Loneliness is one of the most critical issues facing mankind today. Feelings of chronic or extreme loneliness often result in negative consequences such as depression, drug abuse, violence, and even suicide.
Loneliness affects every age group, race, gender, religion, and economic and social status:
Over 52% of adults report feeling lonely.
47% report that they don’t have meaningful relationships with others.
79% of Gen Z (ages 18-22) report feeling loneliness.
71% of Millennials (ages 23-37) feel loneliness.
34% of those aged 45 and older feel loneliness
72% of women and 60% of men regularly feel lonely.
Source: YouGov
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Loneliness is a global epidemic
33% of the world feels lonely.
In the US, 22% often or always feel lonely.
UK 13.5% of the country feels loneliness.
In Australia, 25% experience loneliness at least once a week.
In Canada, 30% feel lonely always or often feel lonely.
In Japan, 47% of adults 20-69 experience loneliness.
In South Korea, 10% aged 13-64 often experience loneliness.
Who among us hasn’t experienced loneliness? Have you ever wondered why?
We should start by differentiating the painful feeling of loneliness from the desire to be alone. It is one thing to feel alone and another to choose to be alone. Sometimes, solitude allows us time to regroup, look inwardly, reset physically and/or mentally, and even better focus on projects that might require greater concentration.
The alternative to choosing or being happy to be alone is to isolate ourselves from the world. Reasons for this range from deploying solitude as a defense mechanism when we feel threatened or misunderstood by the world around us to feeling that we don’t fit in, don’t have friends or aren’t desired by other people.
In many cases, we feel alone even when we are in a group. This is the worst loneliness and, if not addressed, often leads to feelings of depression, anxiety, fear, stress, and illness.
What are the roots of this painful feeling?
Loneliness can be the product of a change of circumstances in our lives, such as:
Living alone.
Changing living conditions.
Moving to a new residence.
Having financial problems.
Dealing with the death of a loved one.
The feeling of being misunderstood.
In the case of children, it may be due to:
Lack of playmates or real-world social interaction.
Bullying.
Rejection from peer groups.
Little time spent with parents.
Change of neighborhood.
Discrimination due to disability, race, or gender.
Living in an abusive environment.
It is important to note that we cannot generalize the topic of loneliness. There are people who prefer small groups, others who prefer bigger groups, and others who still prefer one-to-one relationships.
Loneliness is a very personal emotion, and each person feels loneliness differently.
There is hope: How do we overcome loneliness?
·The feeling of loneliness must be acknowledged, this alone is a difficult task.
·Find a group with similar interests. The mere knowledge that a group we would like to join meets on a certain day, always simultaneously, can ease our feelings of loneliness.
·If you spend a lot of time in the virtual world, you may not feel alone with your chat friends, but over time, you will feel the need for physical contact, so address this now by finding a real-world compliment to your virtual world.
How do we make and keep new friends?
Ideally, we should look for people and groups with similar affinities to ours so we can share. Then, we must nurture those friendships. Friendships, like all relationships, require work. We cannot take them for granted.
To begin with, let’s try to be kind, praise our friend or friends, and listen to the friends who are going through a rough patch and need to vent, by not judging, they will begin to trust us, make them feel that we are available to them and let them know how important their friendship is to us. Friendships enrich our lives and improve our health.
Sometimes, friends drift apart because they no longer have things in common or because life circumstances have changed. Keeping in contact and genuinely caring for a friend includes rooting for them to succeed and sharing in their wins. This will help reduce drifting due to life circumstances.
Loneliness and the cosmos
We can look at the issue of loneliness from a cosmic and more comprehensive point of view. No one is isolated. We are all interconnected by the laws of the universe and a part of the whole universe. This includes our environment. We are like the fingers of a hand, together they form the hand and depend on one another. The action of each part will influence the whole. We all depend on one another, and our actions influence the entire universe.
Loneliness could mean our eyes and senses are closed to our environment. If we can open our eyes to this cosmic point of view, we will see that we are surrounded by plants, animals, and, most of the time, friends and loved ones. We can feel the wind on our skin and know that we are not alone
in the world.
Many times, the pain of loneliness is so overwhelming and daunting that it requires the help of an expert who can guide us through this difficult and painful period. Because this issue is so prevalent in today’s world, we dedicate our most significant areas of focus to it. Helping someone overcome the pain of loneliness immediately impacts all other areas of their life.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve a higher level of happiness and a deeper understanding of yourself.
PHILOSOPHICAL STYLE, INC. -June 2024
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