- 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?
What is the difference between being alone and feeling lonely?
In order to answer this question, it is important to explain the difference between two concepts: loneliness and social isolation .
Loneliness refers to a mismatch between the quantity and quality of social relationships a person has and those they would like to have. Therefore, it is a subjective perception. That is, we can find two people with a very similar number and quality of social relationships, and one of them may feel lonely because they would like more, while the other may not have this perception because they don't consider there to be any mismatch; they have the number and quality of social relationships they desire.
On the other hand, social isolation is an objective state; it doesn't depend on individual perception. It occurs when a person's network of family and friends is small, distant, or doesn't inspire enough trust to feel comfortable turning to in times of need.