Most of us have felt alone at one time or another. However there
is a major difference between being alone and feeling lonely. The former
is often influenced by a decision made by choice. You choose to be
alone because you are quite happy with your own company at times. Many
people who spend lots of time alone are more than happy with their
existence and they still spend time with other people at certain times
of the week.
However, feeling lonely is a very different thing to consider. When you feel lonely you may feel completely cut off from the world. You may feel isolated and unable to turn to anyone for advice or support. You may not know how to get out of that situation or to reach out to talk to others.
Loneliness can also have a marked effect on your health. Here are three reasons why loneliness can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing.
1. It can lead to mental illness.
Mental illness can relate to stress, anxiety and depression, to name just three afflictions people from all walks of life can suffer from. Being lonely raises the prospect someone might suffer from one of these mental conditions.
2. It can make your immune system more prone to illness.
Have you ever noticed that when you feel low or stressed you are more likely to fall ill? This can happen when you are lonely as well, because you feel low and your immune system can suffer.
3. It can make you more prone to making poor life choices.
This is perhaps the most worrying factor of all. Our moods can affect the way we drink, eat and behave. Therefore if we feel lonely all the time we may end up eating too much or too little, or taking the same approach to alcohol or smoking. These decisions can all have an adverse affect on our health.
As you can see people who are lonely on a regular basis have more chance of experiencing health problems of various kinds. Thus it becomes very important to try to reduce that feeling of loneliness by making contact with the community, our families and friends. It is also important to reach out to those who need support in this way, as they are not always able to reach out themselves.
Loneliness may not be seen as a huge threat to health, but as you can see it can have a marked effect in this way. The more you understand how health and loneliness are linked, the easier it is to stay healthy.
However, feeling lonely is a very different thing to consider. When you feel lonely you may feel completely cut off from the world. You may feel isolated and unable to turn to anyone for advice or support. You may not know how to get out of that situation or to reach out to talk to others.
Loneliness can also have a marked effect on your health. Here are three reasons why loneliness can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing.
1. It can lead to mental illness.
Mental illness can relate to stress, anxiety and depression, to name just three afflictions people from all walks of life can suffer from. Being lonely raises the prospect someone might suffer from one of these mental conditions.
2. It can make your immune system more prone to illness.
Have you ever noticed that when you feel low or stressed you are more likely to fall ill? This can happen when you are lonely as well, because you feel low and your immune system can suffer.
3. It can make you more prone to making poor life choices.
This is perhaps the most worrying factor of all. Our moods can affect the way we drink, eat and behave. Therefore if we feel lonely all the time we may end up eating too much or too little, or taking the same approach to alcohol or smoking. These decisions can all have an adverse affect on our health.
As you can see people who are lonely on a regular basis have more chance of experiencing health problems of various kinds. Thus it becomes very important to try to reduce that feeling of loneliness by making contact with the community, our families and friends. It is also important to reach out to those who need support in this way, as they are not always able to reach out themselves.
Loneliness may not be seen as a huge threat to health, but as you can see it can have a marked effect in this way. The more you understand how health and loneliness are linked, the easier it is to stay healthy.
If you know someone in the London area who is lonely and needs
help, contact the charity Thrift Urban Housing now. Their befriending
project focuses on assisting many people in vulnerable situations. Visit
http://www.thrifturban.org.uk now for more information.
No comments:
Post a Comment