Overcoming Loneliness
If you’re feeling increasingly lonely in your daily life right now, it might be comforting to know that you’re not the only one. Due to the events of the past two years especially, people are finding themselves faced with isolation from family, friends, and co-workers, which can be difficult to manage.
If you’re suffering from loneliness, you shouldn’t have to go through it alone, and you certainly shouldn’t isolate yourself any further. There are many healthy ways to combat loneliness, connect with others, and find more joy in your daily life.
What Are Some Effective Ways I Can Use To Handle Loneliness?
Here are a few suggestions of some things you can do to experiment with handling feelings of loneliness:
- We all have uncomfortable emotions that come to the surface at times; acknowledging those emotions can help you gain power over them. Observing how you think, feel, and behave can help you make effective changes.
- Even though social media portrays itself as a way to help us connect with others, research shows that it may do our mental health more harm than good. A study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology in November 2018 found that several mainstream social media platforms – including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat – perpetuated feelings of depression and loneliness. To combat feelings of loneliness, experiment with unplugging from social media for a time and get outdoors to walk, garden, or daydream, or maybe read a good book or watch an uplifting movie.
- Volunteering for a cause you believe in can help you overcome feeling lonely; you will meet others, be part of a group, and create new experiences. Doing so will bring you the benefits of altruism, helping you find more meaning in your life. In addition to decreasing loneliness, this can bring greater happiness and life satisfaction.
What Are Some Suggestions That Can Help Me Manage My Mental Health?
You may feel helpless at times; circumstances often have a way of causing us to feel that our lives are out of our control. Regaining the sense that you have some control over yourself no matter what is happening around you will bring you into a healthier mental balance.
Here are some suggestions of things you can do to help you manage your mental health:
- Exercise is a must for your mental well-being as well as your physical one. You might not have access to a gym or feel comfortable exercising outdoors, but you may want to experiment with online classes and instruction. You can even do this with a friend; exercising virtually with others can help increase engagement and give you a feeling of connectedness.
- Adopting a pet can offer many benefits, including preventing loneliness. Rescuing a pet also combines the benefits of altruism and companionship and fights loneliness. It can connect you with other people; walking a dog opens you up to a community of other dog-walkers, while a cute dog on a leash tends to be a people magnet. Pets provide unconditional love, too, which can help alleviate lonely feelings.
- Meet with a mental health professional, such as a psychotherapist. You learn about your condition and your moods, feelings, thoughts, and behaviors during your psychotherapy sessions. Psychotherapy helps you learn how to take control of your life and respond to challenging situations with healthy coping skills.
Here at John Nichols Psychotherapy, I provide a space where you can feel safe sharing your story, discovering growth strategies, and ultimately learning to live successfully and happily on your own.
Being human is complicated, but navigating depression, anxiety, relationships, trauma, grief, divorce, transitions, and other significant hurdles on your own isn’t brave ‒ it’s isolating. Bravery comes in recognizing what that something is, and healing comes in asking for help. I’m here for you. Book an appointment online today!