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The Conflicting Desperate Need To Connect and Avoid Connection
It seems like there must be a simple solution to loneliness. People that are feeling lonely should be given opportunities to connect. Loneliness is a social pain that leaves an unanswered need to belong that connection is the solution.
We do know that online video-conferencing has proven an effective solution for some during the last year. Simply providing opportunities for people to connect could be an over-simplified solution to a much larger issue.
I know however, on a personal level, that loneliness carries its own momentum. The longer that I stay away from people the longer it takes for me to find the will and opportunity to reconnect. I have several friends who have told me they have experienced the same thing.
We are all feeling the same. A desperate need to connect and a desperate need to avoid connection.
There is a social expectation that prevails. That loneliness is an emotion that we will all experience. It’s dismissed as a passing emotion. What we know though is that loneliness is in of itself an epidemic. Cacioppo et al. in their study of the evolutionary theory defined loneliness as “perceived isolation”. A response to our biologically inherent instincts to survive.
