THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BEING LOST

Being lost or being a missing person

I’m lost!”

This sentence imposes itself suddenly, like a slap in the face. It’s verbalized only in thoughts or sometimes pronounced aloud, almost as if the person who speaks them is trying to seek their first point of reference in the sound of the words.

Anyone who’s lived through the experience of getting lost in the wilderness knows the violent cascade of emotions, physical reactions, thoughts, and mental images and worries that suddenly pours over the victim. The feelings are hard to imagine if you haven’t been in this situation.

Over time, researchers in the neuro-cognitive, psychological and statistical fields have studied in