"Lacking encouragement from family or friends, those who are lonely may slide into unhealthy habits," Valtorta says. "In addition, loneliness has been found to raise levels of stress, impede sleep and, in turn, harm the body. Loneliness can also augment depression or anxiety."
Feeling lonely can also have a negative impact on your mental health, especially if these feelings have lasted a long time. Some research suggests that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep problems and increased stress.
Many studies have reported that living alone has a potential association with the mental health (13). Some authors claim that living alone is linked with lower levels of depression (14, 15), and more research findings report that living alone has a positive association with poorer mental health (16–20).
Loneliness is an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation. Loneliness is also described as social pain – a psychological mechanism which motivates individuals to seek social connections. It is often associated with a perceived lack of connection and intimacy.
Loneliness was associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide. Loneliness among heart failure patients was associated with a nearly 4 times increased risk of death, 68% increased risk of hospitalization, and 57% increased risk of emergency department visits.
Hawkley points to evidence linking perceived social isolation with adverse health consequences including depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life.
It is not surprising that loneliness hurts. A brain imaging study showed that feeling ostracized actually activates our neural pain matrix. In fact, several studies show that ostracizing others hurts us as much as being ostracized ourselves.
What Is a Loner Personality? Loners are people who actively try to stay as far away as possible from social interactions. They prefer solitude over the company of others and tend to enjoy being preoccupied with their thoughts. Loners usually don't mind sitting idly or waiting, so long as they are alone when doing it.
According to research, people who like spending time alone, and are unafraid of being single, are more likely than others to be open-minded. While one study suggests that single people are more likely to be introverted, it takes into account all single people, regardless of choice.
First, unmarried people who live alone are relatively happy, and generally appear among the better off of the groups surveyed. Second, people who've recently gotten divorced or become widows are less happy than most others.
The effects of loneliness can make it harder for you to establish connections and close relationships with others. In times when you're most vulnerable, it may seem as if you have no safe place to land in terms of emotional support. Feeling lonely can take effect at any stage of your life, from childhood to adulthood.
Some people are naturally happy alone. But for others, being solo is a challenge. If you fall into the latter group, there are ways to become more comfortable with being alone (yes, even if you're a hardcore extrovert).
Long term feelings of loneliness and social isolation can also reduce cognitive skills, such as the ability to concentrate, make decisions, problem-solve, and even change negative self-beliefs. And it can ultimately lead to depression.
"Loneliness can change the neurochemistry of the brain, turning off the dopamine neurons, which trigger the reward response, and causing some degeneration in the brain when the reward response is not activated," says Katherine Peters, MD, PhD, FAAN, associate professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Duke University.
These feelings of loneliness may ultimately lead to posttraumatic stress symptoms via a number of pathways. For example, loneliness may lead to the development of negative cognitions (Cacioppo and Hawkley, 2009), which can predict future PTSD symptoms and impact PTSD treatment (Brown et al., 2019).
A person with no friends is often called a loner. Some other terms that are used to describe a person that is lonely or isolated include recluse and hermit.
If you have schizoid personality disorder, you may be seen as a loner or dismissive of others, and you may lack the desire or skill to form close personal relationships.
The upshot is that while alone time has many physical, emotional and spiritual benefits when enjoyed in moderation, spending too much time alone can damage the mind and body. We function best when there's a balance, when we spend healthy time alone, and at the same time nurture our close relationships.
Introverts may enjoy spending time alone in part because of acetylcholine. According to Laney, this chemical may produce a happy feeling for introverts when they do an activity that focuses them inward, such as quietly reflecting or enjoying a hobby like reading, painting, or gaming.
Being alone can help you build mental strength.
But, solitude may be just as important. Studies show the ability to tolerate alone time has been linked to increased happiness, better life satisfaction, and improved stress management. People who enjoy alone time experience less depression.
An introvert's brain responds to stimuli differently than an extrovert's brain. You're at your best or feel healthiest when you're alone because this is how you recharge and replenish. So, it makes sense that you would spend a lot of time by yourself. We all want to feel healthy, refreshed, and at our best.
Companionship is an asset for human survival, but its mirror twin, isolation, can be toxic. Loneliness is associated with higher blood pressure and heart disease — it literally breaks our hearts. A 2015 meta-review of 70 studies showed that loneliness increases the risk of your chance of dying by 26 percent.
Everyone needs social connections to survive and thrive. But as people age, they often find themselves spending more time alone. Being alone may leave older adults more vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation, which can affect their health and well-being.