rarely heal!

    • I’m the same, the scars from my childhood abuse have wrapped me to my core and I don’t know if I’ll eve be able to connect with people like neurotypical people can

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