Have you ever struggled with being alone? Rather, have you ever struggled with the FEELING of being alone? That's perfectly normal. In fact, many people all around the world struggle with the feeling of being alone. Being alone can actually be linked to negatively impact your health and emotions. In reality, being by yourself can have many benefits that you may be disregarding because of the illusion that being alone makes you unpopular or anti-social. The main difference between being alone and loneliness is the choice you have. For the act of being alone to work, you must be able to choose yourself over others sometimes. That way, you train yourself that it’s not that you don’t have friends, but it’s just because you want to chill out by yourself. Maybe you’re watching a movie, doing homework, or playing video games, but there are many things to do by yourself.
Emily Roberts, who is a pretty well-known psychotherapist, said that if people get better at identifying times when they need to be alone, it can actually recharge them and help them deal with more negative emotions that they might have, including stress, anxiety, and fear. Knowing yourself can even lead you to become a more empathetic person because by being with yourself you can recognize your own flaws and begin to know more about yourself, which will then increase your own life qualities with the people around you when you do decide to go out with a group of friends. One of the major studies from the University of Virginia surveyed a handful of people. In this survey, they were asked if they’d rather get shocked by an electric shock, or spend time alone with their thoughts. The majority would rather get shocked. So, where did this fear of being alone come from? From my own personal experiences, fear of being alone definitely has some to do with social status. If I’m looking at social media and I find one of my friends out with more of my friends, I start to wonder if I’m good enough and frantically try to find somebody to make a plan with. Sometimes even if there’s nothing happening, I still have a hard time with my own thoughts and being alone because I don’t know what to do with myself. I do play video games, but where’s the multiplayer? I do make videos, but where’s my partner? Most of the time I don’t realize that it’s very beneficial to spend time with myself, and that’s something I need to apply to my life. Being alone isn’t a bad thing. It is actually one of the best things you yourself can do for your physical and mental health. By training yourself to be alone, you can acquire new ideas, passions, and emotions for other people. Once you learn more about yourself and understand that being alone is a necessity for all human beings, the starving feeling you have for attention and popularity will dwindle. You SHOULD be alone. Tristan Winchester Higgs, M. M. (2019, October 29). Why You Should Find Time to Be Alone With Yourself. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/smarter-living/the-benefits-of-being-alone.html. https://www.thoughtco.com/being-alone-is-not-necessarily-bad-2833074
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Ms. Carrigan's Psych ClassWe have been reading articles about psychological studies to inform the way we live our lives. Please explore, and we hope you learn a bit about the psychology in your life! Categories
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