07 December 2018 By Jonathan Gibbs at The Body Matters in Mindfulness

Loneliness

On Valentine’s Day this year the BBC launched its Loneliness experiment, which involved a survey of 55,000 people across the world. The survey found that loneliness, to those experiencing it, involved feelings of emptiness and of being disconnected.

Interestingly, only 1/3 of respondents thought that loneliness involved being alone. Somewhat surprisingly the age group with the most people feeling lonely was found to be 16-24 year olds.

Loneliness was found to be more likely in people with anxieties to do with relating to the world, people who feel distrust of the world and people feeling discriminated against. Parenthood, it seems, can protect against loneliness – but does not appear to do so for young mothers.

The strategy that seems to work best for people with regard to loneliness is to do activities that engage them or dedicate time to work, study or hobbies. Other strategies that people seem to be effective are:

Joining a social club or taking up new activities or pastimes
Changing one’s thinking to make it more positive
Starting a conversation with anyone
Talking to friends or family about one’s feelings

To arrange a free 30-minute consultation to discuss how BWRT®, hypnotherapy or counselling can help you to change your life for the better, contact Jonathan at The Body Matters on 01702 714968.