12 Ideas to Help Manage Loneliness
Introduction
Loneliness can have effect on anyone. Experiences of
loneliness have variations, but its effects can be intense and widespread. It
is viewed by people to be one of the largest public wellness hurdle that we
face.
In 2022, 49.63% of adults (25.99 million people) in the UK revealed
perceiving lonely occasionally, sometimes, often or always.
Approximately 7.1% of people in Great Britain (3.83 million)
have experienced chronic loneliness, meaning they perceive lonely ‘often or
always’.
This has increased from 6% (3.24 million) in 2020, specifying
that there has not been a return to pre-pandemic degrees of loneliness.
Chronic loneliness escalates the risk of early death by 14%.
Not only this, loneliness worsens our mental health condition. Loneliness leads
to increase in one’s blood pressure and cholesterol. Loneliness leads to
decrease in functionality of our immune systems thus putting us at increased
risk to develop all kinds of illnesses and diseases.
By reading this blogpost, you will be able to conquer and
manage loneliness and use loneliness to your advantage.
12 ideas that help to cope with loneliness
The 12 ideas that help to deal with loneliness and turn
loneliness to your advantage are:
1.
Change
your perspective of loneliness: We often view loneliness in dark sense, but
when introspected, loneliness can sometimes serve as a root cause for personal
growth and self-discovery. While loneliness can become uncomfortable and
painful, it cannot be inescapably deemed a negative experience. When perceived through
the lens of personal growth, it can even be seen as a chance to know yourself
better and nurture deeper relations with others.
2.
Accepting
self-love throughout the time of loneliness: Self-love serves as a ray of
hope in the time of loneliness. It worked as a gentle reminder that the feelings
of loneliness did not depict your worth or explain your existence.
Self-love is not about suppressing your
feelings of loneliness, it is about being cognizant of these feelings without
being judged. It is about extending yourself the same sympathy and
understanding that you would have provided to your friend or acquaintance in a
similar situation.
3.
Embrace
your loneliness: Learn to enjoy your own company by becoming busy in the
activities that you would love like playing games, internet surfing, etc. In
this way you will be able to create your own space, your safe heaven where you
could be yourself without any faking. You will also become self-sufficient.
4.
Create a
safe space on social media. Consider other options for virtual connection,
like starting a new group text or Facebook group with our closest friends.
Targeted communications from close friends can have the most positive impact
and help beat loneliness. It is human to reachout to others.
5.
Make a point to sit down and have lunch or
dinner with a close friend to talk about how we’re really doing – and how they
are, too. Check in with a parent, sibling or other family member and arrange a
visit to them. Call someone whom you
haven’t heard for a long time and engage with him/her in a meaningful
conversation.
6.
Forge a new kind of relationship with a plant, a
book, a pet - anything that lights up your heart in a real way.
7.
You should go on self-dates as it is a powerful
tool to learn how to be happy alone. You can sit for 10 minutes in a coffee
shop or go to see movie or go to play video games in video game parlour. Become
observant and get involve in your surroundings. Once you become comfortable
with that, you will become habitual to go out alone.
8.
Try
something new that we never got to do – alone: It's time to do the thing we
always wanted but never go to do. We're talking bigger than hobbies. Go for the
once-in-a-lifetime stuff like skydiving, a solo trip to another country, or
backpacking in the woods! You can also visit nearby town, attend a local
festival like Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations or Dusshehra celebrations, buy a
ticket to a concert. You can go on long drive.
9.
Engage
yourself in creative activities: You should try something novel and
distinct, which can be outside your comfort zone. Learn to play an instrument
or learn problem solving skill, paint a landscape or do mirror painting, or
write a short story or learn content writing. Try it by yourself or enroll in
digital marketing or app development class.
If you don’t like it, you can remove it
from your list and give a trial to something else.
10.
Grab the
advantage of being alone: This can be done by occupying the entire kitchen
to cook a tasty meal which you know how to cook it so that you can munch on it,
put on your favourite music and dance like no one is watching or try to get
back into an old hobby like mechanical art.
11.
Take into
consideration things that you are grateful for: Though it is natural to
take things for granted, devote sometime to reflect upon the things you are
grateful for as this will amplify your feelings of happiness and hopefulness. They
need not to be spectacular or astonishing things. They can be simple as the first
cup of green tea or coffee in the morning or your favourite song you play over and
over as it calms your nerves or having instagram followers more than 1000. Create a
list, whether it is mental or physical, of the things that you have
appreciation for in your life. The next time when feelings of loneliness
engulfs you and you feel down/low, then read this list to give a reminder to
yourself of everything you possess.
12.
Allow
your mind to wander: This can be done by closing your eyes and darken the
room, dribbling a basketball, washing dishes or playing with stress toys for
adults. You should let your mind to wander in true manner and notice where it
takes you. Don’t get dishearten if it doesn’t carry you very far in the
beginning. With the passage of time, your mind will get into the habit of this
new liberty.
Conclusion
These ideas will help you fight loneliness and minimize the
effects of loneliness on you and your mental health.
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