Lost in Bangkok: The Phenomenology of Urban Loneliness Among Young Adult Men in the City
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Abstract
Background/problem: Loneliness is a growing public health concern, influencing mental health, social well-being, and overall quality of life. In Thailand, government agencies increasingly focus on urban populations.
Objective/purpose: This qualitative, existential-phenomenological study (investigating lived experience) explored how young adult men in Bangkok experience loneliness, highlighting personal, cultural, and environmental influences.
Design and Methodology: Nineteen men (aged 22–30 years) with severe loneliness, as indicated by the Thai De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale, participated in the in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using a whole-part-whole method, member checking, and reflexivity, interpreted through embodied cognition, a theory that cognitive processes are grounded in bodily interactions with the environment.
Findings: Results indicate that loneliness emerges as an emotional and bodily disconnection from self, others, or the environment, shaped by physical sensations, emotional suppression and circumstances of urban living. Six themes were identified: (1) loneliness as an ongoing embodied interaction with the world; (2) urban landscapes amplifying loneliness; (3) loneliness arising from unmet personal and social expectations; (4) disconnection from meaningful shared experiences; (5) feeling of diminished self-worth and identity; and (6) loneliness as a necessary tool for living.
Conclusion and Implications: These findings underscore the multifaceted nature of loneliness, which can be both debilitating and transformative. Interventions must address embodied and socio-environmental dimensions, particularly considering gender-specific masculine norms. Interventions may include urban design that fosters communal engagement, culturally attuned counseling to promote emotional expressiveness and social connection, and mindfulness-based practices to cultivate resilience and well-being.
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