Overcoming loneliness.

I really enjoy being alone at home. I can read a good book, write, watch television, try to sing or listen to music. Other people just relax and rest. But feeling alone has never been something pleasant for a human being, because you feel empty, unwanted and isolated from human contact. A person with this condition may be surrounded by people or have a relationship for life and still experience a deep loneliness. Surgeon Vivek Murthy has written that the feeling of loneliness affects both our lifespan and smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Studies and research have been carried out in most of the developed countries, and the results are alarming. Such has been the impact on the society of Great Britain, that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, even appointed a minister for loneliness. A survey revealed that about 200,000 older people in Britain had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in more than a month, and about 6% of adults said they felt lonely most of the time.

All the researchers who have worked in different countries agree that loneliness is related to cardiovascular diseases and strokes, high levels of stress, decreased memory and ability to learn, antisocial behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, increase in Alzheimer's disease, depression and suicide. And this evil seems to spread like an epidemic.

Apparently, the way we live today makes us prone to feel alone. There are more means of communication, but less interaction between people. In this modern society people live and grow old alone. We have the Internet and social networks allow us to have thousands of friends and followers, but these can never be a replacement for human relationships.

It is possible to overcome this state whenever we are willing to make some changes in our lives. Something that can be done is to get involved with others in activities that we enjoy, meet new people and try to relate to people who share similar interests and values with us. Remember that it is not quantity that counts, it is the quality of social interaction that combats loneliness.