An anonymous person once said, “Loneliness is not lack of company, loneliness is lack of purpose.”  You can be surrounded by a crowd of people but feel like you are the only person standing there. Feeling like you’re alone even though you have people who care about you is hard to process. I always feel alone, not going to lie. This is something that is very serious for me and I’m telling you this because I want people to feel comfortable with opening up and not to be afraid of how they are feeling. There are millions of people who feel this way.

According to “ Psychological Today”, over 40% of us will feel the pain of loneliness at some point in our lives. Despite how common loneliness is, few people are fully aware of the dramatic ways in which it impacts us. Loneliness does not depend on how many friends or relationships you have. Loneliness depends entirely on the subjective quality of your relationships—on whether you feel emotionally and/or socially disconnected from those around you. Studies have found that merely asking people to recall times they felt lonely was sufficient to make them devalue their relationships. These actions often cause lonely people to withdraw even further from the very people who could alleviate their loneliness. Making matters worse, their friends might be hesitant to connect as well, because loneliness makes our bodies feel like they are under attack. Loneliness causes an immediate and severe bodily reaction. It increases blood pressure and cholesterol, and it activates our physical and psychological stress responses. 

I want you to believe that you aren’t alone and I want to tell you that you aren’t  but, for some people you need to own up to the feeling of loneliness and you should talk to someone that might listen to you. It’s hard  owning up to it because you might be afraid of showing your emotions and you might even feel afraid of the outcome. I’m going through it so in some way you “aren’t alone”. Loneliness is a dangerous and unmotivating event to go through. If you are going through this, contact us or talk to a therapist. It’s okay to speak up and talk to someone. 

Published by Anastasia B.