The stigma of loneliness
In today’ society, pop culture is consistently telling us that to lead a sociable life is to lead a satisfying life, so is it any wonder we all lie about loneliness?
Emily’s loneliness set in after the death of her father during her early thirties, after which her loneliness became so crippling that she would go to her local shops simply to talk to people.
Though at the time Emily felt as though she was all alone in feeling the way she did, statistics show that around one in ten people actually suffer from chronic loneliness.
Emily eventually reached the stage where she had only three other people in her social circle, was lying to work colleagues about her social life, and even mentioned it to her GP who laughed it off and told her he would love to have some alone time.
Despite the nations reluctance to talk about and accept loneliness as a growing concern, a 2010 report from The Mental Health Foundation revealed that loneliness is becoming an ‘epidemic’ in Britain, and they are urging people to start talking about it.
In addition, approximately 30 per cent of people in Britain now live on their own, and as a nation we spend less time visiting friends and family than we used to in the past.
With all of this in mind, Emily decided she wanted to challenge the stereotypes and stigma and set about writing a book detailing her own experiences of loneliness and how she managed to overcome it.
If you would like to read Emily White’s book, Lonely, it can be purchased from Amazon.
If you are feeling lonely and isolated then it is important to remember you are not alone in feeling that way. It may help you to talk through your experiences with a counsellor in confidence who will listen to what you say and could help you to make sense of why you feel the way you do and what you can do to implement positive changes and move forward.
If you would like to contact a counsellor, please use the search tool located on the homepage of this site.
View the original Daily Mail article.