What is "the call of the void"?

Prior to undertaking the study, the researchers hypothesized that the call of the void could be a ‘misinterpreted safety signal,’ with those experiencing it potentially misreading the brain encouraging them to move away from danger — and the results seem to support this theory.

Moreover, individuals with higher self-reported anxiety levels were more likely to have felt the call than those with lower self-reported levels of anxiety. As a result, the study’s lead researcher, Jennifer Hames, who did the research as a clinical psychologist at Florida State University and is now an assistant clinical professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, concluded that, somewhat paradoxically, the call of the void could well be a person’s subconscious attempting to encourage a greater appreciation of what it feels like to be alive, as opposed to wanting to lure someone to their demise. Indeed, the study seems to indicate that the call of the void could indicate that someone has a higher than average degree of sensitivity when it comes to experiencing and interpreting internal cues.