What is loneliness?

Most of us have asked ourselves this question at some point in our lives. What used to be a rare feeling is now something that millions of people feel all the time. In the UK, 60% of people between the ages of 18 and 34 say they often feel alone, while in the US, 46% of the whole population often feels alone.
But what is loneliness? Everyone feels lonely at some point in their lives. It's a complicated feeling with many different parts that can be hard to describe. People often say it's a feeling of being alone or not having anyone to talk to, but it's much more than that. There are many things that can make someone feel lonely, such as social, psychological, and environmental factors.
It's important to remember that being lonely is not the same as being alone. You can be happy by yourself but hate every second when you're with other people. Loneliness is a purely subjective and individual experience. If you feel lonely, you are lonely.
Also, it's important to remember that anyone can feel lonely. Even if you have a lot of money, a lot of power, a lot of friends, or a great personality, you can still feel lonely. It's in your genes. Like hunger, loneliness is a body function. You pay attention to your physical needs when you're hungry, and you pay attention to your social needs when you're lonely. Our bodies and minds are basically the same as they were 50,000 years ago, and we are still biologically designed to be with each other.
However, the loneliness epidemic we see today really only started in the late Renaissance. Western culture began to focus on the individual, and this trend accelerated during the Industrial Revolution. People left their villages and fields to enter factories, and communities that had existed for hundreds of years began to dissolve while cities grew. We leave our social networks behind when we move far away for new jobs, love, or school. We see less and less people in person than we used to.

Types of Loneliness

There are different kinds of loneliness based on what causes it and how bad it is. Here are some of the most common ways that people feel alone:

Social loneliness
This type of loneliness occurs when a person lacks meaningful social relationships or companionship. It can be caused by social isolation, relocation, or a breakdown in relationships.

Emotional loneliness
Emotional loneliness occurs when a person feels a lack of emotional intimacy or connection with others. It can be caused by a lack of trust, fear of vulnerability, or past trauma.

Existential loneliness
This type of loneliness occurs when a person feels a lack of purpose or meaning in life. It can be caused by a crisis of identity, spiritual disconnection, or a lack of direction.

Effects of Loneliness on Mental Health

Experiencing loneliness can have detrimental effects on a person's mental health, including an increased risk of depression and anxiety disorders. In addition, studies have linked loneliness to cognitive decline and memory impairment. Lonely individuals may also turn to substance abuse as a coping mechanism, which can have harmful consequences on their overall well-being.

Furthermore, chronic loneliness has been associated with an elevated risk of developing cardiovascular disease. It is important to note that chronic loneliness can have severe consequences on a person's health, as it can accelerate the aging process, worsen cancer outcomes, weaken the immune system, and become self-sustaining. Surprisingly, loneliness has been found to be twice as deadly as obesity and as harmful as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Tips to Overcome Loneliness

If loneliness has become a strong presence in your life, the first thing you can do is try to recognize the vicious cycle you may be trapped in. An initial feeling of isolation leads to feelings of tension and sadness, which makes you focus your attention selectively on negative interactions with others. This makes your thoughts about yourself and others more negative, which then changes your behavior. You begin to avoid social interaction, which leads to more feelings of isolation. This cycle becomes more severe and harder to escape each time. The first thing you can do to escape it is to accept that loneliness is a totally normal feeling and nothing to be ashamed of. You can't eliminate or ignore a feeling until it goes away magically, but you can accept that you feel it and get rid of its cause. You can self-examine what you focus your attention on and check if you are selectively focusing on negative things.

If you're feeling lonely, there are several ways to cope with it. Here are some tips to help you overcome loneliness:

Become Friends with Yourself First
Self-care is important for our mental health, and it's important to take time out of our busy lives to relax and unwind. By giving ourselves time to think and be alone, we can become more comfortable with our own company, which can make us feel less lonely. This can be done by doing things we enjoy, being more aware, or just taking a break from the busyness of everyday life.

Show kindness
When we're feeling lonely, it's easy to get caught up in our own thoughts and feelings. But by being kind to other people, we can not only help them feel better, but also help our own mental health. This can be done by doing random acts of kindness, giving back to the community, or just reaching out to friends and family who may be having a hard time.

Find your Tribe
When we don't feel like we belong with the people around us, we can feel very alone. But if we look for people who share our interests and are like us, we can make new connections and build meaningful relationships. This can be done by joining online communities, going to social events, or joining clubs or groups that share our interests.
No friend or group of people is perfect. The search for the perfect friend can make us feel disappointed and frustrated, and it may keep us from making real connections with other people. By realizing that no one is perfect, we can lower our expectations and have an open mind when we talk to other people. This can mean being willing to accept our flaws, having patience, and putting our attention on making connections with the people around us.

Spend Time in Nature and Learn to be Mindful
Spending time in nature can help reduce stress and promote feelings of well-being. A mindfulness meditation can help you stay present and increase self-awareness. You can practice mindfulness in nature, when you feel most at peace and connected to the earth.

Here are some exercises to practice mindfulness:
Mindfulness Facial
Benefits of Mindfulness
Prayer vs. Mindfulness

Seek out God
When we go to God when we're feeling lonely, we might be surprised by how much closer we feel to Him. We are made to want God, and when we look for Him, He loves to bless us. When we give ourselves time to be alone, we might feel scared or panicked at first. But if we turn to God in those times, we might be able to let go of our fears and feel a sense of peace and security. We can ask Him things like, "Who are you for me in this?" and wait for Him to meet us there. By doing this, we might find that our fears and worries go away and we no longer worry about being alone. Instead, we might find a new trust in the Lord and a new way to handle life. When we're alone, it's common to feel scared of our own thoughts. But when we turn to God, we can feel a new level of security and peace. It's not about making more plans or meeting more people. Instead, it's about loving God more and understanding how much He loves us. When we turn to Him when we're feeling alone, we might find the freedom we've been looking for all along.

Get help from a professional
If you feel like you can't handle your situation on your own, please reach out and ask for help. It shows strength, not weakness, to do so. But we see loneliness as a problem that only one person needs to solve to be happy or as a public health crisis. It's something that needs to be looked at more.

Advantages of Being Alone

Even though being alone can be hard, there are many good things about it. Here are some of the good things about being alone:
1. It can make you more creative. Being alone can make you more creative by letting your mind wander and explore new ideas.

2. Better understanding of yourself: Spending time alone can help you figure out what you think, feel, and believe.

3. Less stress: Being alone can help you feel less stressed and more relaxed.

FAQs

Q: Is it OK to be by yourself?
A: Yes, being alone is fine. In fact, being alone can help you in many ways, like making you more creative and self-aware.

Q: How can I deal with being alone?
A: There are many practical ways to deal with loneliness, such as reaching out to others, spending time in nature, practicing mindfulness, or getting help from a professional.

Q: Is there a way to treat chronic loneliness?
A: Yes, you can treat chronic loneliness with therapy, medicine, or a combination of the two.

The Cure to Loneliness

Humans have made an amazing world, but none of the shiny things we've made can satisfy or replace our basic and biological need to connect with others. Most animals get what they need from their physical surroundings, but we get what we need from each other, and we need to build our artificial human world around that. Reaching out to others is important, whether you're feeling lonely or just want to make someone else's day better. The goal is just to let yourself be a little more open and work on your connection muscles so they can get stronger over time. Remember that everyone feels lonely sometimes, and it's important to put our mental and physical health first by taking steps to deal with it.

Other Related Articles:

Healing The Loneliness Epidemic
How Self-Worth Can Help Keep You From Being Lonely
7 Ways To Cheer Up Someone That's Lonely

Feeling Lonely? Maybe A Higher Power Is At Work

Other Related Exercises:

Heal From Heartbreak
On Being Complete

How To Not Suffer

Posted 
Apr 11, 2023
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