Is loneliness good or bad?

Each of us at least once in our lives has felt lonely and unwanted. Let’s figure out what loneliness is and whether it’s as bad as it seems.

From a scientific point of view, loneliness is an emotional state that indicates the absence of a person’s close relationship with someone as a result of isolation, forced by circumstances, or voluntary, having psychological reasons.

From a domestic point of view, it is a person’s aloofness and unwillingness to realize themselves in society.

Loneliness has levels, stages and types, but in general it boils down to one thing: a person feels separated from society, unwanted by anyone and suffers from it, blaming himself or someone else for it.

Our brain perceives loneliness as pain. Scientists from the Institute of California in the U.S. concluded that the instinct laid down by nature comes into play here. In ancient times a solitary man had no chance of surviving in natural conditions. One could not kill a large beast for food, one could not defend oneself against the same beast. One could not invent fire and maintain it all day long.

Loneliness can be described as both a positive and a negative trait, as there are clear benefits to both one and the other state. For example, a single person has time to think about the meaning of life, to realize his or her individuality, and to awaken to the question of what life is and why we are given it. Everyone needs time alone sometimes.

The negative trait can be called a sometimes emerging emotional discomfort, a sense of inferiority, the lack of a close person with whom to share ideas, a lot of free time that a person has nowhere to go.

In principle, a single person is quite easy to recognize. He is distinguished by the fact that he is most often focused on himself and his health, is too straightforward and critical, cannot compromise, and is not always in control of his own behavior. At times, he feels unwanted and does not know how to behave in large companies, have fun with everyone, and is prone to excessive self-criticism.

The consequences of loneliness can affect mental (depression, various kinds of neurosis) and physical health. These can include cardiovascular disease, chronic inflammatory processes, eating disorders, and reduced life expectancy. Therefore, each person should not be left alone for a long time, alone with himself.

As an option, in addition to various social networks and dating sites, which still do not completely solve the problem of loneliness, in the Polish city of Krakow, for example, installed special benches for dating, which are called Gadulawka.

They were created to overcome the loneliness caused by the coronovirus pandemic for the most part. These are benches with metal bars and a green sign in three languages – Polish, English, and Hebrew: “Sit here, if you don’t mind someone coming over to say hello.

Frankly, not enough Russian, since a huge number of our compatriots live in Poland at the moment. Although the first such shop was invented by Alison Owen Jones of Cardiff, England. As she walked around, she noticed many lonely people sitting there looking sad, and she was too shy to approach anyone to talk so as not to violate her privacy. To prevent such situations from happening again, she placed such signs on some of the benches, attracting introductions.

In general, the closer a person is to nature, the better and more successful his life is. According to the law of nature, man is a social creature and is happy precisely when he puts these laws of nature into practice. Especially one, the basic one: “Love your neighbor as yourself.