Here Is How You Can Manage Pandemic-Induced Loneliness

The COVID-19 has caused a major impact on the mental health of people, especially young people and women.

Let us just face it, the pandemic has been hard. Many of us are still struggling with adjusting to the pandemic lifestyle.

Not only has the pandemic changed the way we live and work, but it has also impacted the way we used to connect with people. Mostly, this crisis has affected our relationships with ourselves and others.

The coronavirus outbreak has imposed new rules upon us. Maintaining social distancing, wearing masks, and staying in our homes are just a few to name.

As a result of these changes and for a prolonged time, people have reported feeling more lonely, stressed, depressed, and are in a constant state of anxiety.

The social distancing was thought to increase people’s connection, as they will longfor more communication with others as they cannot meet. But surprisingly, it was the other way around. The social distancing made people have less communication with people they care about. This happened to a point that people lost touch with thosethey used to meet on aregular basis in the pre-coronavirus days.

Research on Pandemic-Influenced Loneliness

To understand how badly the pandemic affected our relationship and increased feelings of loneliness among people, Snapchat commissioned a piece of research. The research paper shows that during the phase of isolation in the coronavirus, 79% of people surveyed have lost touch with a close friend.

Moreover, a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry surveyed over 3,000 adults in the United Kingdom. The study found that suicidal thoughts, mainly in young adults between the ages of 18 – 29, have increased from 8% to 10% in the pandemic. This has accumulated to an overall 12% to 14% rise.

There might be high chances that while you are reading this blog you might be undergoing feelings of loneliness and stress. If this is the case, then we have some experts-suggested ways to cope up with the feelings of loneliness in a pandemic:

Recognize How Loneliness is Clouding Your Judgement 

Experts suggest that being in a state of loneliness can alter the way people perceive the world. This means that as a result of loneliness, you might push yourself out of feeling this way. This can also make you feel threatened while there may not be any. Threats such as being outnumbered or rejected by others.

Therefore, it is important to first acknowledge the way you are feeling. Once you areconscious of how strongly you are feeling lonely, you would understand how this feeling is altering your perception towards life and other people.

Plan for Loneliness

If you are someone who feels good being alone you might feel the need to prepare for loneliness a little later. However, if your past experiences suggest that you can easily feel lonely to a point that it’s starts affecting your mental health, then you need to start preparing for it.

You need to reach out to people before you start feeling increased loneliness inside you.

For instance, in the pandemic, you might want to chat with your friends and family on a video conference application.

If not that then you can enjoy watching some of your favorite old cartoons and shows on cable TV. Especially, if you have a cable TV service from Spectrum that offers affordable cable TV packages in its Spectrum Silver TV packages you are sorted for some time.

The content on TV or online can keep you hooked for a longer time, but when you think like you are running out of the content or that it is not helping you overcome the feeling of loneliness, you might want to try playing video games with your friends.

Have a Conversation WithYourself

That is right. Instead of just reaching out to people, there are a lot more helpful ways to manage loneliness. One way is to talk to yourself.

Talking to yourself loud about the way you are feeling can help you have clear-mindedness. By hearing yourself come up with justificationsfor others, such as why your friends are busy or why you are not making efforts to connect with others, will help you understand the feeling from a different perspective.

Also, this way you can shield your brain from playing tricks on you and thinking negatively about everything.

Bottom Line

Do not let the feeling of loneliness trick your brain into thinking negatively about things and people around you. Instead, fight back and do not let the feeling of loneliness win over your relationships and yourself.

Jennifer Eonflux