ROdown Blog
Are you lonesome tonight?
Akon isn’t the only person feeling lonely these days. With all the life changes that often come at the beginning of the year, it’s not uncommon to feel isolated or alone. But feeling lonely isn’t just about physically being alone. Sometimes you can be in a crowded room full of people, with loud music pumping in the background, and still feel like you’re totally cut off from everything around you.
Most of us will have some time in our life where we feel lonely, and sometimes it can get really serious and impact on our mental health. Loneliness can come out of a number of situations, like moving away from home or going to a new Uni or school where we’re yet to make friends. Whatever the reason for loneliness, it can take a serious toll on how we’re feeling, both about ourselves and also about life in general.
Psychologists have found that loneliness, or in fancy psych terms ‘social isolation’, can lead to decreased self-esteem, increase in the risk of anxiety and depression and is not known to be mental health and wellbeing’s best friend. But loneliness affects each different person in a different way and there’s not one easy cure for it. Feeling alone in a crowd means that just being around people isn’t the one trick solution, sometimes the solution might be a bit harder to find. Having said that, one of the best ways to tackle isolation is to talk to someone you trust about it, whether that’s someone in your family, a good friend or a mental health professional, because you don’t have to feel alone.
So to try and get to the heart of loneliness, we’re having an info bus discussion where you can talk about how loneliness feels for you. Info bus is a space for ReachOut.com users to talk about serious topics in a safe environment. It is facilitated by staff, mental health professionals and community builders and is there to give you the opportunity to talk about things that are troubling you. Join us here this Thursday at 7:30pm Perth time (9:30pm AEST) to talk about loneliness and isolation and know that no matter how alone you might feel, help is always out there for you.
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3 Comments
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x.jess
4 months ago
Reply ReportHey Doris,
Madeline- RO Crew
4 months ago
Reply ReportHey Doris, I guess the thing is that there are very few circumstances in which someone isn't out there who you can talk to.They don't necessarily have to be someone that you know, like your parents or friends, but can be someone like a counsellor, teacher or even local GP. There are also great services like Kids Helpline and Lifeline which provide both phone and online counselling. The important thing is to never feel that no one notices or cares about you. There a number of services which are out there to provide support for anyone who needs it and no one deserves to feel isolated or alone. Sometimes solutions to problems are too difficult to work out alone and it can just be helpful to have someone to help work on strategies to overcome whatever difficulties we face.
Doris
4 months ago
Reply Reportso the only way to tackle social isolation is to talk to someone? What happens if there is none?