15 Signs You're Experiencing a Spiritual Death

Little pieces of our souls get chipped away the more we ignore or go against our gut instincts and desires. The more we try to appease others instead of following our hearts, the more of our soul we lose. Spiritual deaths happen anytime we go through a traumatic event or lose sight of our true selves. Fortunately, many people have begun to awaken to the soul within, and have started to go through a “soul rebirth.”

Throughout life, our true spirit becomes muddled under the weight of responsibility, stress, circumstance, loss, grief, and all the other things we go through as humans. The years spent on this planet enduring hardship after hardship take their toll on the spirit within, which causes our souls to become fragmented and lost.

However, we can gain back our souls through following our hearts, rejecting all that doesn’t align with us, and treating ourselves with compassion and love. If you feel a little lost in life lately, and feel that your soul is trying to send you a message, read on to find out if you’re going through a soul death and rebirth.

Here are 15 signs you’re experiencing a spiritual death (and soul rebirth):

“The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch

1. You can’t remember certain parts of your early life.

Maybe you have blocked out certain memories in order to protect your soul from pain or grief. Maybe you went through traumatic experiences that your brain has chosen to forget so that you can move on. However, truly moving on might mean revisiting these old memories and coming to terms with them. Visit a psychologist or therapist if you need help getting over painful memories or even remembering parts of your past. If this sounds like you, you might be experiencing a soul death.

2. You deal with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.

Of course, mental health is a complex issue, but experiencing periods of anxiety or depression could mean that your soul is going through a rebirthing process. You’re trying to shed your old skin and fully come to terms with your new self. This process doesn’t happen overnight, and it certainly can produce uncomfortable feelings.

3. You don’t feel “whole” during a spiritual death

Parts of yourself feel incomplete or broken as if you can’t fully see the world around you. Your view of the world and yourself is fragmented, and you feel that parts of your soul are scattered in places that you haven’t yet found. If you feel that parts of yourself are missing, you might be going through a soul death.

4. You feel numb to the world around you.

Everything around you looks bleak and meaningless. You try to get excited about things and do your best to fit in, but you never can seem to feel right about how the world works. So, you try to block out all your feelings instead, finding it to be easier than faking emotions.

5. You have trouble sleeping at night.

Oftentimes when we go through soul deaths, our subconscious is at work trying to sort out the transition we’re going through. For instance, if you have left behind a soul-sucking job to follow your passion in life and run your own business, you’ll likely have some sleepless nights as your soul tries to catch up with your latest decision.

6. You feel stuck in life in the process of spiritual death.

Many times when we go through a soul rebirth, we can feel trapped, like we are living the same day over and over and going nowhere. Feeling this way simply means we need to change our direction a little bit, and truly listen to what our soul wants. Many people get this feeling in life, but remember; you’re not a tree, you can always get up and move toward something you’d rather have. Your only one decision away from an entirely new life.

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

7. A traumatic life event leaves you feeling not yourself.

If you go through a bad breakup, divorce, death of a loved one, or near-death experience, you might not feel the same afterward. A piece of your soul is taken away each time you go through trauma, and you go through a ‘soul death.’

8. Spiritual death makes you feel that life isn’t living up to your expectations.

If you feel let down by life, this means your soul is longing for something more, but you haven’t found it yet. Wishing for something more in life often points to a soul death, because you want to strive for more than life has given you.

9. You feel pulled in multiple directions.

If you feel like life is trying to push you down different paths, you might be experiencing a soul rebirth. You’ve recognized that you have a limitless potential within yourself, and you don’t want to waste it any longer. However, you can’t decide which path you want to take because you see yourself succeeding and thriving in various ways.

10. You use substances to escape from the real world.

As part of soul death, you might find yourself reaching out for something to hold onto, or some outlet to escape into. Many people who drink or do drugs probably don’t recognize that their soul is crying out for attention, and their higher self is longing to be loved.

11. You find yourself questioning everything you thought you knew.

If you find that you’re second-guessing your beliefs, lifestyle, and everything about life in general, your soul might be in need of a new direction. Often, going through a soul death means leaving behind stagnant beliefs and ushering in a more open-minded viewpoint.

12. You long to have a purpose in your life.

We all search for a deeper meaning in life, but a soul death usually causes us to search a little harder. You might feel completely fed up with your current life, and long for one where you can wake up with excitement, knowing that the day ahead promises meaning and fulfillment.

If you feel this way, make sure to go with your gut and don’t second-guess yourself. The only way to fully awaken to our true selves is to leave behind what no longer serves us so we can step into our most authentic being.

13. You feel you have no control over your life.

Even if you feel that you’ve found your purpose, you might feel unable to change your circumstances. You might not know which direction to turn, or how to turn your dreams into reality. You feel powerless to change your life, even though you want nothing more than to do so.

14. You feel that you don’t belong anywhere.

You want to belong somewhere but haven’t found your place yet. In times of soul death, we start to feel vulnerable and lost, and seek comfort and safety. Feeling this way requires us to take a long hard look at our souls in order to find out what we want the most, and find the courage to go after it. Once we follow our hearts, our souls will begin to come alive again, and we will feel part of something bigger.

15. You constantly feel tired.

Not just physically; mentally, too. You can’t quite pinpoint the cause, but you just know that your soul is tired, and no amount of sleep can cure it. The neverending drain of daily life is starting to wear on you, and your soul longs for an escape.

Final thoughts of Experiencing a Spiritual Death

Whether we realize it or not, we all go through many soul deaths and rebirths throughout our lives. Changing jobs, cities, and lives are all forms of soul death and rebirth, as you leave behind something that didn’t work for you any longer and embrace something that you hope will make you feel a little more whole.

If you take away nothing else from this article, please remember this: life is too short to be unhappy, so if your soul needs a little rejuvenating, please listen to your heart and do what it longs for. You might lose parts of yourself in the process, but you will gain back so much more of yourself that you didn’t even know existed.