Your ultimate guide to “ I don’t know how to explain what I feel”

Here’s something I’m sure all of you face every day. Let me put it in a conversation for you. Knock knock! “Who’s there?” Strange who? Strange feelings….oh yes, but who are you? I have no name. 

Now this is where things get interesting. It is very common to have those strange strong feelings everyday that you just can’t explain to others. And with that comes the fear of being the only one with that feeling. The feeling of longing and wanting someone to understand you. If you’ve read so far and don’t want to stop and don’t know why, that’s called interest. Since you’ve developed it let’s satisfy it with some more words for feelings you feel but can’t describe. 

Monachopsis

If your first thought after reading this word was, “I thought we were going to talk about feelings. What is this technical weird? It doesn’t belong here”, you’ve already guessed the meaning. For all those times when you’re surrounded by people but just feel something’s wrong. For all those people who feel they don’t belong in this generation, this is the saviour. Fortunately, almost all of us feel out of place at some point in our lives, and now nobody will have trouble explaining it either. Remember this word and every time someone asks you, sound fancy by telling them, “I’m overcome by monachopsis”, or just feel happy knowing you know what you feel.

Liberosis

I understand it’s getting too technical, why would you even want to care about these words anymore right? You’d want to because again you’ve guessed it! You’re doing great! This frustration of wanting to care less, when you’re too done with life and with giving too much importance to these unimportant things, liberosis is the term for you all. Give yourself all the liberty you want and be free of all worries in the world ( You’re free to stop reading as well, but if you still have that feeling that you can’t stop reading and want to know more, it’s called curiosity and needs to be fulfilled so read till the end to get rid of it).

Nighthawk

if this article is going to come back to you at night and not let you sleep, it’ll be your nighthawk. Just like that pending work that you knew all day but it strikes you only at night. Just like that “what if” conversation you engage in just at night ( and yes, there’s a word for those too - Jouska), all those thoughts are your night hawks keeping you up for lengths at a time.

Adronitis

Let’s get a little more personal now. And just like you all want to believe…let me read your minds (that’s not what I do as a psychology trainee but I’ll do it today as an exception) You all have wanted to jump through the small talk stage and wanted to get to know someone really close really quick. Don’t lie I know you have. It’s too exhausting to keep going with the “what are your interests” conversations again and again. We want to be loved we want to be felt close to someone. And that’s what adronitis is. Be it a potential friend or partner, we’ve all felt adronitis at least once in our lives. And now you can finally explain it. 

Catoptic Tristresse

Since no one can read minds, not even psychologists it’s sometimes frustrating to not know what others think about our selves. When we’re insecure, we need reassurance but we can’t always believe words. It always a mystery to us what people think about us. and it can be frustrating. For all those who need reassurance, I understand you. And this word is to satisfy that frustration. Catoptic Tristress is the feeling of sadness or frustration that you’ll never know how others feel about you. (Just like I’ll never know what you think about me after this reading this article).

These are just a few examples of feelings that we all experience but cannot explain. If you’re still interested and curious, there’s a complete dictionary for such terms ( the dictionary of obscure sorrows) Expand your knowledge about your emotions to better understand your mental health and reassure yourself about the commonness of it all. Even though feelings can be strange and unknown, they are not unique. Mental health is an issue that can seem unique but is relevant to all the people in this world. Share these terms with your peers and you’ll realise how many people relate to these. 

The next you feel alone with your feelings, think of this article and remember there might not always be a term but there’s always someone experiencing it.