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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Young people can walk and drive longer distances, and so normally have less reason to remain lonely, I would guess. Do lonely young people continue to be lonely mainly because they don't know how to initiate social interaction? Or because they don't realize that companionship is what they need?
Both
Article focuses on senior citizens. But loneliness is far from only senior people problem. More and more young and middle age men and women are lonely in western world. Maybe this will be a step towards trying to do something about young people loneliness too, as lonely young people have even worse impact on society than lonely old people.
Young people can walk and drive longer distances, and so normally have less reason to remain lonely, I would guess. Do lonely young people continue to be lonely mainly because they don't know how to initiate social interaction? Or because they don't realize that companionship is what they need?
The upshot is confusion - more of us know less about how we should behave, where we should look for community, who we should talk to and how.
Also, being a male seems to make it much more difficult - many of us are raised to be self-reliant, independent, reserved and undaunted. It's a sign of weakness for us to admit to loneliness. Plus, many are by biology competitive and view the other males as potential threats. Lots of the guys I meet are wearing masks, holding their cards close, sizing each other up, and trying to one-up the others. When I go to the coffee shops and see all the men sitting alone, it's depressing.
Article focuses on senior citizens. But loneliness is far from only senior people problem. More and more young and middle age men and women are lonely in western world. Maybe this will be a step towards trying to do something about young people loneliness too, as lonely young people have even worse impact on society than lonely old people.
Young people can walk and drive longer distances, and so normally have less reason to remain lonely, I would guess. Do lonely young people continue to be lonely mainly because they don't know how to initiate social interaction? Or because they don't realize that companionship is what they need?
I'm 40ish and married right now, but throughout my life I've alternated between being solitary and living with people. My take on it is that both are psychologically stressful in different ways. I've wondered once or twice whether it would be better to have some kind of drug or therapy that helps a person be content with being alone rather than assuming that companionship is going to be a magic bullet for everyone.
So what happens around the age of 80?
I'm pretty lonely. After years of moving around and making lots of 'disposable friends' - mostly work friends, I eventually settled in the burbs. The conversations out here are limited to the most superficial things: kids, weather, new restaurants, landscaping companies, etc. But, since most of us came from different places, took very different paths, there's huge cultural differences to overcome. And, there's almost…
Don't think that your life is wanting because you don't socialize. If you strip away the veneers of culture, socialization is just a way to find identity, meaning and pass time. You can do all that on your own terms, and some of the wisest people in history have purposefully separated themselves to do just that.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Young people can walk and drive longer distances, and so normally have less reason to remain lonely, I would guess. Do lonely young people continue to be lonely mainly because they don't know how to initiate social interaction? Or because they don't realize that companionship is what they need?
> companionship is what they need I'm 40ish and married right now, but throughout my life I've alternated between being solitary and living with people. My take on it is that both are psychologically stressful in different ways. I've wondered once or twice whether it would be better to have some kind of drug or therapy that helps a person be content with being alone rather than assuming that companionship is going to…
Isolating non-conformists wouldn't need medication and therapy if people respected them in the first place.
A national study released this year showed Sixty-five to 79 is the happiest age group for adults in the UK. Though this declined in the over-80s. So what happens around the age of 80? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35471624