Both elderly people and also younger, working-age adults are prone to depression and other mental-health problems when they live on their own, found many researches.
Living alone may be considered a mental-health risk factor that make the solo living people may weaken social networks and produce feelings of alienation from society, be more cynical in their attitudes, have hopelessness and negative feelings signaling the depression. For John Newcomer, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, he said that depression and feelings of isolation usually go hand in hand, and it’s not always clear which comes first.
Group of people living alone are those divorce or widowhood as a reason. However, the increase of younger people having feeling of isolation requires us taking a real awareness. The young sometimes find themselves hopeless for example, they think that that they’re ever going to be able to have relationships, but even at another level, they…just don’t feel like getting up and going out. They’re undermotivated to do the various steps that are necessary to achieve social engagement, and so on.
Why are they overwhelmed themselves with sorrows or isolating feeling? Practice is showing us that the main causes may be work-related stress, a lack of social support, and heavy alcohol, tough financial problem which are worsen in case of solo living people find no one to share with. The worst result for these cases may lead to thoughts of death or commit suicide. A person suffering from depression may have frequent thoughts of suicide, develop a plan for committing suicide, or attempt suicide and if this people is living alone, he/she should be helped with psychological therapies as soon as possible.
Actually, it must be said that there are two streams of living alone. The first condition is people who preferred to live alone and the last one is those for whom the arrangement was not voluntary. Both of situation is not always recommended, but for the second group, there truly needs prompt solutions. What should those do and what can you do for them?
The key rule to keep loneliness-caused depression away is to make yourself shared your emotions and life experiences with other people. Try not to spend most of your time alone. If the nature of your work keeps you away from direct contact with people then try to do your best to see people on your weekends. By going to public places or social events you can increase your chances of meeting people and so reduce your loneliness.
Even as simply as go for a daily walk with one of your close friends or build a habit of reading a favorite book before going to bed, depressed feelings will be not stay along with your solo life any longer.