Loneliness, defined as the pain of feeling alone, is a psychological condition characterized by a deep sense of emptiness and uselessness, lack of control, and personal threat.
If you are lonely, you may feel sad, empty, or as if you are lacking something important when you spend time by yourself. Chronic loneliness can also involve the following symptoms: decreased energy. feeling foggy or unable to focus.
What causes loneliness? There is not one single cause of loneliness. Loneliness can often be a result of life changes or circumstances that include living alone, changing your living arrangements, having financial problems, or death of a loved one.
Below are 10 things women should know about loneliness:
1. Loneliness is a common feeling, but there are steps you can take to help feel more connected. Listening to music, calling a friend, taking a walk outside, and other activities may reduce your sense of isolation. Loneliness is going around, and it’s having a pretty big impact.
2. “Loneliness can change the neurochemistry of the brain, turning off the dopamine neurons, which trigger the reward response, and causing some degeneration in the brain when the reward response is not activated,” says Katherine Peters, MD, PhD, FAAN, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Duke University.
3. It is normal to feel lonely and lost. We all feel lonely from time to time. Feelings of loneliness are personal, so everyone’s experience of loneliness will be different. One common description of loneliness is the feeling we get when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met. But loneliness is not always the same as being alone.
4. When someone feels lonely they are more likely to try to distract themselves with the other things in their lives. So if your colleague is always talking about their stamp collection, or always flying away on exotic solo city breaks rather than spending weekends at home, they might be feeling alone. This is how lonely people behave.
5. To be happy alone, experts say that it can help to try exercising, spending time in nature, or volunteering. Taking a break from social media or adopting a pet can also help you feel less lonely. However, if you are struggling to feel happy alone, it may be worth seeking medical help.
6. Isolated people tend to have higher levels of stress. Having at least one friend can reduce your stress levels. Isolated people are more likely to experience depression than those who have friends. Isolation can be related to health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and anxiety disorders. This is how having no friends affects your mental health.
7. The key difference between being lonely and being alone is emotional attachment. Being alone is a state of being, while loneliness is a feeling. We can be perfectly happy being by ourselves, but we can also be lonely even if we’re with a group of people.
8. Loneliness can affect your health in lots of ways. You may not be able to get out to buy healthy foods – or you may not have the motivation to cook for one. And not getting enough mental stimulation increases the chance of depression and dementia. This is why loneliness is a killer.
9. Loneliness can make you an overthinker, leading to unsavoury feelings like anxiousness, aggression, and irritability.
10. Speaking to a therapist for professional help might be a good idea if making friends is a challenge for you. Some people who don’t have a support system start to withdraw from society, making it even harder to meet new people. A therapist can be a source of strength for those who feel lonely or isolated.
