Loneliness is one of the most common mental health conditions. One out of fourteen children in the US are left untreated. In a May 8 2018 CNN news report, it states that, “A health insurance company surveyed 20,000 people using the UCLA Loneliness Scale. The results weren’t exactly uplifting: Nearly half of respondents said they sometimes or always felt alone, more than 40 percent said they sometimes or often feel that their relationships aren’t meaningful, and only slightly more than half said they have a meaningful in-person social interaction each day.” In other words, there are two classmates of yours who probably have mental illness and the illness of one of them is probably neglected.

Loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant emotional response to isolation. It is common but never harmless for the long-term lonely. Loneliness causes a lot of diseases by changing your brain function. Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and memory loss are all examples of health problems that loneliness can cause.

How can we get out of loneliness? One of the healthy ways to defeat loneliness is communication. A clinical psychologist named Darin Bergen said, “Practice small talk with cashiers and other people you encounter throughout your day.” Having more conversations with other people can make you feel better. If you are afraid to talk with the people that you meet every day, you can try to talk with the cashiers and waiters in the stores. They would be happy to talk with their customers and are trained to be patient, interested listeners. But it is not a long-term solution to talk with strangers to avoid loneliness; you should try to be proactive in your relationships between your family and friends. To make friends, you should expect the best and assume others are willing to be friends with you. Lonely people often expect rejection. Instead of focusing on negative thoughts and attitudes in your social relationships, you can pay attention to the people feeling isolated around you because there must be at least one person who wants to know you more and wants to become your friend. Make conversations when other people say something to you instead of keeping silent. If you still can’t find a friend, try to go out more and make more opportunities to reach out to more people. Trust yourself positively and don’t be afraid of feeling lonely. You are less along than you think you are.