Feeling Lonely

Due to the pandemic, we often felt lonely from time to time without interacting with our friends and family. However, these lonely feelings are personal, meaning everyone experiences loneliness differently. As you already know, loneliness is a common feeling when we are or feel alone without anyone by our side. Feeling lonely isn't in itself a mental health problem, but the two are strongly linked. For example, feeling lonely can harm your mental health, especially if these feelings have lasted a long time. Some research suggests that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and increased stress so if you can try avoiding these feelings but finding time to talk and interact with others.

Join a group or club

By being part of a group or club, you are exposed to new people that share a similar goal or ideas as you. In addition to potentially reconnecting with people from your past, nothing is ever impossible. Either in school or your local community look for activities that might be a good fit for you. Find something that interests you, there are numerous groups you can take part in such as book clubs, gardening clubs to hiking groups, and business groups. Through these activities, you will likely discover there are many ways to connect with people in your area. Attend an event and make it a priority to talk to several people. You might find attending a few different events or joining a couple of different clubs helps you meet more people and lower your lonely feelings.

Get Active

Even if you don't want to sweat that much exercising, try finding ways to be active by studying or just taking a short walk around your block. You may be wondering how exercising helps me meet new people? Even though sports are an excellent example of teamwork and collaboration, if you’re not interested that's completely fine. Find something that makes you happy and wouldn’t mind talking to or meeting new people that share that common interest. However, if you are interested in a good workout there are lots of exercise groups and ‘social’ sports leagues which are aimed at beginners. You may not be able to join an exercise or sports group at the moment, but you could start researching by doing a Google search or sending the organizer an email. If there are people in your life you want to get to know better, going for a walk or run with someone can be a great no-pressure way to connect.

Just Remember

You are not alone when it comes to dealing with negative feelings like stress and loneliness. Nearly one-third of people report having these feelings at any given time. If you are searching for answers on how to deal with feeling overwhelmed or lonely, remember that there are steps you can take to cope with these feelings. Consider practicing mindfulness or meditation, exercising, connecting with a loved one, or reaching out to a therapist for help.