- 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 know a lot of people and I have a social life, but I actually feel lonely and misunderstood. Why is this happening to me?
A person can feel lonely even if they have many social relationships. The reason is that loneliness doesn't depend on the number of relationships you have, but rather on the comparison you make between the quantity and quality of the relationships you have and the ones you would like to have.
Perhaps the quality of your social relationships isn't what you'd like. Perhaps you'd prefer fewer relationships, but of higher quality. Perhaps they're relationships that, from your perspective, are too superficial and don't provide the trust and security you need.
It's important to reflect on what you expect from social relationships —whether with family, friends, or a partner—and analyze whether your current relationships provide what you want. From there, you can:
- Try to transform the ones you have
- Do some personal work on your expectations in relationships
- Seek new social relationships that can give you what you don't find in the ones you already have but value highly.