Loneliness vs Being Alone

You may have heard the expression, "Quality over quantity," but do you know how it relates to your mental health and social wellness?

Recent studies show that an individual’s perception of his or her loneliness positively correlates to his or her actual loneliness. Even more so, "those who are lonely seem to interpret the world in a manner that is distinctly unique to each individual" (University of Southern California, 2023). In summary, it shows that those who consider themselves lonely have a sense of disconnectedness from the world around them. There are minimum if any shared perspectives, despite the actual number of individuals within a shared space, which further exacerbates the sense of loneliness. Based on the model of human needs, the level of loneliness is potentially characteristic of three of the five categories of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

With social media making our and others' lives so easily accessible, one's list of needs seems infinitely expanding and the desire to fulfill these needs seems almost insatiable. We are consistently presented with an externally induced metric of social acceptance, but we are often faced with internal conflicts that directly influence whether or not we achieve those metrics.

How often do you find yourself feeling lonely, despite having thousands of Facebook friends, Instagram followers, or TikTok likes?

It goes to show that it's not the quantity of friendships or relationships we have, but it's the quality of friendships and relationships that we have. In honor of Suicide Prevention and Recovery Awareness Month, I charge us all to take inventory of the friendships and relationships that we have. It is important that these relationships support us emotionally, mentally, and socially and that we have a foundation that allows us to stand firm when life attempts to knock us down.