Loneliness Kills By Activating The Stress Response & Inflammation

[jb116]

I see loneliness as a state of mind. An extrovert can be amongst people socializing but can "feel lonely." An introvert may feel fine or lonely amongst themselves, etc. I think it's all about knowing one has an established meaningful relationship or plural that reminds them they can relate to another and they are understood by another. And for example, an introvert can do fine apart from those meaningful relationships for long periods of time and the extrovert may feel alone without them. But loneliness is something chronic; a void where one does not feel deeply interfaced with something or somebody.

 

[Brian]

Do you have any strategies, when loneliness is not avoidable? I used to play videogames in such situations, which doesn't work anymore..

I think vagus nerve stimulation type activities are the next best thing to good social company. Things like singing or playing instruments with long resonant melodic phrases, or listening to any music that is enjoyable to me is my favorite go to activity when I have to be alone to not feel so lonely. Any creative and enjoyable activity that involves freedom should have a mood boosting effect. Environmental things like outside sunlight exposure or a bright room help a lot and the various ways of keeping the colon clean also affect vagus nerve positively strongly too.

 

[milk_lover]

I think maybe you are just a normal introvert who is trying to get their job done. I am a Myers-Briggs INTP with the "I" pegged to the far end of the scale; Raised by extroverts.... It was a tortured childhood for me... I LOVE my people, but I am mostly recharged and refreshed by alone time. Extroverts are mostly recharged and refreshed by socializing. Neither group, it sounds like, will thrive if isolated most of the time.

There is some truth in this

 

[Dr. B]

Simply being lonely wouldnt cause a change of metabolism, i think whats clearly going on is people who have poor metabolisms or disease are more likely to be lonely or to become lonely from those. Mainstream medicine says things like stress or loneliness cause issues when in reality its the pufa, the environmental toxins, medications, supplements, toxic foods/water supply, radiation etc. from my understanding when Peat refers to stress affecting metabolism he is referring to physical stressors like not enough rest or nutrition or too much exercise or etc, not psychological stress like being worried about getting to work on time, worried about money or etc. psychological stress is just in the mind so it shouldn’t be able to do anything metabolic wise. Unless some people eat more or use drugs or gamble when stressed but in that case the weight gain came from eating more not from stress itself.