Have you ever felt lonelier when you are standing in the middle of a crowd?
Do you feel isolated even when you meet new people?
Have you sometimes wanted time alone for yourself and yourself alone?
It isn’t caused by fretting at all as it merely means that you are actually suffering from a sense of loneliness.
What is Loneliness?
Loneliness is actually an intricate occurrence that spawns in a person due to emotional or mental unrest.
If left unchecked, it can even disrupt one’s social environment and the ability to deal with day to day interactions.
It can happen to anyone, regardless of whether they are introverts or extroverts and it is, at times, quite a big deal.
On an instinctive level, Man is indubitably a social animal.
That is why we want to be gregarious and love to meet people.
When we feel lonely or experience loneliness, it is, in fact, a natural and quite normal thing.
This feeling of loneliness actually causes a person to become isolated from others and this can in part lead to depression and solitude, but of the adverse sort.
Human beings are a tribal species and as of such, we depend upon each other and the social connections that we make in order to subsist in this life.
A life that is bereft of social relationships, in fact, leads to pain in humans, both of the physical and emotional sorts.
This inexorably causes them to plummet into a well of sorrow, loneliness, and depression.
To put it in more concise and simple terms, human beings can’t survive being alone and need to meet people to overcome loneliness.
It is important for their physical health as well as mental ones.
However, with the advent of technology and modernization, there has occurred a sharp decline in the rate of social interaction and this has culminated in increased social anxiety and in the number of people that experience loneliness.
Whenever a person feels lonely then he or she should be aware that somehow, and in some way, they are turning against their own selves.
Loneliness is after all profoundly detrimental for the soul.
How to know if you are Lonely?
One of the key indicators when it comes to Loneliness isn’t feeling as if you have no friends at all.
This is surprising indeed but not unexpected as loneliness is a complex phenomenon after all.
There are many cases where people having sufficient connections online and in the real-life still, feel loneliness.
That is why it is essential to first ascertain whether you are actually experiencing feelings of loneliness or not.
Refer to the following indicators to see if you are actually lonely or not:
- Shopping:
A study of 25000 people confirmed that most lonely people shop a lot.
It seems that there is a correlation between excessive shopping and trying to quell any feelings of loneliness or phobia relating to the latter.
- Continuously watching TV shows:
If you are binge-watching your favorite shows, one after the other, without any respite or break then this too spell you have a cloud of loneliness stuck over you.
- Not Feeling Rested:
It was during a study conducted in South Dakota in 2011 that it was discovered that lonely people don’t usually feel well-rested. In this study, 100 respondents were included and the findings inferred that lonely people don’t feel well-rested at all and feel anxious most of the time.
- Thinking Negative Thoughts:
If you are thinking negative thoughts frequently then this too is an indicator that you are gradually falling into a state of loneliness.
- Feelings of Dread;
Dread is a feeling that usually creeps up of those suffering from social isolation and social anxiety.
This is a common occurrence amongst those people that are currently in the grips of loneliness.
Detrimental Effects of Loneliness
Loneliness if left unchecked can lead to numerous complications for one’s health. These include
- Obesity is one condition that can be accelerated by loneliness.
Various studies have confirmed that those who remained in said state for extended periods of time developed a more distended and corpulent physique, which directly led to a greatly reduced level of physical wellbeing. - Social Anxiety is usually a byproduct of excessive loneliness and is found eminently amongst lonely individuals.
- Increased Blood pressure can also be brought upon due to excessive feelings of loneliness and this, in turn, can lead to further complications in one’s health.
- Stress levels are often enhanced in people that experience this phenomenon and this, in turn, leads to them developing Diabetes, social anxiety, panic disorder, etc.
It can be generalized that loneliness is indeed a most serious condition and needs to be controlled so as to spare one the many detrimental effects that it entails.
How can a Self Help Association Help
As the name implies, a self-help association mainly incentivizes victims of loneliness (who lack social skills) to curb this problem through their own will power and internal abilities.
These associations believe that the cure for every major problem can be found within one’s own being if he or she just concentrate on it.
Whatever social situations may arise and whatever the fear and anxiety disorders are, if a person is committed to overcoming the social phobia or social anxiety disorder then he or she will most certainly be able to do so.
That is why it is a safe bet for anyone who finds himself enshrouded in the mists of symptoms of social anxiety, self-consciousness, depression, generalized social anxiety, or loneliness to rise up and seek assistance from these self-help experts.
They employ a subtle method of cognitive behavioral therapy that aims to mitigate shyness, low self-esteem, and anxieties that one may feel over the prospect of being alone.
They allow a person to become more self-conscious, mentally sound and remove any debilitating factors that might be causing him or her to indulge in self-doubt.
So, if you are considering the option of contacting such self-help associations for reducing any feelings of loneliness that you might be experiencing, then that’s pretty great.
How they can help
The many ways through which these associations can help you if you are feeling lonely can be listed as follows:
- Educating about the Problem:
These associations seek to improve conditions for your health by ensuring that you receive the best awareness and information regarding the problem (symptoms of anxiety) that you are experiencing. They believe that without proper knowledge, one can’t counter the negative effects that extreme anxiety evinces. For the treatment of social anxiety, or overcoming social anxiety, nervousness, panic attack, irrational and fearful situations, or palpitations could embarrass you. So, the first step in their helping program lies in proper education of the clients.
- Creating a Plan:
In order to bolster one’s coping skills, it is necessary to have an effectual plan for tackling the problem of social anxiety, stress disorder, shaky feelings, depressive disorder, and loneliness. An efficient Self-Help association can help in this regard by assisting the concerned individual in the formulation of a plan for workable and applicable solutions to the problem being faced. Be it acute loneliness, signs of anxiety, irrational fears and fear of social interactions that one experiences after losing a loved one or chronic loneliness that is more predicated upon biological grounds, they all require a plan. Usually, the sufferer isn’t cogent enough to devise and plan and that is where the help of these associations comes in handy.
- Engagement:
Usually, a lonely person will fall further into the pits of depression and anxiety until or unless he or she exerts their frustration and energy towards a meaningful and salubrious engagement. This is where these associations can help as they provide a means for engaging in such activities. These include meditation, engaging in small talk, going on trips, etc. The actual point is to get busy and the nature of the task has nothing to do with it.
- Creating Opportunities for Group Bonding:
These associations usually operate in the form of groups. It means that their therapeutic treatment is usually centered on group sessions where a person can engage in talking to people, share their viewpoints, overcome a fear of talking I general and become more social. This is immensely helpful for lonely persons as this allows them to effectually and soundly overcome their problem of loneliness. That is because through bonding with others who share their malady, they can not only bring about a positive change in their own condition but in those with whom they form bonds as well.
- Thinking beyond One’s own self:
When you are experiencing Loneliness, it can lead to depression and the latter often makes one very self-focused and self-centered. This can lead to further exacerbation in this condition and you start doubting others without reason or proper explanation. These associations teach one to look beyond his or her self. If a colleague wasn’t able to make it to an appointment with you then it doesn’t mean he or she doesn’t want to be your friend but rather it means that they might have gotten caught up in an unforeseen or sudden engagement. That is the mindset that is conducive to proper curing of loneliness and this is what Self-Help associations develop.
- Provide an Emphatic Ear:
It is easier to get over one’s trepidation and loneliness if he or she has someone to talk to, a kind and emphatic shoulder to cry on and recount the tragedies, woes, or feelings that have been experienced. By listening to their clients, these associations pave the path to healing and total recuperation from loneliness so that these clients don’t find the notion of solitude so frightening anymore.
- Express yourself:
Be it on their social media site or help center, these associations allow for ample opportunities for all to express themselves. Be it a debate opportunity, painting class, talent show support group and what else, these associations accord participants the opportunity to be more articulate and in doing so overcome their problems effectually.
