Loss of Soul
Anthropologists describe a condition among primitive peoples called loss of soul.
In this condition, a man is out of himself, unable to find either the outer connection between humans or the inner connection to himself.
He is unable to take part in his society, its rituals, and traditions.
They are dead to him, he to them.
His connection to family, totem, nature, is gone.
Until he regains his soul he is not a true human. He is "not there." It is as if he had never been initiated, been given a name, come into real being. His soul may not only be lost; it may also be possessed, bewitched, ill, transposed into an object, animal, place, or another person.
Yet he is not sick with disease, nor is he out of his mind. He has simply lost his soul. He may even die. We become lonely.
Other relevant parallels with ourselves today need not be spelled out.
James Hillman, In search (1967)