Loneliness is a personal perspective
Loneliness is subjective emotion, a painful feeling of not belonging or rejections, lack of social interactions and being disconnected with others. Loneliness is a complex problem, experienced subjectively and individually. It occurs when our personal social relationship quantity and/or quality falls below our satisfactory level. Some of us feel lonely in a crowd, while others who do not feel lonely with fewer social contacts.
Loneliness is felt by us at some point in life at any age, transient or intermittent. Loneliness is reported most common among people who are not working, those living alone and individuals with lower household incomes. For those who reported a high rate of loneliness, they were also more likely to cope with social isolation. The risk factors often increase with age, including but not limit to –
Personal
- Retirement
- Health status (chronic illnesses, mobility limitations, etc)
- Sensory loss
- Loss of loved ones or friends
- Personality and self-esteem
Environmental/social
- Moving/relocation
- Lack of transportation
- Demographics and cultural values
- Technology challenges
Loneliness and Aging
Getting older may change the dynamic of relationships, with family and with friends. Loneliness among older people becomes a major social problem. No one wants to be lonely in older age, but it appears that getting older and getting lonelier is increasingly correlated today. Retirement is a key factor: at this time social networks change, and partners often become a more important source of support. Other friendships become more difficult to maintain because of health or losses. The risk of ‘intimate loneliness’ is common for divorcees and also in unhappy relationships.
Older adults are at higher risk for social isolation and loneliness due to changes in health and social connections that may come with growing older, hearing, vision, and memory loss, disability, trouble getting around, and/or the loss of family and friends. Loneliness is often triggered by changes, losses, and compounded factors/situations. These can be internal (connections with social groups, personality, psychological response) or external (personal situations, environmental factors, life events/transitions).
Persistent feelings of loneliness or social isolation can impact our mood and emotions, cause symptoms of anxiety and depression, also increase risks of cognitive decline and dementia, as well as other health conditions, as it can activate the body’s fight or flight mechanism and keep cortisol chronically elevated, leading to inflammatory-based diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke and leading to early death.
Deep loneliness, also sometimes referred to as chronic loneliness, is an internal state of persistent detachment and emotional isolation from others and lack of meaningful connections and relationships with other people, according to psychology. Loneliness has a significant impact on wellness and quality of life. With increasing number of older people living alone, loneness is commonly reported in aging population. However, loneliness does not have age limit as it occurs in all ages.
Understanding Positive Solitude
From psychological perspective, being alone has its benefits.
A “positive solitude,” is a state that is associated with well-being, not loneliness, and finding the joys of solitude. Many considered alone time is essential for their mental health today.
Anxiety about being alone - This anxiety stems in large part from our culture’s deficit view of solitude. In this type of thinking, the desire to be alone is seen as unnatural and unhealthy, something to be pitied or feared rather than valued or encouraged. Our society is more likely to frame being alone negatively than positively. This type of bias shapes people’s beliefs. But the desire for solitude is not pathological, and it’s not just for introverts. Nor does it automatically spell social isolation and a lonely life.
True solitude turns attention inward. It’s a time to slow down and reflect. A time to do as we please, not to please anyone else. A time to be emotionally available to ourselves, rather than to others. When we spend our solitude in these ways, the benefits accrue: We feel rested and rejuvenated, we gain clarity and emotional balance, we feel freer and more connected to ourselves.
It is true that if we don’t have a community of close relationships to return to after being alone, solitude can lead to social isolation. But it’s also true that too much social interaction is taxing, and such overload negatively affects the quality of our relationships. The country’s recent gravitational pull toward more alone time may partially reflect a desire for more balance in a life that is too busy, too scheduled and, maybe, too social.
Just as connection with others is essential for our well-being, so is connection with ourselves.
To learn more about identifying cause of loniless feelings, coping striteries, and actions to take, go to https://qualitylifeforum.weebly.com/2025-aug-loneliness-breakthrough-update.html
If you feel the pain of loneliness, do something about it now. Your first step is to open up and talk about it. Helps are available. Go to https://qualitylifeforum.weebly.com/loneliness-breakthrough.html. for personalized loneliness breakthrough self-care health coaching support.
You are not alone; stay connected.
