Loneliness travails

Neeraj Subedi.

Loneliness can be a highly unpleasant and disturbing feeling. It is stressful, causes depression, and leads to may other psychological problems. It has a severely negative effect on every aspect of a person’s life. In a way, it almost ruins the whole personality of an individual.

A person who is lonely gets the feeling of being unwanted and rejected by others. Due to this, the feeling of worthlessness begins to creep in within the individual, which eventually lowers self esteem of that person. The person begins to lose self confidence and there is a lack of belief of self within the individual. This lack of self esteem has a negative effect on various aspects of the individual’s life, including his/her performance.

If loneliness haunts, then the severity increases and the person becomes completely helpless. A kind of suffocation begins to develop. In such a situation, the person loses interest in everything in life.

It is obvious that a person who is lonely does not have anybody to talk to and share his/her feelings with. This means that a lonely individual lacks social support. Social support plays a major contribution in releasing any kind of stress.

There are two things loneliness and solitude. The restlessness when left unattended and unrecognized forces one to look outside. On the other hand, when one is at peace with oneself there is no real need for external validation. There exists a calm within and one can actually enjoys “being alone”. It is no longer a scary experience. It is possible that an individual who experiences loneliness too often develop a trait of loneliness.

This may happen if a person does not stay or live at one place for a long period of time. For example, a person who has transferable job or has a work that requires him/her to travel a lot might not be able to build intimate relationships, for obvious reasons. This necessarily mean that the person will be habituated to loneliness. Thus, state loneliness may develop into trait loneliness.

Loneliness is the unpleasant feeling of inability to have satisfying relationships. The person desires to be in intimate, long lasting relationships but is unable to do so . It is an unfulfilled need for intimacy. Loneliness is experienced by all age groups, but it is most prevalent among adolescents.