Aloneliness instead of loneliness: When we are cheated out of our me-time, the psyche sounds the alarm

Loneliness is a big problem. If you feel alone, have no one to talk to and no social contact, it can take a heavy toll on your psyche. Even in society you are aheadnot immune. After all, you can too. But what if exactly the opposite is the case? If youtoo little time for yourselfhas and for a changeI would rather be alone, instead of always just hanging out with other people? Then we talk aboutAloneliness, at least as bad.

Loneliness hurts like hell. Social connections are missing, you feel isolated, unwanted and sad. This emotional burden can cause stress, anxiety and evenamplify as the lack of social interactions and support systems impairs our ability to cope with challenges. Loneliness often leads to a vicious circle: first you are alone, you withdraw further and as a result you are even lonelier than before. Logically, loneliness poses a real threat to our mental health and promotes mental illness. By the way, it's not about actual loneliness.. It depends on the perceived loneliness, which to a large extent is simply not good for our psyche. But loneliness, the opposite concept of loneliness, can also be stressful. Because too little time alone is not good either.

Aloneliness is a relatively new term introduced by the Canadian psychologist Robert Coplan and describes an ancient phenomenon, the phenomenon of being alone. We all know the need for me-time and that's exactly what loneliness essentially means: the feeling of not having enough time alone to fulfill personal needs and regenerate. In contrast to loneliness, which expresses the desire for social contacts and human connections, aloneness refers to the need for more time for oneself to find inner peace, pursue personal interests, or simply relax. Aloneliness occurs when we have oneand our social batteries are empty. You can interpret it as a warning signal from your body that you will get increasingly bad mood if you don't finally withdraw and give everyone the imaginary middle finger.

Sometimes you just get fed up. You don't want to see anyone anymore and just want to spend time alone, especially when you've completed a social marathon. This need to be alone should also be met in order to find a healthy balance between social interactions and personal reflection. If this need is not met, stress and overwhelm can occur. You are dissatisfied because you cannot regenerate yourself and find your inner peace. You often take this bad mood out on others. To prevent this, you should really take loneliness to heart. You have to consciously plan time for yourself in order to support your own well-being, recharge your social batteries and...to do something good. Because too little me-time damages our psychological well-being just as much as if we are constantly lonely.

Just because you're alone doesn't necessarily mean you feel lonely. On the contrary: being alone is sometimes exactly what we need when our social capacities are exhausted again. Then loneliness kicks in and we urgently need to schedule some me-time. It's even better if we don't let loneliness get that far and structure our everyday life so that we have an optimal relationship between social life and being alone. And it goes like this:

1.Observe and reflect:First of all, it's important to be clear about how much me-time you really need. When aloneness kicks in is always an individual question. Get to know yourself better, observe your everyday life and try to derive certain patterns, e.g. E.g.: "If I do something one evening, I need time for myself the next evening"

2.Establish routines: Develop daily or weekly routines that give you time for yourself. This could be a morning walk, for exampleor simply a good book that you can leaf through again in the evening.

3.Block time in the calendar: Schedule regular times in your calendar that are reserved just for you. But don't just ask for the sake of doing it. Treat these appointments with the same priority as other commitments.

4.Communicate clearly when your loneliness kicks in. Tell your loved ones if you don't want to be disturbed and need time for yourself.

5.Let go of FOMO:Often you don't give yourself enough time for yourself, even though you know you really need it. In addition, you don't feel like doing anything with others, but you do it anyway because you're afraid of missing out. The classic FOMO. You should definitely leave that behind.

With these tips you should be able to avoid loneliness in everyday life. As a rule, you notice relatively quickly when you need time alone. Now it's just important to become aware of this feeling and do something about it. Where loneliness means too little social contact, aloneness means too much - and that is neither good.