Loneliness is not the same as being alone.
Some people are content with little social contact and others may find that lonely.
Some people experience chronic loneliness.
Many of us feel lonely from time to time. Feelings of loneliness are personal, so everyone’s experience will be different.
You can have lots of social contact and support and still feel lonely. Especially if you do not feel understood or cared for by the people around you.
Feeling lonely is not a mental health problem.
Having a mental health problem can increase feelings of loneliness, because of isolation. For example, if you are struggling with your mental health, you may:
- Avoid social events and activities you usually enjoy
- Have low self-esteem
- Find it hard to try new things and worry about engaging with others
- Find it difficult to speak to people about how you are feeling, for fear of stigma or not being understood
- Feel like you could be a burden to others
- Feel overwhelmed in busy public places, or at work events and parties
Loneliness can have a negative impact on your mental health. It may increase stress, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and sleep difficulties.
Loneliness has many different causes.
Certain life events or experiences may make you feel lonely, such as:
- Experiencing a bereavement
- Going through a relationship break-up
- Retirement
- Changing jobs
- Starting at university
- Experiencing mental health problems
- Becoming a parent
- Moving to a new area without family, friends or community networks
You may feel lonely at certain times of the year.
Some are more vulnerable to loneliness than others. For example, if you:
- Have few friends
- Are estranged from your family
- Are a single parent or carer
- Find it hard to maintain a social life
- Live in an area where there are few people with a similar background to you
- Are excluded from social activities because of mobility problems
- Have financial poverty
What can you do?
Acknowledge the loneliness in you or another person.
Accept that time alone is important.
Talk about loneliness.
Think about social connections.
If you know someone who has little social contact with others, you may contact them and ask if they are lonely and if they want to do an activity with you.
If you are lonely, seek a group or friend that you can relate to, to spend some time with them doing something that is enjoyable and important to you.
What is it that you want and what is it that you enjoy? What is important to you?
Take things slowly, try not to plunge in the deep end and then feel overwhelmed.
Make new connections, friends or groups, that are meaningful and important to you.
Do not compare yourself to others.
Look after yourself.
You are connected to the world: Remember that loneliness is a universal experience – a part of being human.
You can use the power within yourself to make positive changes to your life. You could do this by relaxing, reflecting or doing a new hobby.
You can embrace your creativity. Represent your experience through art and creativity and share it with others.
Reach out and let those who care be with you.
Build quality relationships, rather than quantity. Take time to strengthen your relationships.
Your hobbies and interests are important. It could be anything from finding a new TV show to learning a new sport.
Practice sitting with your emotions and being present with your emotions. Reflecting and accepting your emotions.
Create space between your feelings and social media. Could you take a break from social media unfollowing or muting accounts that bring up difficult feelings and following accounts that make you feel empowered can help with feelings of loneliness.
Join a group whether based on a hobby, religion, spirituality or an interest.
If you are feeling disconnected to yourself, try and get into nature. Getting into nature can help you to feel at peace with yourself.
Show kindness to yourself. You can be your own friend. You can be kind to yourself.
Be grateful for the small wins in your life. It could be for getting out of bed today. It could be for watching a bird patter across a roof. Try having the glass half full rather than half empty approach.
We all experience negative feelings and will feel lonely, everyone needs to acknowledge these and recognise that this is usually normal, reflect and find individual ways that suit them to combat this.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!