Skip to main content

Guest Blogger: How To Manage The Fear Of Loneliness In Your Life

The following article was written by author, Stan Popovich. He wrote the book, “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear." And, shares this great article with us that provides effective strategies to cope with loneliness. 

I think this article would stimulate discussion and help many people. The holidays can be challenging, and these tips can support wellbeing. Also, check out Stan's website for more information: http://www.managingfear.com. Thank you, Stan for sharing the methods to overcoming fear of loneliness.


Sometime or another we will experience a time when we are alone. Some people fear of being alone for various reasons.

The first step is to become comfortable with yourself and having the self-confidence that you will be able to manage being by yourself.

With this in mind, here are 7 suggestions that a person can use so that the fear of loneliness doesn’t become a major issue in their life.


1. Find an activity that you enjoy doing: Joining a group activity can be a great way to meet people. Doing something that you like to do will make you happy and the fact that you will be around different people will increase your chances of making friends.

2. Spend your time with a pet: Animals are a great source of companionship. Volunteer at your local animal shelter to help those animals who are in need. Another option is to consider adopting a pet. Regardless, spending time with your favorite pet or animal will overcome your loneliness.

3. Help others through community service: There are many people out there who could benefit from your time and talents. Helping others can give you a sense of pride and accomplishment and help you not to focus on your loneliness. You can also increase your chances of meeting others with similar interests.

4. It could be worse: Imagine that you are married or stuck in a relationship that you can’t get out of and also makes you miserable on a daily basis. Being in an unhappy relationship can be very depressing, so remind yourself the next time you feel a little lonely.  This will help put some things in perspective.

5. The important thing is to be active: Sitting around and doing nothing will not make things any better whether it is dealing with the fear of being alone or something else. Take it one day at a time and try to make the effort of being active with others in your community.

6. Things can change: Nothing remains the same and events change all of the time. Even if the thing that you feared does happen there are circumstances and factors that you can’t predict which can be used to your advantage. You never know when an opportunity that you are looking for will come to you.

7. Your not the only one who is alone: Remember that everyone deals with loneliness sometime in their life. Focus on your life and don’t compare yourself to others. Continue to seek friendships with other people and don’t feel sorry for yourself. There are all kinds of people in various circumstances so don’t assume that you are the only one who is alone.


BIOGRAPHY

Stan Popovich is the author of the popular managing fear book, “A Layman’s Guide to Managing Fear”. For more information about Stan’s book and to get some more free mental health advice, please visit Stan’s website at http://www.managingfear.com


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lack of Trust: A Byproduct of My Mental Illness

In this entry, I'll share my experiences with Schizophrenia in regards to feeling lack of trust in others, paranoia, and isolation.... I remember my many episodes with Schizophrenia where I felt uneasy because of lack of trust in others. In the past, isolation was a giant bullying me around. Sometimes my mind would take me to a place of fear, hurt, and an unsettling spirit, which started with what seemed like a strange look, or a different feeling around an individual, when in reality it was another symptom of my undiagnosed illness- paranoia. My paranoia was rampant and dictated my life prior to experiencing a crisis, which led me to jail and into forced treatment and to receive an official diagnosis of Schizophrenia in 2007. In other words, my illness created enemies in my mind. For instance, I once believed my favorite kin was against me and I felt like she wanted me to fail, and I eventually thought she was conspiring to harm me. However, she never said anything to imply these ...
14 comments
Read more

Fear to Openness about Medication

I am concerned that I may be slipping into depression that may get worse if untreated. Prior to the birth of my child I never had a bout with depression, but as my body changed so did my hormones and my susceptibility to depression. A few months ago I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and at the time I knew I needed extra support from my my treatment team. I knew I needed to focus on my mental health because my anxiety level was up and down, it was difficult to concentrate, and I felt extremely overwhelmed and afraid my mental illness would rear its ugly head and try to destroy my recovery accomplishments. I spoke my therapist who contacted my doctor and let them know I was coming in the next morning as a walk-in, which I did and we tweaked my medication. Now, its hard to focus and to carry out minor assignments, sometimes I feel anxious for no reason, I am extremely tired and sleep more than usual, and I feel like I am on a downward spiral. Yet, I have reason to be. I have ...
12 comments
Read more

From the Terrors of Psychosis to Hope and a Better Life

For me, experiencing psychosis is an experience I will never forget. In short, psychosis is when an individual cannot distinguish reality. I endured a psychotic experience at the age of 20, almost five years ago, and still remember the terrors of the illness- officially diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia in 2007. The manifestation of the illness dominated my livelihood whenever I was extremely suspicious, confused, forgetful, irritable, distant, irrational, and hearing criticizing voices when nobody was around. In my mind, everyone was envious of me because I had godly talents. I thought I could read people's minds and understand them, and sometimes they could read my mind as well. I rationalized these strange beliefs by my faith in God and the miracles of the Bible. I believed I was on a mission for God and eventually thought I was Jesus Christ being persecuted again when I was arrested for a crime I committed while not in the right state of mind. The bizarre thoughts increased....
9 comments
Read more