Do you ever just need someone to talk to?

Not really.

yes

so what do you do about it?

sometimes I meditate, sometimes I journal, i’ve even been known to fluther, sometimes i just sit with the lonely

This is what I am doing here. Or I phone a friend. Sometimes a little shopping trip cheers me up just talking with other customers or the cashier.

thats why i am here. but no one else is and its to late to shop or whatever. where is everyone?

not sure. i know sleep is starting to call me. have you tried the chat room?

Yeah, I’m always up late, and sometimes get very lonely.

@slick44 @liminal @iam2smart99037

I am always alone. But I never feel lonely, ever. So I may not truly understand what loneliness is. Would any of you be so kind as to explain it in detail for me?

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies that is interesting: i sometimes feel lonely but never alone. I need to think about whether or not I want to explain it though :) night, night. zzzzz

I drown it out with video games. Makes it easier being a shut in.

@RealEyesRealizeRealLies – I don’t know how to explain it, it’s just an empty feeling inside. (this is the loneliness I experience, and I’m sure it’s different for everyone) Nothing I can do will stop it, and no amount of texting/eating/distractions can take away from it. I’m a 98% independent person, but late at night I’m at my most vulnerable since there’s nobody to put a front up against. I come to realize that even I, a person who needs others so little, needs to socialize. Just someone to talk to (texting just isn’t personal), someone to say something positive, someone without an agenda. Not meaning to be emo, but just a short convo would go a long way sometimes.

Sure and there are different people I turn to when writing or distracting myself with music and stuff doesn’t cut it. There are things I don’t want to burden my partner with, things I don’t want to worry longtime friends with, things I don’t know anyone I know personally would have any knowledge of or depth in. This is one of the beauties of online communities where you “get to know” particular personalities and can be open while not feeling vulnerable.

I moved out when I was 18 and have been living on my own ever since. I have a roommate, but we aren’t close and we rarely speak or see each other. For the first two years of living on my own, I was alone often, but not necessarily lonely. I’ve always been introverted and anti-social, so being around people was never a huge priority. I’ve always enjoyed having my alone time and I keep really busy with work anyway.
However, this past year or so, it’s really began catching up to me. I find myself craving human contact. I just pushed it too far with thinking I could go as long as I did without ever being around anyone. That’s when I began to feel really lonely and started calling my mom close to four times a day, just because I wanted to hear a familiar voice.
It’s the same reason I started joining Q&A websites, so I could communicate with people.

Now isn’t so bad. I’ve met some great people off the old Q&A website I belonged to and I speak to a few of them on the phone often. Even though talking on the phone isn’t the same as being around people, it has helped me tremendously, more than they’ll ever know, for me to not feel so damn lonely.
I’m fortunate enough to have a few people I can call anytime about anything.

Yes but I hate the $2.99 for the first minute and $1.99 for any additional minutes !

Everyone does.

I get lonely a lot. I just talk to my imaginary friends. They comfort me.

Yes, journalling is brilliant I find..although I know sometimes it doesn’t quite hit the mark. But listening to yourself on paper can really enlighten and make you see things you didn’t realise were going on…and comfort you in ways you wouldn’t imagine

Loneliness is part of the normal range of human emotions, can become overwhelming.

For me, volunteer work helps, because it provides structured interactions. Become a regular at a coffee shop. It takes a few weeks, but the baristas recognize you and will greet you by name. Sit outside when the weather is nice, and say hello to passersby. Connect with your community and neighbors. Make an effort to connect with people who are of a different generation than you. When a young coworker (age 25) recently broke up with her boyfriend, she said she was shocked at how truly kind and helpful the “older” women at work were to her.

You might find Networks by Nicholas Christakis an interesting read.

Internet.

Thank you all. a new day and feel much better :)

I don’t mind being alone,but if I need someone to talk to I just make a phone call :)

I don’t feel alone as such, I am not prone to loneliness at all. But I do feel I need to have a good talk. Whatever that means. I tend to bottle things up. Or should I say ignore things. I just wish I could “let it all out”. I would probably feel better. I am an odd person. For e.g. my mom died in September on the Friday, and on the Sunday I was flying to another town to start an intense training session that lasted two weeks. I hadn’t met any of the other people so never spoke about it, again to anyone. In fact I have never spoken about it. I also had to “leave” her as such and arrange her cremation via cell phone during my breaks. I think I’ve just been through so much I don’t acknowledge pain any more. Or joy for that matter.