Do you feel lonely even when you are surrounded by your close friends? This can cause serious implications on your mental and physical health according to relationship experts. Suffering through excessive loneliness can lead to a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, weaker immune systems and consumption of junk food. Loneliness can also disrupt your peaceful night’s sleep, increase your risk for developing dementia in the later stages of your life, and may even contribute to early death.
Let’s note these top 5 reasons why people experience loneliness — even when they are having company.
1. You crave closeness
Loneliness can be a serious threat to mental health issues. Even extroverts experience loneliness. Unimaginable but you can take this word for sure! Does not matter the number of relationships you make, but if they are not the ones you feel close with, it is sure to leave you unfulfilled. Sometimes, the distance between yourself and an acquaintance can worsen your mental health, as it may make you feel more misunderstood to begin with.
2. You are an introvert
Introverts carry a bad name due to blissfully celebrating their solitude. Not many of you know but introverts have a hard time socializing and it can simply be exhausting, especially with big groups of people or environments which involves lots of networking. On a personal level, it can be overwhelming to interact with people in a big environment.
3. Focus on quality relationships, and not quantity
Theoretically you can have tons of friends, but unless you take the effort to nurture your friendships it’s likely to get lonely. Relationships are more about feelings than numbers. And it also does not sound fair to dump all your problems on your friends because if you have developed a strong bond with them. Your friends are human too and it’s important to understand when they are ready to hear you out. Moreover, you equally have the responsibility to hear them out when they require support.
4. You have your guard up
It’s possible that you are with a bunch of people who are emotionally unavailable or who aren’t looking for developing close friendships. It’s also possible that you have built walls around you, and therefore you are not being able to send out clear messages for forming strong and close bonds.
5. Excessive Time On Social Media
Needless to say, Social media can be a real downer. Just because social media is frequently about appearances and perceptions, it’s easy to believe that everyone is having fun without us especially at times when we feel low. In real, nobody knows about the life they are living behind the phone screen. This can certainly stem anxiety issues within us.
