Loneliness is the pain that you feel when you don’t have strong connections to people. It is a current problem in society that affects many people in the world. 60 % percent of the people from the US and Great Britain feel lonely. It is a problem that has existed for many years and affected almost everyone in a moment during their lives. We live in the most connected era due to our technology, but many people are unable to form strong bonds.
There is a misunderstanding that charismatic people never feel alone. The creation of strong bonds isn’t connected with your social abilities. Fame, money, power, beauty, social skills can’t protect you from feeling alone.
We are a very social species. Our cooperation gave us many advantages in our history. Our brain developed a horrible pain to make us socialize when we are alone. A few million years ago, being rejected from a tribe meant death.
One cause of the problem is that people travel a lot. We travel to go to universities, to find new jobs, or to migrate. We leave behind our social networks. Other causes are our obligations. We have to work, study, take care of our family and many other things. Our time with our friends is the easiest to sacrifice. It takes some time to form close bonds with people. When we are adults, it is also more difficult to form bonds. If the loneliness continues, it can become chronic. At this point, it is really dangerous.
Loneliness can make you age quicker, develop more diseases like cancer, and weaken your immune system. It is one of the deadliest things that you can experience. It can kill you. These last days, everything can kill you.
It is also very difficult to overcome. Your social pain makes your body be in a defensive mode. You are more alert to body signals from people, but you interpret them wrong. You think that neutral faces are aggressive, and you distrust others, therefore disconnecting even more from society. You stop talking to people, and declining invitations from your friends until the invitations stop.
If you have this problem, you can accept it and not feel ashamed. Try to recognize if you focus on the negative things when you have social interactions. If you have been hurt, try to forgive people and risk being vulnerable again. Most importantly, don’t avoid opportunities to spend time with your friends.
Everybody feels alone at a point in their lives. It is very important to spend time with our friends and talk openly with other people. Listening to other people’s problems and telling them how you feel can be one of the most important things in your life.
