Loneliness!

[Stefan Romir]

Hi.

What do you guys do to help you through loneliness, be it continuous, or just periods of it, now and then?

1. I live alone.  
2. I can have no visitors.  
3. I cannot go out.  

(I cannot explain why I'm able to make those 3 points, though.)

How should anybody deal with loneliness?...come to think of it. 

Stefan R.

[InbetweenDreams]

Points 2 & 3 are things that you should work on because if you can't have friends over and you can't go out, that makes it limited on what you can do with your spare time. There's places like this, you can use things like FaceTime or Skype to talk to friends or family. Read books, do something creative like art, play games, exercise if you're able. Basically you're filling your time with activities of some sort, it is best to not be idle.

At any rate you have to have connections with other people, even if it's just going to the grocery store. While that doesn't mean you have to go out to have those connections but it does put a monkey wrench into doing those things.

[CellarDweller]

Until you deal with 2 & 3, you're not going to meet anyone.

[Stefan Romir]

What I'm really describing, here, is...is there a way a person can eliminate loneliness, without having to have people around them? Can loneliness ever be realistically lessened without involving the physical presence of others? Medically speaking, I have absolutely no choice, or I'll be dead! What I'm keen to find out is...has anybody ever, from their own inventiveness, partially solved the loneliness thing, without even involving other people, although I can't imagine how that would work!

InBetweenDreams lays out some of the simpler things, whether usable or not, and some of them are. I was just wondering.

[CellarDweller]

You could try online chat rooms to have communication with others, but you'll need to be mindful of catfishing.

[Stefan Romir]

You could try online chat rooms to have communication with others, but you'll need to be mindful of catfishing.

What is catfishing?

[calgor]

What I'm really describing, here, is...is there a way a person can eliminate loneliness, without having to have people around them?  Can loneliness ever be realistically lessened without involving the physical presence of others?  Medically speaking, I have absolutely no choice, or I'll be dead!  What I'm keen to find out is...has anybody ever, from their own inventiveness, partially solved the loneliness thing, without even involving other people, although I can't imagine how that would work! 

InBetweenDreams lays out some of the simpler things, whether usable or not, and some of them are.  I was just wondering.

Have you tried twitter? You can find conversation about almost anything. I don't want to get into a long winded explanation if you already know how it works, but if you're new to it let me know and I'll be happy to go thru the basics of getting started.

[Stefan Romir]

What I'm really describing, here, is...is there a way a person can eliminate loneliness, without having to have people around them?  Can loneliness ever be realistically lessened without involving the physical presence of others?  Medically speaking, I have absolutely no choice, or I'll be dead!  What I'm keen to find out is...has anybody ever, from their own inventiveness, partially solved the loneliness thing, without even involving other people, although I can't imagine how that would work! 

InBetweenDreams lays out some of the simpler things, whether usable or not, and some of them are.  I was just wondering.

Have you tried twitter? You can find conversation about almost anything. I don't want to get into a long winded explanation if you already know how it works, but if you're new to it let me know and I'll be happy to go thru the basics of getting started.

Yes, I have a Twitter account, under a totally different name, but I never feel drawn to Twitter.  I like the old fashioned forums and I can sometimes bear to use Facebook, once again under a totally different, different name.  (I'm drop-dead cautious, online!) I remember when "Cottaging.com" was around...I felt less lonely, back then, but it closed.  I manage to lessen the feeling with email penfriends, but I miss old fashioned and this place is Paradise, to me, when it comes to general daily exchanges, casual, jokey or serious.

[Bookworm]

I always thought that I was fine with the fact that I was a bit of a hermit, living on my own, no family near me, and only really knowing work colleagues in the city where I currently live. Then the Covid lockdown happened and I was suddenly working from home and completely cut off. The only face to face interactions being with the shop assistants at my local supermarket for months on end.
This forced isolation soon triggered bouts of loneliness, on a level I'd never experienced before. I managed to get through it by increasing regular phone contact with my family, almost daily chat with my two best friends on chat platforms whilst gaming online in the evenings, and also interacting with old friends and new members on here (Andy kindly reinstated this forum after it had been closed for several years, not long after the lockdown started).

Your situation sounds even more restrictive, from what I've read, due to your medical condition. I don't know what options are open to you, whether you are able to have regular virtual chats with family and friends. I'm guessing you might have regular contact with Healthcare staff perhaps, if your medical needs require that? 
I'm wondering whether there are any virtual support groups they can put you in touch with, for folks in a similar situation?

Reading helps me too. I can get lost in a book for hours on end, completely immersed. The characters I'm reading can become friends for a while, but I'm a bit sad like that 

[Stefan Romir]

I always thought that I was fine with the fact that I was a bit of a hermit, living on my own, no family near me, and only really knowing work colleagues in the city where I currently live. Then the Covid lockdown happened and I was suddenly working from home and completely cut off. The only face to face interactions being with the shop assistants at my local supermarket for months on end.
This forced isolation soon triggered bouts of loneliness, on a level I'd never experienced before. I managed to get through it by increasing regular phone contact with my family, almost daily chat with my two best friends on chat platforms whilst gaming online in the evenings, and also interacting with old friends and new members on here (Andy kindly reinstated this forum after it had been closed for several years, not long after the lockdown started).

Your situation sounds even more restrictive, from what I've read, due to your medical condition. I don't know what options are open to you, whether you are able to have regular virtual chats with family and friends. I'm guessing you might have regular contact with Healthcare staff perhaps, if your medical needs require that? 
I'm wondering whether there are any virtual support groups they can put you in touch with, for folks in a similar situation?

Reading helps me too. I can get lost in a book for hours on end, completely immersed. The characters I'm reading can become friends for a while, but I'm a bit sad like that 

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I can't get the above reply to behave the way posts usually behave. I'm sorry. I've no idea what went wrong, there.