All of us have felt lonely. We can feel lonely after a breakup or losing someone we love. Even without such an occurrence, we may feel alone. Loneliness is hard no matter the reason. This article will explain loneliness, what causes it, how it affects us, and how to overcome it!
Loneliness is personal. This makes it impossible to define loneliness broadly. The Turkish Language Association defines loneliness as “the state of no one being present”. Though accurate, this definition sometimes falls short.
Because even sitting at a table with loved ones and speaking can make a person feel lonely. Now, loneliness is about how we connect with others and ourselves, not the absence of someone.
Sometimes we feel lonely because we think that even if we love someone and know they are beside us, they cannot totally grasp our predicament. We sometimes struggle to form deep, mutually understanding relationships.
Perhaps a young child feels lonely and bullied by friends. Perhaps a middle-aged adult loses a loved one with whom they shared much and feels quite lonely. These loneliness feelings are pretty different, right?
However, reading these lines lets us imagine and experience each one. Because we recognise these experiences' similarities and differences. Being human includes feeling lonely.
Like eating and resting, connecting with others is a basic emotional necessity. When our need for connection isn't met, we get lonely. How do we realise we're lonely? The following signs can help us identify this feeling:
- We miss someone from the past.
- Wishing for additional people in my life...
- Not being understood
- Feeling disconnected from loved ones
- Social aversion
- We live in our minds due to constant thinking.
- Increasing social media use
- Abandoning healthy habits and routines
Loneliness is hard to explain. Sometimes we feel lonely despite having numerous people in our lives and blame ourselves. Or blame others for this emotion. As said, loneliness may not be about being alone. Different factors might cause loneliness.
People with physical health issues feel more lonely. As opposed to when we are healthy, while we are sick we may feel disconnected from ourselves and our environment, thinking no one understands us. We need social support and feel vulnerable most during these times.
We can also feel lonely with mental illness. Depression and anxiety can make us feel disconnected from our surrounds, history, and future.
These are the times when we need social support most, yet without psychological well-being, it might be harder to find it.
Loneliness makes us hide our sentiments. Thus, we can purposefully decline social support. This can increase loneliness and mental health issues.