Self Help : Difference between being lonely & being alone.

Hey everyone,

Welcome back!

Today's post is about something I went through for a short period. It got me curious because I was alone yet I wasn't lonely. However, I do feel lonely at times but I thought about the signs and how to tell the difference between the two which is what today's post is all about.

I'm gonna share with you my differences and hopefully it can help you distinguish between the two if you're in the same boat as me.

Let's begin with the differences. 

Being Lonely 

* Mainly affects more mental state compared to your physical surroundings

* Insecure thoughts of yourself 

*Always comparing yourself & your relationships to other people's

*Lack of motivation

*Often leads to overthinking & depression

*Finds it hard to be happy 

Being Alone

*Constantly feel low about yourself
*Tend to isolate yourself from any form of social activity
*Does not go away even when you surround yourself with people
*Feels empty & lonely inside
*Constantly feel incomplete.

So as you can see, the differences is being lonely is a physical barrier as compared to being alone which is a mental barrier. With physical loneliness, it is a lot easier to solve compared to being mentally alone.

The problem being is that, when you're mentally alone, it's like keeping a secret - no one knows truly just how alone you feel unless you tell someone. But by not wanting to do that, we tend to keep it bundled inside & that's where it starts to eat us up until we reach a point of mental destruction. So my main advice for that is to recognize what you're going through first, then speak to someone about it.

It can be your closest friend or family member but make sure it's someone you trust & will support you in it. 

Then only, you go from there to slowly solvig the root cause of it. 

With that, I've got some ways that could help reduce these feelings for both of these situations.

HOW to solve it?

Being lonely .

1.) For starters, go out there & spend time with some close friends.

2.)Make time to reconnect either with family or friends.

3.)Enjoy some quality time to yourself

4.) Practice the act of mindfulness or pamper yourself

5.) Work towards a plan, to keep your mind occupied.

Being alone .

1.)Find the root cause of the problem first.

2.) Talk it out to someone you trust (friend,family,therapy)

3.)Reduce expectation of yourself & start building yourself up again

4.) Take it easy & stop harming yourself with negative thoughts that can impact your self esteem

5.)Know that it's not end of the world & that you control what goes in and out when it comes to your own mental state.

So hopefully this post helped you recognize where you stand & how you feel a lot better, and I hope the tips helped you gain a better understanding on which approach or where to go from here.

I wish you all the best & know that both state does take effort to come out of but I believe in you, 

I believe you can do it. 

Good luck & stay strong,
G