Psychologists advocate that `` loneliness '' is sometimes necessary, and what is the difference from `` loneliness '' that is harmful to mental health?



Many people fear the moment of being alone, and previous studies have shown that

loneliness doubles the risk of developing diabetes , and that loneliness is as bad for the human body as smoking and obesity. is shown. Thuy Vi Nguyen of the Department of Psychology, Durham University, UK, explained how to enjoy solitude and its benefits, saying that sometimes it is necessary to be alone.

The importance of solitude – why time on your own can sometimes be good for you
https://theconversation.com/the-importance-of-solitude-why-time-on-your-own-can-sometimes-be-good-for-you-204393



Nguyen, a psychologist who has studied loneliness for more than a decade, says that on television and social media, happiness is associated with excitement, enthusiasm and vitality, with the words 'solitude' and 'loneliness.' are often confused. Therefore, many people have a fear of being alone and try to avoid doing things alone as much as possible.

On the other hand, in psychology, loneliness is defined as 'the feeling of distress experienced when the social connections and relationships that one desires are absent or unable to have', simply by spending time alone without interacting with others. It is clearly distinguished from spending loneliness. In other words, what psychologists see as a problem is not the loneliness itself, but the psychological pain caused by it.



Loneliness doesn't necessarily mean that there are no people around, people feel lonely even when they are drinking coffee in a busy cafe or reading a book in the park. Through a series of

studies , Mr. Nguyen found that spending this kind of lonely time alone has a positive effect.

Mr. Nguyen's experiment is a simple one that invites students to the room and keeps them quiet. In this experiment, students were asked to enter the room with a book or smartphone, or to enter the room without anything and think about it. I understand.

From this, Mr. Nguyen said, 'Simply speaking, loneliness has the effect of lowering a person's excitement level, and it is effective in situations such as frustration, upset, and anger.'



You might think that only introverts can enjoy solitude, but in

a survey of 18,000 people in 134 countries, half of the participants said it was an important activity for rest. I chose 'loneliness'. ``Introverts do like to be alone, but that shouldn't stop extroverts from taking time out to settle down,'' says Nguyen. I'm doing it.

However, it can be difficult at times, as spending time alone can be a battle against boredom. For example, in a study published by Nguyen in 2022, when asked to choose whether to spend time alone doing nothing or sorting 1,500 colored pencils in a bucket, most people did nothing within 10 minutes. It has proven to be unbearable to start the tedious sorting process.

The reason why people choose boring work that no one wants to do over solitude is that when there is no one else in your mental space, there is a desire to keep yourself busy doing something. It is considered



In today's world where many people have smartphones, we often see people scrolling the screen with their eyes on their smartphones whenever they have free time. There are cases like `` Doom scrolling '' that keeps reading negative news endlessly, but according to Mr. Nguyen, there is no problem if you just scroll your smartphone when you are alone. Also, some people like to spend time alone while doing daily household chores, such as shopping at the supermarket or doing the laundry, but this is also an effective way to spend time alone. Nguyen says it is.

There is also a way to spend one's time enjoying leisure and other pleasures, but there are many people who are reluctant to enter a movie theater or restaurant alone. According to Mr. Nguyen, this may be due to the image that ``fun things are to be done with friends and close people'', which may be the cause of being embarrassed to enjoy alone. Ms. Nguyen understood that it takes courage, especially for a woman to travel alone.

However, doing things alone has the advantage of finding time to calm down and being free to choose what to do and how to do it. From this point of view, Mr. Nguyen said, ``To overcome the fear of loneliness, you must recognize its benefits and view loneliness as a positive option. Sometimes it is necessary to find time and make time to be alone for a little while.'

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