At times in life, we all start to feel alone. How we handle those times determines when and how we come out of the state. Overcoming loneliness isn’t always that easy though, especially with everything that is going on in the world today.
We are going to take a gander at some of the best ways to overcome loneliness in our lives.
Before continuing any further, an important step to take is to look inside yourself. How do you currently handle loneliness? What aspects are positive/healthy and which aren’t? Learning to cope with and overcome our challenges with loneliness starts with analyzing yourself and getting rid of negative coping skills.
Try writing down what you have noted from the above step and keep them in mind as you continue on. Take special note of the negative coping methods and negative aspects that you want to remove. This can be a great start to your efforts for coping with loneliness as negativity compounds on itself and that can make it even harder to achieve your goal of overcoming.
Without any further ado, let’s look at the positive steps you can take to overcome your loneliness.
Understand that Loneliness is Normal
Loneliness is part of being a human. As we go throughout life, we will all have times when we feel alone. This can be even more impactful when it hits for an extended period of time.
Simply knowing that loneliness is normal is a good start though. Everyone experiences these times just like you, nothing is wrong with you. If you are constantly focused on those feelings being abnormal or wrong, it will be hard to overcome them.
Identify the Effects of Loneliness
Knowing each of the effects of loneliness is important. It is more than simply a feeling, especially if you feel alone for a longer period of time.
In order to counter that, we need to know what we are going against. Further, knowing the effects allows us to identify how loneliness is impacting us in the first place. Here is a brief list of the effects of such feelings:
- High-stress levels
- Poor decision-making capacity
- Substance abuse
- Sleep problems/Exhaustion
- Problems socializing
- Doubt
- Depression
Find Fun Ways To Socialize
Socialization won’t automatically cure yourself of loneliness, especially if you don’t develop friends. However, socialization is a good start to overcoming loneliness, and most importantly, you need to socialize in a way that you find fun.
Genuine fun can help you to start generating positive feelings that you can work with. If your socializing is active such as playing a sport, you can help your body to produce the chemicals in your mind that moderate mood.
As you go about activities, try to develop friends. Friends can be the people you talk to when you are lonely but the time spent amongst friends is also more valuable in most cases than time spent with strangers. That being said, the only way to make new friends is to interact with strangers.
Establishing a good mix of time to socialize and time to spend on your own is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We are social creatures and while socialization won’t cure loneliness, a lack of socialization can cause it.
Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to socialization is that nothing can replace interacting with other people in person. Spending all of your time text messaging or talking through technology will only do you so much good, you need to spend time face to face with other people to experience the maximum effect of socializing.
Engage in Positive Self-Talk
Self-talk is the practice of talking to yourself in a positive way. The name is pretty straight-forward. For something so straight-forward though it isn’t always easy to do, and it isn’t effective if you don’t practice it regularly.
Whenever feeling lonely you likely have found yourself wondering why people don’t want to hang out or having negative thoughts about yourself. Any time this happens, you should be changing the narrative in your head, telling yourself that you are a good person. More than that though, telling yourself why you are a good person.
Self-talk doesn’t have to be done out loud (although it helps). You can talk to yourself in your mind as long as you keep at it and overwhelm the negative thoughts.
Try to integrate self-talk into your daily life, even when you aren’t lonely, as this will help you to make it a habit. By making it a habit it will be easier to bring forth when you are lonely. Not only that, but self-talk can also help you to keep a positive mindset at all times, no matter what the difficulty is, self-talk can help you through troubles in your life.
Start A Hobby or Project
We start to feel unchallenged when the creative parts of our mind do not get the nourishment they desire. Loneliness can be overcome by nourishing your mind.
Try to find hobbies or projects that utilize areas of creativity that you find especially fun. Good examples of this might be drawing, writing, crafting, or dancing.
When you finish one project, take the time to look at what you have accomplished. Show it to your friends, family, and those around you. Your creativity can be a great conversation starter and another way to break you out of your loneliness.
Unless you can’t stand to do so, try breaking away from the mold by taking on creative projects that don’t have directions. Freeform drawing, writing, and similar activities help to fully engage your mind but don’t be afraid to try something new.
CBD Oil for Depression and Anxiety
Depression and anxiety are both common symptoms of loneliness. Beyond that, CBD oil is believed by many to provide help for a variety of conditions. When looking for CBD oil for depression or anxiety you will want to look for options that are taken orally, this will help the CBD to get to the mind.
CBD oil doesn’t get you “high” but it helps to instill a sense of calm. There is also a belief that it may help stimulate serotonin production or the effects of serotonin, a natural chemical released in the mind to help relax the mind and body.
For those wondering how to use CBD drops for anxiety, the process is almost always easy and documented on the back of the container. There are also multiple ways to use oil form CBD. Take a look at some of the guides to get an idea of how you might use it.
Seek Professional Help
Despite the negative views that some people hold when it comes to professional help, you should feel comfortable asking for it. A professional can’t cure loneliness but they can start easing the feelings, they can also teach you coping skills beyond what you will learn in this article.
Don’t know where to find a professional? One of the best places to start looking is your primary care physician. A primary care doctor can refer you to a mental health professional and some insurance companies require a referral.
Another source for a mental health professional is your workplace. A large number of workplaces have employee assistance programs or similar help for their employees.
Lastly, look to local clinics and groups to help find a local mental health professional to start working with. Some national groups have resources too, such as Psychology Today.
Loneliness is a difficult feeling to tackle. One of the reasons it is so hard is that there are many different reasons for feeling lonely. With the help of this guide though and a basic understanding of how to use CBD oil, you can start to overcome loneliness.
