To be brutally honest, how common is loneliness now in today's society?

Question

I have one, maybe two friends that I consider I'm close with. Everybody else are just people I know or was acquainted with at some point. But I rarely ever talk or hang out with them.

Even then I don't know that many people nor do I have many friends. I rarely ever get invited to parties, group hang outs or social events.

I sometimes feel everybody else knows a lot of people and hangs out and talks with a lot of people and gets invited to stuff and hang out with each other often but I always feel left out alone with myself most of the time.

How common or even normal is this in today's society? Especially with the internet today as it seems its easier today to isolate yourself from people and society and live in your own bubble. I've heard there are actually a lot of people who don't have any friends in person.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

Its always been hea

Answer 2

You described me

Answer 3

Loneliness can happen to anyone. But this negative emotion becomes a real problem only when it persists. If it does, it may be a warning signal that something has gone wrong with your outlook on life. The problem could stem from the way you act in the company of others. Some people may inadvertently create, as it were, a barbed-wire fence around themselves, discouraging people from offering their friendship. Sometimes all that is needed is a change in outlook.

A low opinion of yourself can be a barrier to striking up friendships. Ask yourself, ‘Do I have an inordinate tendency to think negatively of myself?’ Abigaïl, a 15-year-old from Ghana, admits: “Sometimes I had negative thoughts that made me feel lonely. I felt unloved and worthless.” You can be sure that if you reach out to others and help them in some way, they will not consider you worthless. They may reciprocate by offering you their friendship. So why not make the first move?



Positive thinking will also help you to make friends with those who are not of your own age group

Answer 4

Not common

Answer 5

It's common until you get older. And you realize you actually do have to do all the work.



I mean it sucks, these people are lazy af. But that's the sad truth, they are all waiting for someone to impress them. You just gotta pick people worth impressing ya know what I mean stan?

Answer 6

With advances in technology, it's very common.

Answer 7

At least you have 1 or 2 close friends. I don't have any friends, I'm a loner and outcast in society and nobody wants to be around me

Answer 8

Lack of social skills , which should be taught or demonstrated far earlier on than they apparently are, can be learned if ones mind is put to it. Homo sapiens are a social species. not a solitary species.

Answer 9

I love loneliness.

Answer 10

Dunno, it's a attitude I think.

Answer 11

My opinion is that today's society has an unrealistic view of friendship. There are friends; then there are acquaintances. Most people usually have only one or two people they are genuinely close to. The rest are just acquaintances. Close friends are people you can trust to spill your guts to; acquaintances, even though you might like them alot, are simply hanging buddies, or maybe co-workers that you hang out with. I think that it's unrealistic to expect to have more than one or two or three close friends. It just looks like others have more. They don't, really.

Answer 12

Loneliness has always been with us, and it is nothing to fear. It is a natural experience on the spectrum of human experiences from joy to suffering. However, to answer your question, some research indicates that loneliness has and is becoming more common.

Answer 13

Seems that since the Internet (meant to be a good thing-tool for research) was

invented, getting with other people has taken an unintended and unplanned turn.



People can now position themselves in front of their computers, keep themselves anonymous, and go through life with little physical contact. Contact with

humans, of course. Pets are something else. Different category, different question.



OK, people don't hang out so much anymore. Unless you count the line at

7-11 or happy hour. Not really enough.



When was the last time you attended a

barn-raising? That's people working on a group project. Check the Yellow Pages

if they still exist. Find a club. Join a club.

Start a club.

Answer 14

it is not bad

Answer 15

Lonliness is a negative emotion, not to say that it isn't common though. Many people believe that you must have a large amount of friends and that in it's self can cause a person to feel lonely. I have felt extreme cases of lonliness before the internet. Yet i currently have a friend who feels extremely lonely, this can be because they have perhaps lost a friend or had a fight with a close friend. If someone loses a lot of friends in a short space of time it can lead to loneliness and a lack of self-confidence. In the end you can blame it on society, the people you surround yourself with but loneliness is a state of mind. Even though we are all born alone, and die alone, we spend our lives avoiding loneliness. But being alone, and feeling alone are two very different things. You can be by yourself and not feel lonely, or you can be surrounded by people and feel totally alone.

If you wish to stop feeling lonely then instead of sitting at home on the internet, call up some friends or plan to hangout. Even if you can't do that, join a chat room or jump on a live show. Social contact, even with strangers can reduce loneliness.

I know this answer was more of a ramble but to answer your question simply, loneliness is very common but it always has been.

Answer 16

I know some pretty lonely people that have like 2ppp fb friends. Since i have a job and an education i do not always hang out with friends maybe a monthly basis but i jave never felt lonely. People who generally listen to drak nick minaj or nigee wayne are all lonelies begging for acceptance.

Answer 17

Its very common

Answer 18

You, should be lucky, because too many idiots on this planet, aren't worth your time.

Answer 19

Very

Answer 20

I think it's more common today than it was 20-30 years ago and more. However it's still not a norm. But I can I relate as I'm very lonely too and spend too much time online. My goal is to try to change it till next year... But it's not easy to break out the cycle unfournatley...

Answer 21

lonlieness is very common because society has become so hateful and cruel to the point where kids commit suicide. schools should be teaching kids to love themselves and others not just math,reading,science,biology etc. people tend to lie and steal from others. they can even steal lives from others. more than half of the people i know are lonley and depressed. even i am. friends tend to leave us and that makes us lonely. not only friends but family members. these days it is impossible to find someone to trust and to be a good friend so people tend to be thier own friend,which can be lonely.

Answer 22

Blame it on social media that allows so many destructive things that causes alot of problems of today's world.

Answer 23

I'd say very common

Answer 24

I don't have any close friends. I have a group of some friends, but we're not very close. We usually hang out once in 6 months to a year so it is not very common for us to hang out at all. Before them, in middle school, I was like Alison in the Breakfast Club. I was the total outcast and when people weren't ignoring me, which happened a lot, they were bullying me. I was very isolated, awkward, and alone. So then I decided to transfer and it was probably the best decision I have ever made up with learning karate.

Answer 25

For some it is brutally lonesome.

Answer 26

Every day I'm lonely because I've been dealing with so much miss trust at my so called friends that it has became a sense of comfort to only communicating with people via internet ect. I found out later it's best to have a true enemy than to have a fake friend because you know what your enemy intentions are, but you're never know what a fake friend Intention's may become. So I cope with loneliness and miss the feeling of having a laugh or two amongst people that I can really trust and to be comfortable with. But one has to do with what one have do to keep a sense of Harmony within themselves.

Answer 27

Very common, as folk swap tech relationships for real ones.



Stay a step in the ideal world and a step in the perfect world, Plato.



Best Wishes.



Mars Mission.



Source:) reading.

Answer 28

Its very common these days, it really depends on the type of person you are, im very lonely and have about 3-2 friends. Society today is a *****, people judge the way you look, dress, makeup etc. Alot of people these days judge the person and not the personality because they either think its trendy or its how they grew up. In my point of view, i dont care how some one looks. If they truly are my friend... Then who cares about trend and society! Id rather have 3 friends than hang out with people who don't even like me. My 3 best friends have been with me for about 13 years since kindergarten. I am 18 now and still those 3 friends are so much more worth hanging out at a sleepover rather than a stupid party with people who think im ugly and untrendy.



Lots of hugs

From 💖💖Elena

Answer 29

G

Answer 30

Every thing depends on the psychological trend one adopts.



Social pain is as real a sensation for us as physical pain, and research has shown loneliness impacts on health in a greater way than smoking or obesity

Answer 31

I definitely think loneliness is becoming more common, but I think someone being lonely could be for a number of reasons. It could be because they lack social skills, they're going through depression, theyre constantly tired from their job, they seek pleasure from things like the internet so they feel no need to go out, they avoid being uncomfortable, etc. Loneliness seems to be more common, but doesn;t mean you should fall into that hole. You'll probably enjoy life a lot more if you have balance of hanging out with friends and family and having time by yourself.I think it;s important to have both, But don't justify being lonely because other people are being lonely. I'm not sure how old you are but I think everyone in life experiences loneliness atleast once, but we can learn from being lonely and appreciate the times with people more.

Answer 32

Yeh, loneliness is STILL a problem but NOW it's also a highly-manufactured one. Think about it, social media encourages people to show their best selves and only snippets of it. When everyone you see is only showing gloss and connectedness, it can be easy to think you're not living up to that standard even though it's actually a facade

Answer 33

Really common. Some people can't interact as easy as others.

Answer 34

The idea that people must be social butterflies to be happy is assinine. That being said it also depends on what you mean by loneliness. Psychologically speaking we need to at least have some form of contact with the outside world. Even if we could survive for example an extended stay in solitary confinement without any human contact it would have a massive impact on our mind. However the common loneliness that I will focus on is more the desires to fit in with the common masses. An apt idea of what I am referring to can be found in high school. People will form groups but tend to ostracize anybody not of there group. It tends to cause problems with people who are not socially apt or simply new to the area. This tends to lead to a feeling of being left out which can be described as being lonely. Well the situation I described is not just in school but can be found just about anywhere. It's just more apparent in high school with all the drama.

Answer 35

To be honest I don't see a time in the future when we will ever step back to the days when groups of people get together to spend time in each others company . like it was in the 50s and sixties and seventies . the computer destroyed that . it's the past .the future is not people friendly .

Answer 36

Very common due to technology making us think that physically meeting is somehow less important.

Answer 37

Internet I think largely is to blame... it takes away the mystery of many things. You spend enough time on the internet you start thinking humanity is overpopulated, like bacteria eating the earth and it almost makes you feel guilty to even want to find someone and have a life with that person and eventually have some kids.



And internet completely screws up the social skills most people would develop in order to meet people. Loads of people I've met over the years are seemingly more socially defunct.

Answer 38

With today's technology and growing autism rates, I would say loneliness is common.

Answer 39

The older the age, the more common it is

Answer 40

It's very common particular in western cultures but there are ways around this if you would like to change this situation and my suggestion is by joining groups like a dance class or joining a sports team and taking up hobbies even ones you can do on your own, good luck.

Answer 41

The illusion of loneliness is created by the ego. Friends or not. One can feel lonely in a crowded room. It is up to each person to observe this within and address it.

Answer 42

It is a result of industrialization. People moved from small farming communities where their families had lived for generations into large cities where they knew only a few people.

If you want a good book on it, read "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankel.

Answer 43

I ask myself the same question..if i have to give it a number young adults : 25% to 35%(i would say upto 35 because of the rise of the internet) ..also if you ask others about it there is the possibility that they are gona lie which makes it harder to get a good idea

Answer 44

i have 100s of people i know and see all of the time, but not one friend.. it is lucky to have one or two friends. This modern society is focused on deception and logic... it seems to hate creativity and only approve of it if its profitable. Money does not bring happiness, nor does working more hours bring me comfort. there are 100 problems between me and my gf and they all stem from money or what someone else believes they are entitled to from me. bc of my min wage job i cant afford rent so it is believed that 70 hrs a week working is being lazy.

Answer 45

I live alone other than my dog and have a couple of close friends whom I meet for lunch fairly regularly. Although I enjoy my own company, when I am out I have many conversations with strangers and join in events or visit places of interest. You see I think that being alone and being lonely are two totally different things and what you project can influence how people react to you. People who are upbeat, outgoing, friendly and approachable are the ones that attract other people.

Answer 46

As a matter of fact. It all depends on you. I have a huge family around me and everyone loves me. I have friends. But if I dont have him with me, I am lonely. Simple as that for me.

Answer 47

To be honest for men, it's high because most women judge a man for his wallet and resources. Men have realized this fact and after being used and abused for so long over that fact, most have gone their own way becoming mgtow. There are still a select few who follow old traditions, but some of them are giving up on life and ending theirs because women don't like nice poor or medium class or in between there kind of guys and never date them unless they hit the wall which shows those same women to think lowly of men in general. Ignoring the nice not that wealthy good guys for rich bad guys. I even did a back round check to dismiss this conclusion. It's true, if a man is barely making it by and in the same level as a woman, they ignore him as a loser saying they want the bigger better deal, women even say they want a nice guy who ironically is that guy, but what they really mean is a rich guy who is generous with his money. Women hold all the cards and they never hit on men because ofpride

Answer 48

Loneliness is a feeling not a fact. You could be surrounded and still feel lonely. You could be isolated and not feel lonely. Feelings are not logical or rational.

Answer 49

Loneliness does seem to be more common. I'm in my 30s so from a different generation. It seems like social networking and internet trends/culture has taken the place of what was once interactions on a personal level. From my experience, it's better to have something to lose oneself in. Imop all you really need is one or two close friends that are like minded and with the same goals/interests as yourself, and family of course.

Answer 50

I think its more common than ever before and its getting worse all the time. Electronics are one very big reason for this. People today would rather text, then talk face to face or on the phone.

Answer 51

Not common. Unless u choose

Answer 52

i don't really have any "friends" but i don't feel lonely. then again, i have been called cold hearted on several occasions

Answer 53

Americans are the loneliest people in the world it's a fact .

Answer 54

Your not lonely untill you discover your ugly and nobody wants to be around you because of that. Like myself. Given that reason self love and acceptance if that means being alone and loving yourself, limit away from negative people is the best thing in life.

Answer 55

It's common you're not alone I know how you feel

Answer 56

It's more common, the problem = More choice = Less commitment.



So where the World has opened up, the socialisation of people has been restricted. The problem is that Individualism needs to be done right, to create strong-individuals, if you do Individualism wrong, you get isolated, and scared-individuals.