Understanding Loneliness and Emotional Balance: Insights and Coping Strategies
This article explores the distinctions between loneliness and being alone, its emotional impact, and therapeutic strategies to improve emotional balance and mental health.
- • Loneliness differs from being alone; it is the discrepancy between desired and actual social interactions.
- • Young people and seniors are increasingly affected by loneliness, with declines in social contact reported.
- • People with anxious or shy tendencies experience loneliness more intensely leading to potential social withdrawal.
- • Accepting emotional contradictions through approaches like ACT supports emotional regulation and mental health.
- • Reconnecting with old contacts and focusing on positive experiences can help alleviate loneliness, with professional help advised if it persists.
Key details
Loneliness, a painful and widespread feeling, is distinct from simply being alone and deeply affects emotional health, particularly among young people and seniors. According to a recent OECD study highlighted by a psychology professor Susanne Bücker, loneliness increased notably among 16- to 24-year-olds and those over 65 between 2015 and 2022. For young people, daily contact with friends decreased from 44% to 36%, while 11.4% of seniors reported never seeing friends, up by 5.5 percentage points. Bücker explains loneliness as the subjective gap between desired and actual social connections and warns it becomes problematic when chronic, endangering mental and physical health. Those with anxious or shy personalities often experience loneliness more intensely, potentially leading to a vicious cycle of social withdrawal. To combat this, Bücker recommends reactivating old contacts and focusing on shared experiences, alongside consciously perceiving positive moments. Persistent loneliness should prompt professional help.
Complementing this view, Berlin psychotherapist Nesibe Kahraman stresses the importance of accepting emotional contradictions rather than seeking quick resolutions. Allowing ambivalence, especially in situations like family conflicts, helps foster emotional regulation and prevents mental health issues. Kahraman cites the principles of Acceptance-and-Commitment Therapy (ACT), developed by US psychiatrist Steven C. Hayes, which emphasize embracing mixed emotions without judgment as a path to emotional stability and authenticity. Together, these insights suggest that understanding and addressing both the complexities of loneliness and internal emotional conflicts are vital for emotional well-being.