Do You Know The Side Effects Of Loneliness?
Sometimes being alone is a necessity. There are so many external stimuli that we need to find ourselves, so this seems to be the best option. However, you also need to know the side effects of loneliness.
If you are a person who is very fond of the solitary life, surely someone has told you that this attitude cannot be healthy. Is there any reason for that?
Partly yes. However, it is also true that solitude offers several benefits. As we said before, it is necessary to know what we feel, to know ourselves.
Furthermore, it is important to have these occasions to calmly analyze the moment we are in and make decisions wisely.
We often get carried away by events, so when we stop, we realize we’re not where we want to be.
This happens because we lack spaces for reflection on what happens in our lives.
However, this varies when, as we said, the situation is prolonged. The side effects of loneliness in this case can become more severe if we don’t detect the signs that something strange is happening to us.
Therefore, it is important to know its consequences in order to decide whether we are managing it well or not.
What are the side effects of loneliness?
reality distortion
Do you know the expression “four eyes see more than two?” As with most sayings, it has its share of truth.
When we talk to others, what we do is exchange different points of view. These help us to contrast what we perceive with what others see.
If you are used to speaking, you will have noticed that there are many occasions in which external impressions have helped us to have more balanced opinions.
What happens to loneliness is that it lacks this information. Therefore, the person runs the risk of becoming obsessed with their own ideas, in such a way that they build a distorted view of the world.
This is what drives us to think of life in extreme terms and to generalize.
For example, if a partner doesn’t greet you when you get to work, you start brooding over this fact in your mind, and at the end of the day, you conclude that he doesn’t like you.
However, if he had asked or told another colleague, perhaps they would have given him a much more reassuring explanation.
Anxiety is another side effect of loneliness
The previous example is just one of many. Now think about all the similar circumstances that happen over the course of 24 hours.
Multiply them by a week and so on, how many times did you believe someone was being nasty to you?
This state of continual distrust can cause more or less mild anxiety .
Furthermore, this problem is aggravated when these distorted ideas also refer to ourselves.
We make two mistakes at home or at work and suddenly we start criticizing ourselves harshly.
Thus, the person does not trust others or himself, he does not talk to anyone who can reinforce his self-esteem, nor convey his opinion about the rest.
Anxiety is triggered and the distortions intensifies, and so a very difficult wheel to stop begins to turn.
Depression
If we combine isolation, widespread suspicion, and anxiety, the result is hopelessness and a loss of meaning in life.
When everything you see is negative and you don’t find any kind of positive stimulus, living becomes very complicated.
Even though your work is important to you, deep down, happiness is linked to our relationship with the world.
That’s why social media has been so successful. We need to tell what happens to us, how much fun we had, but also the difficulty we are going through or how wonderful the last restaurant we went was.
This fact of reliving the events to enjoy them again and feeling accompanied in times of pain is something basic for us.
However, these side effects of loneliness appear when it is not a choice, but when it is imposed.
As a result, the ideal is to alternate moments of solitary meditation, reflection or fun with social interactions other than work, whether inside or outside the home.
