How to overcome loneliness at any age
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It peaks in young adulthood and older age in what’s called the ‘loneliness curve’. Here’s how to deal with feeling lonely in each life stage.
By Suzy Walker
Loneliness can hit you if you’re a young adult trying to navigate starting employment or education, and it can hit you when you’re older too, when your relationship status changes or you’re dealing with health issues. This U-shaped pattern, peaking in younger and older adulthood, is now being referred to as the ‘loneliness curve’ thanks to a new study by Northwestern University. The study showed that loneliness consistently increased in older adults too.
‘Loneliness often occurs when we’re in transition and we lose our connection to our anchor points so the U-shaped curve makes sense,’ says Prof Olivia Sagan, a chartered psychologist who researches loneliness.
‘In young adulthood, many of your anchor points – family, school, friendships – are stripped away and then later in life where we’re no longer working, and we have a less...
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