3 experts explain everything you need to know about loneliness

Interesting.
This is just how I feel. Since I know being alone is not inherently bad, I’m fine with being alone for a long time.
Nevertheless, I’m definitely the happiest when I’m around the right people

Solitude is Bliss

I've always sucked in making friends. I remember crying to my mom when I was teenagers not being able to make 1 friend at school

This year I finally decided to be who I am and allow myself to be happily alone without feeling like I need a Ministry of Loneliness (like they have in the UK) to help me not be lonely. (What's next? A Ministry of Despair?) I absolutely LOVE being alone, just me and my dog. Yes, I am lonely sometimes. But that is over-ridden by the JOY, PEACE and FREEDOM I feel now that I have opted out of being social. I don't hate people, I just don't like having to be who they want me to be in order to be acceptable to them.

Having had the opportunity to travel extensively around the world through work and pleasure. Find it very rewarding just to have the option
of being alone. The older I get the less tolerant and easier it is to get triggered/PO'ed at Idiots that just can't seem to help themselves...... 😁✌
Edit: Thanks 'Big Think' you just gained a new subscriber.

You can have a ton of friends and be lonely if your shared dreams and experiences start to diverge - I found this when all of my friends started having kids

As third places continue to die off, and more people become internet hermits, loneliness only has one way to go and that is up. I spent a hellish year during covid being that I'm more of an extrovert, lost my girlfriend during that time period when everything was closed. Now that we are becoming a world full of digital junkies, with human connection all but lost for many, will technology be the pacifier for our newfound personal loneliness? Of course, younger people will cope better because they can't see what has been lost, but for us older people that have lost our way of life with family and friends eroding away by the day, not so much. My younger girlfriend is the only thing standing between me and immense loneliness, my friends are all but gone without much of anywhere to meet new ones in 2026, unlike it was in the not-too-distant past.

being alone and feeling lonely are two different things, you can be surrounded by friends and family and still feel alone

"We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness." -- Thích Nhất Hạnh

I've worked in bedside healthcare for over 15 years. I was married for over 20 years, I've raised children, I've been a manager of an SPCA, I've worked in a women's shelter, volunteered as a Guardian Ad Litem, at food banks & Stand Down events for Homeless Veterans(solo, & with my minor children). 'Customer service', what others want & need has always AND in all ways been paramount in my professional and personal life.

FOR ME.... being alone is complete utopia, no matter in my public library, ordering coffee and justing hanging out, eating in a restaurant by myself, watching baby goat shorts or border collies at work in Scotland, having a weekly spa time(over the top bath), etc, etc. Being alone affords me the opportunity to recharge and focus solely on me, what I like, want, think and feel and need.
Relationships are all good and well.
Relationships with animals are superior.
I like me. I like being with JUST ME❤

When im Alone i am my most happiest and most productive. My life has taught me to stay away from people and their selfish needs sucking the life out of everything

Perhaps it's another example of "the poison is in the dose." Being alone can be beneficial, but not being constantly or mostly alone.

Being alone and feeling alone are two totally different things.

Society has already done enough damage by convincing people that loneliness is some kind of disease to be avoided at all costs.

I really enjoy solitude❤

I grew up the only kid on a cattle ranch. I was always alone. To me, being alone is normal & comfortable. It made getting married an interesting process. After 55 years of marriage, I still have to remember to talk to my wife even when I don't have anything important to say. When people ask me how I deal with the loneliness of retirement, all I can do is give them dumb looks.

Many philosophers and creators over centuries have called solitude their best friend.

People who are uncomfortable staying alone are really bothered by people who enjoy solitude. They are the ones pushing the myth

Love that they separate being lonely from being alone. One hurts, and the other can actually heal.

I only feel lonely when I'm not alone.