Free Daily Reads 2022: Article 23

Article Title: What Findings Do Skeptical Psychologists Still Believe In?

Article Summary

This article explains how loneliness affects people in various stages of their lives and what the most common strategy of people to come out of their loneliness is. The author explains that loneliness is subjective. A research showed that younger people tend to depend on quantity over quality i.e. they expect more social contacts or friends, while it is the opposite for older people, who depend more on quality of time spent with a limited number of people. She also says that one feels the loneliest when one is suffering or going through hardships.

People in middle age do not expect themselves to be broke at that age. So, they feel lonely in such conditions. But younger people are satisfied with whatever work they do and do not tend to feel lonely when in stress. Older people, on the other hand, expect that as they grow older, there would be more sufferings in store. So, they too do not feel as lonely in periods of suffering. When triggered by loneliness, people tend to reconnect more through hobbies, sports, volunteering, or work to drive away their loneliness. Practicing self-compassion which involves recognizing common humanity, the notion that our suffering is part of the human experience actually connects us to the people around us. When lonely, we should remind ourselves, “Everyone suffers. This is totally normal. I’m not the only one.” And then, at least, we might not feel so alone in our loneliness.