The Pain of Not Belonging

Key points

Belonging is a basic human need and when it’s missing, the brain experiences exclusion like physical pain.

Exclusion fuels loneliness, depression, and impostor feelings while weakening communities.

Small acts of inclusion matter, from recognition and authentic leadership to welcoming difference.

Belonging. When it is there, it often goes unnoticed, especially for the majority groups. We may be so used to belonging that we fail to recognise the privileges it confers — small gifts, like cycling with the wind at your back. Exclusion, by contrast, rarely goes unnoticed. It can be silenced, questioned, or disbelieved, but it is felt. And it can be sharp and sudden or creep in like death by a thousand paper cuts.

Today, belonging is more relevant than ever. We live in a world div