More than anything I want you to remember that feeling lonely at any age doesn't make you any less of a person. It doesn't mean you're not mentally strong or independent to crave the company of others.
Loneliness is a common experience in young adulthood, but it can often be a confusing and overwhelming feeling. It can be difficult to understand why you might feel lonely, even when you have plenty of friends and a seemingly full life.
Loneliness can hit at any age. In fact, young adults are three times likelier to feel lonely than older age groups, says a study from the Office for National Statistics. From experience, I found that it hit me hardest in my early 20s.
Most notably, researchers found that loneliness rates peak among people in their 20s, and reach their lowest point among those in their 60s. Many people also experience a spike in lonely feelings around their mid-40s. These findings are as confounding as they are surprising, at least initially.
No, You feel lonely because you are dependent on others for emotional needs. When you are comfortable with yourself being alone, then you have evidently matured. Loneliness is an emotional dependency on other person for love and care.
The key difference between being lonely and being alone is emotional attachment. Being alone is a state of being, while loneliness is a feeling. We can be perfectly happy being by ourselves, but we can also be lonely even if we're with a group of people.
It's characterized by constant and unrelenting feelings of being alone, separated or divided from others, and an inability to connect on a deeper level. It can also be accompanied by deeply rooted feelings of self-doubt, low self-esteem, or social anxiety.
And it's certainly not uncommon to lose many of the friends you made as a young adult as your interests change and people's lives go in different directions. Careers and family schedules often become the center of our lives, making it difficult to cultivate new relationships and grow social circles in adulthood.
The de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale operationalized loneliness by a three-cluster model to present the latent structure of loneliness: emotional, serious emotional, and severe emotional/social loners.
If you're in your 40s and miserable, you might just be acting your age: Unhappiness peaks at 47.2 years old, according to new research.
The 20s are a time of transition and change, and this can be a difficult and stressful time for many people. The pressure to succeed in career, relationships, and finding a sense of identity can take a toll on mental health. Many young adults experience feelings of anxiety and depression during their 20s.
People change. Sometimes those changes don't mesh anymore. And as our twenties are one of the biggest decades for change, it makes sense that this is the time where you may feel like you're losing more friends than in the past. You also start to see who is really there for you, and who isn't.
Real stories related to depression and low mood
Going through different emotions is part of life. While it can feel worrying as a parent, it is normal for young people to feel low sometimes, and this can be a natural response to what's happening around them.
In 2019, a YouGov poll revealed that 30 percent of Millennials felt lonely – the highest percentage of any group – and 22 percent of Millennials said they had no friends.
Hawkley points to evidence linking perceived social isolation with adverse health consequences including depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life.
When someone feels lonely they are more likely to try to distract themselves with the other things in their lives. So if your colleague is always talking about their stamp collection, or always flying away on exotic solo city breaks rather than spending weekends at home, they might be feeling alone.
Loneliness affects people in different ways, and for this reason there are four distinct types of loneliness identified by psychologists: emotional, social, situational and chronic.
At any age there are going to be people in your area who are open to forming new friendships. Not everyone has had the same social circle for years and years and isn't interested in meeting anyone else. If you go on sites like Meetup.com you'll see people have created groups catering to all ages.
In short, after the age of 25, your personality and friendships are more or less consolidated. So if you are suddenly thrust into a new environment, it's normal to feel like it's difficult for you to fit in, even if you meet people who share similar interests.
That is totally normal. Both friendships and acquaintanceships have stale dates, just like bags of potato chips. After a while they just aren't satisfying. You have to keep finding new acquaintances by participating in activities that interest you.
In its simplest form, loneliness is having purpose — thoughts, interests and passions but no one to share them with. In contrast, boredom is having people with whom to share but lacking in the sense of satisfaction, gratification and productivity.
Isolation is a result of anxiety and depression in that some individuals use it as a self-induced coping mechanism to deal with excessive worry and avoid human interaction.
Contributing your time and energy, working alongside others for a good cause, can effectively help you in fighting loneliness. Volunteer activities are shown to ease stress, reduce feelings of depression, can help you make friends, and connect with others, and overall make you a happier person .