What Is Estrangement — And Should You Consider It?

So what does estrangement look like? And how do you know if it’s something you should consider in your own life? Well, for starters, it's different for everyone. “There are [all kinds of] ways you can distance yourself from somebody,” says Scharp. “Sometimes it might be like a ‘You’re dead to me.’ But other times someone will say ‘I moved really far away and I visit one time a year for one day on Christmas,’ but they still feel estranged. And other people might say ‘I live in the same town as my parents, and we just don’t ever speak and I call them by their first name as if they’re strangers.’ It can look very different depending on your situation.”