'Nobody wants to be lonely,' may be a line from a pop song, but it's also a fairly universal truth.
Chronic loneliness is a term to describe loneliness that's experienced over a long period of time. While loneliness, and chronic loneliness, aren't specific mental health conditions, they can still affect your mental and general health.
Loneliness describes the negative feelings that can occur when your needs for social connection aren't met. It's normal to enjoy spending time alone on occasion. In fact, alone time might help you relax and recharge. People have different needs for alone time, so you might need more than someone else to feel your best.
Still, aloneness and loneliness aren't quite the same. When you're enjoying your solitude, you most likely don't feel isolated in a negative way or crave contact with others. Isolation and loneliness often go hand in hand, and both can affect not only emotional health but also overall well-being.
Read on to learn more about chronic loneliness, including how to recognize it, possible complications, and some potential ways to increase your social connections and ease feelings of loneliness.
Loneliness can happen for a number of reasons. For example, you might feel lonely if you:
As you adjust to these new circumstances, feelings of loneliness may pass, but sometimes they persist. It's not always easy to talk about feeling lonely, and if you have a hard time reaching out to others, you might feel even more alone.
A lack of meaningful connections also contributes to loneliness, which is why you can feel lonely even if you have a wide social network.
Maybe you have a lot of casual friends and fill your time with social activities but don't feel too close to anyone. Spending a lot of time with couples and families can also lead to feelings of loneliness if you're single and don't want to be. This could happen even when you're happily single.
Living with mental or physical health issues can also increase risk for loneliness. Health concerns can be isolating, since it can be difficult to explain how you feel. Sometimes social activities demand too much emotional or physical energy, and you might end up canceling more plans than you keep.
Eventually, a continued lack of social connection might make you feel even worse.
If you're lonely, you may feel sad, empty, or as if you're lacking something important when you spend time by yourself. Chronic loneliness can also involve the following symptoms:
Loneliness, even chronic loneliness, isn't a specific mental health condition. However, experts increasingly recognize the ways loneliness can affect your physical and emotional health.
If you've been feeling lonely and experience unexplained symptoms such as the above signs of loneliness, talking to a mental health professional could help.
A therapist can help you uncover any possible mental health causes of your symptoms. Even though there's no diagnosis for loneliness, therapy can help you access support and potentially helpful resources.
A therapist can also teach you tips to cope with the effects of loneliness and help you explore ways to make positive changes.
Experts increasingly suggest loneliness and isolation can have far-reaching effects on health, whether they occur together or independently of each other. Here's a look at what some recent research says.
A 2017 review of 40 studies on social isolation and loneliness found evidence to link these states to a higher risk of early death, cardiovascular issues, and worsened mental health.
Another 2017 study looked at results from the 2012 Swiss Health Survey, and found evidence to link loneliness to increased risk for:
Results of a 2017 study looking at more than 2,000 twins suggest that young adults who felt lonely tended to have a lower quality of sleep. The study also found evidence to suggest that experiencing violence could worsen feelings of loneliness.
A 2010 study looking at 215 adults supports the link between loneliness and poor sleep quality, going on to suggest that lower sleep quality can cause difficulty functioning during the day.
According to a 2018 study of 639 older adults, both loneliness and social isolation can affect sleep quality.
A 2016 study looking at the link between loneliness and social isolation in 1,116 twin pairs found evidence to suggest lonely people often had depression.
According to a 2018 review of 88 studies looking at loneliness and depression, loneliness had a 'moderately significant' impact on depression risk.
Results of a 2017 study looking at 8,382 adults age 65 and older suggest both loneliness and depression increase risk of cognitive decline.
While loneliness may not be a diagnosable condition, you can still get help dealing with feelings of loneliness.
Finding the best way to address loneliness often depends on what's causing it. For example:
In all cases, talking to a therapist can help you find ways to make changes. If you're dealing with mental or physical health issues that isolate you or worsen feelings of loneliness, getting help for these issues can help by making it easier for you to reach out to others.
If you feel lonely without really knowing why, you may find therapy helps narrow down possible causes. It can be hard to deal with feelings of loneliness if you aren't sure what's happening. A professional can help you examine any situations in your life that might be creating these feelings.
It's possible a few lifestyle changes could help you feel less lonely. These may not completely address any underlying causes of loneliness, such as mental health issues or relationship concerns, but they can help you get started.
These tips can help you feel more engaged with others:
The following tips can often help keep you from feeling lonely in the first place:
If feelings of loneliness linger, it may be a good idea to reach out to your healthcare provider or a mental health professional.
Also consider getting help if:
If you're having thoughts of SuicideIt's best to get help right away. You can call a crisis helpline, reach out to a loved one, or call your local emergency room. Here are a list of resources to help:
- The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free, compassionate support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can call them at 1-800-273-8255 or get in touch with them through online chat.
- If you'd like help finding general mental health support, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also offers round-the-clock free information and help finding treatment, though they don't offer counseling services over the phone.
- The Anxiety and Depression Association of America also offers free online support groups, if you're dealing with anxiety and depression along with loneliness. Find a group near you at their website.
It isn't a bad thing to be alone, or enjoy being alone. But being alone when you'd rather spend time with other people can lead to feelings of loneliness and have other effects on your mood, sleep, and overall well-being.
Some people experience loneliness in passing, but other people may feel lonely for months or even years with no improvement.
Loneliness isn't a mental health condition with a clear recommended treatment, so you might wonder how to deal with it. Overcoming loneliness can seem like a real challenge, especially if you're shy, introverted, or find it difficult to meet new people. It may take some time, but it's very possible to build new relationships or deepen existing connections in your life.
If you aren't sure what you can do to feel less lonely, consider reaching out to a therapist who can offer help and support.