The Deadly Truth About Loneliness Most People Still Ignore (M)
Even the lonely don’t grasp the true health risks of social disconnection.
Category: Loneliness
Banish Loneliness: 10 Simple Techniques To Feel More Connected (P)
From mindset shifts to simple actions, these science-backed tips fight loneliness fast.
These Songs Make People Feel Less Lonely (M)
Listening to the right songs is a powerful tool for social connection.
Why Being Alone Isn’t The Problem — But Your Beliefs About It Are (M)
The key to fighting loneliness isn’t only social connection, it’s also changing your mindset.
Money: 10 Eye-Opening Effects It Has On The Human Mind (P)
Money shapes your happiness, decisions, and relationships in surprising ways.
Why Some Very Lonely People Get Depressed — But Others Don’t (M)
Could overthinking loneliness damage mental health?
Feeling Drained? This Common ‘Me Time’ Habit Could Be Making It Worse (M)
This surprising finding will change the way you think about ‘me time’.
The Personality Trait That’s An Obvious Cause Of Loneliness
How to break out of the vicious circle of loneliness.
How to break out of the vicious circle of loneliness.
Being self-centred is a key trait in causing loneliness.
Loneliness makes people more self-centred, which then makes them more lonely.
This vicious circle is hard to break out of, although part of the key is to target self-centredness.
Too much focus on the self can help protect people in the short-term, but in the long-term it perpetuates loneliness.
Loneliness is an emotion designed to tell us that we do not have enough pleasurable and rewarding social relationships in our lives.
Between 30-40 percent of people around the world report being constantly lonely.
Professor John Cacioppo, the study’s first author, said:
“If you get more self-centered, you run the risk of staying locked in to feeling socially isolated.
[…] targeting self-centeredness as part of an intervention to lessen loneliness may help break a positive feedback loop that maintains or worsens loneliness over time.”
The conclusions come from 229 people followed over 11 years as part of the Chicago Health, Aging and Social Relations Study.
Becoming too self-centred emerged as a critical component of loneliness.
Professor Cacioppo explained that humans evolved in groups, so other people are crucial to our happiness:
“Humans evolved to become such a powerful species in large part due to mutual aid and protection and the changes in the brain that proved adaptive in social interactions.
When we don’t have mutual aid and protection, we are more likely to become focused on our own interests and welfare.
That is, we become more self-centered.
This evolutionarily adaptive response may have helped people survive in ancient times, but in contemporary society may well make it harder for people to get out of feelings of loneliness.”
The study was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (Cacioppo et al., 2017).
The Weekly Acts That Fight Loneliness, Social Anxiety & Isolation (M)
These simple gestures may be your path to connection and peace.
Just A Few Hours Alone Triggers A Powerful Response In The Brain (M)
Does being online stop people who are alone from feeling lonely?
