- What is the difference between being alone and feeling lonely?
- I know a lot of people and I have a social life, but I actually feel lonely and misunderstood. Why is this happening to me?
- This sadness I feel now that I'm young, this loneliness, will it stay with me for the rest of my life? Is it a problem with my personality?
- I'm ashamed to admit that I feel lonely and I don't know how or where to ask for help.
- How can I tell if my child is alone because they like being alone or because they don't have friends?
- What are the consequences for my teenage daughter of not having friends?
- My daughter has always had plenty of friends, but lately she's started isolating herself and we don't know why. What should we parents do?
- What can I do to avoid feeling lonely?
- How can I overcome my fears and low self-esteem so I can meet people and not feel so alone?
- Can technology help me or does it worsen the feeling of loneliness due to the lack of physical contact with other people?
- How can we help a young person who feels lonely?
- I feel lonely and I'm feeling unwell both physically and emotionally, could this be related?
- I've moved and I'm finding it difficult to connect with people I don't know. Could feeling lonely lead to depression?
- If someone tells us they feel lonely, what should we say and what shouldn't we say?
- How can educators detect if a teenager or young person is suffering from unwanted loneliness?
I'm ashamed to admit that I feel lonely and I don't know how or where to ask for help.
First of all, feeling lonely is normal . Throughout life, we all experience loneliness at times; you're not alone. This feeling is often associated with life transitions and changes (adolescence, finishing school, leaving home, the end of romantic relationships, the loss of important people, etc.). Keep in mind that feeling lonely stems from a perceived imbalance between the quantity and quality of your social relationships and the ones you'd like to have.
At the same time, it's normal to feel embarrassed to admit we feel lonely because the messages we receive from those around us, from social media, from society, seem to indicate that no one feels this way. But this isn't true. For example, according to data from the Omnibus Survey (2020), 26.5% of young people in Barcelona between the ages of 16 and 24 often or sometimes feel lonely. Surely, if you talk to people you trust, you'll find that some of them also feel similar emotions to yours.
How and where can you ask for help? It depends on who you feel comfortable and trust enough to discuss this with. Perhaps you have family members or friends you can talk to. If not, or if you don't feel like talking to them, there are resources and projects that can help. You can look for mental health professionals or youth support services in your city (in Barcelona, for example, there's a resource called Aquí t'escoltem that can help).
You can also take steps to change this situation. Here are some ideas.