What is Loneliness?
Loneliness is the feeling of getting detached from the social world or from the people you actually are more often with. According to Wikipedia loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social pain a psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is more often seen in the young as well as old people who are isolated from the outside world and live a gloomy life.
Effects and statistics of loneliness
Loneliness acts more on your mental health than your social life. It leads to premature death. It increases your stress and anxiety levels and are severe than other physical disorders. Feeling lonely increases heart disease by 29% and increases the risk of heart stroke by 32%. It is bigger killer than obesity. Research has shown that chronic social isolation increases the risk of mental health issues like depression, anxiety and substance abuse, as well as chronic conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. It also raises the risk of dementia in older adults. A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) points out that more than one-third of adults aged 45 and older feel lonely, and nearly one-fourth of adults aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated. Loneliness appeared to be more common among men. According to a survey 63% of men feels lonely, as compared with 58% of women. It also depends upon the marital status as single women are 4x more haunted by loneliness, but the number is 10x in men as compared to the ones in a relationships. Those aged 16 to 24 are the group most likely to report feeling lonely, with 10% feeling lonely “often or always”. In contrast, those aged 65 years and older are the group least likely to report feeling lonely, with 3% feeling lonely “often or always”. A study by Chris Segrin conducted among 255 couples in the United States who were facing loneliness even being in a relationship indicated that the more lonely their male partner was feeling the poorer quality of the sleep of the female partner. The whole Covid19 pandemic situation has increased the number of people facing loneliness and depression.
This graph shows that how the young people from the age group of 18-24 have been facing loneliness since the pandemic started. Also the people who lost their jobs during the pandemic are facing the loneliness epidemic crisis.
How Loneliness attacks you
Loneliness is something creepy and most probably unnoticeable. It actually seeps into your mindset when you are not socially that active. It can get you in some unexpected ways like even if you are surrounded by people you might feel that anxiety or loneliness. If you are active on social media and you don't have some realistic transitions other than your Instagram or Facebook feed then you are surely haunted by loneliness. Firstly people are hiding their inner feelings on social media and also they are more probably showing that flashy and happy life they are having and if you look at these kind of stuff you are going to feel jealous or you might get an anxiety attack. Their is evidence that the social media correlation exaggerates favourable qualities like happiness by posting and liking or commenting some happy emojis on the posts.
How can you make the whole process painless
Well you can face loneliness when you are not having a social life or if there's no one to talk to you. You need to plan your stuff in such a way that you don't find yourself the agony of being all the way alone. Make the things more pleasurable and interesting. Instead plan a schedule and get things done. Sometimes you might feel that people are ignoring you but they are actually busy with their work so the only way to not feel ignorant is by getting busy with your own work. That's the best piece of advice I have ever got so if you are an introvert then build some skills and keep yourself busy. If you like keep a space or a void in your routine you build an overthinking attitude and more probably things get worse, this might lead to things like depression and anxiety. You can also have talks with you friends or colleagues so that you might get over this thing. But at least find one person with whom you can share every thing you are going through but don't depend on anyone for you happiness find your own. Once you find your track you will be set free from the shackles of the gloomy circle. It's not being alone fears us it's feeling alone fears us. So know our own self as Aristotle said "knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom". Taking up a hobby is one of the best thing you can go with just like reading insightful books. Just find thee things that excites you or makes you feel happy. Learn to be comfortable with your own thoughts and feelings. Prioritize your mental and physical health.
If you are facing too much of loneliness issues just have a talk with you parents or consult a councillor or phycologist.
These are some helpful sources- https://youtu.be/KSXh1YfNyVA
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