July 9, 2025 It surprises me, in an age with so much communication bombarding us from all directions and our often interacting with persons with messages, emails and many other types of communication, that so many people feel irrelevant and do not matter. It is psychologically a very bad place to be. It is estimated one in three persons have feelings of loneliness. These persons do not just include those who are isolated and feeling lost in the world. No, these are often persons who are successful but still feel irrelevant and not mattering regardless of the position they hold in life. The important thing for a person is to feel they are relevant and matter to others. Family and close friends would head the list of those we want to see us as relevant and mattering. This also would include those we interact with and try to be helpful in their lives. The average person is interacting with email ,messaging and many other social platforms with people on a regular basis. They also may regularly interact in settings including their homes, work environments and social settings where they feel they are irrelevant and do not matter. When this occurs, the person is at risk of developing anxiety, depression, and severe loneliness, regardless of how they might appear in the world. This can cause physical problems such as high blood pressure and general physical feelings of exhaustion. I have worked with various persons who have high positions in society, but really feel no one understands them or cares. They feel the praise and compliments they receive are more perfunctory than true. Data consistently show that high percentages of workers feel they are not appreciated for who they are and no one really cares how they are doing as long as they complete the activities that are required. This leads to feelings of irrelevancy and they do not matter. The following are suggestions on what you can do to help persons who feel they are irrelevant and do not matter: 1. Assume anyone you interact with feels irrelevant and does not matter to some degree in their lives. 2. Work hard to understand how persons truly feel about themselves and use this knowledge to try to help them. 3. Genuinely notice and praise persons for qualities you see in them and their achievements. 4. With family and friends, pay close attention to the roles persons have and applaud them for what they do. Persons in families and organizations often feel taking care of the needs of others leads to complements that really relate more to what they deserve to receive and are not fully acknowledging the kindness and intention of what were given. 5. You will become a better person for your attempts to understand and help those who feel irrelevant and do not matter to anyone. This new outlook and behaviors can also help you better advocate for yourself in interactions with others if you feel you are irrelevant and do not matter to anyone.