The 7 types of loneliness, and their causes and characteristics

Loneliness is a problem that can become serious. In fact, it is known to go hand in hand with many other problems, such as the weakening of support networks provided by society, and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles.

In this article we will see what are the main types of loneliness, and in what ways they manifest themselves, something useful to know how to identify and distinguish the factors that trigger them, as well as their psychological implications.

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The main types of loneliness

This is a brief summary about the types of loneliness that we may encounter throughout our lives. Of course, these are not mutually exclusive categories, so some may overlap each other.

1. Contextual loneliness

Loneliness it does not always extend to all areas of life; sometimes limited to a single context. This means, among other things, that it is possible to predict when a situation of loneliness will start and when it will end.

For example, someone who has no friends or acquaintances at the college he attends or at the work can experience loneliness there, although in any other place feel the closeness of many beings dear.

2. Transitory loneliness

It is important to consider the time factor when analyzing the types of loneliness that people experience. In the case of the transitory, this appears in specific situations and does not last much more than a day.

For example, when a conflict arises in a love or friendship relationship, the feeling may arise that there is a barrier that separates us from the other, or that has revealed to us a facet of his personality that makes us rethink whether the we know.

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3. Chronic loneliness

This type of loneliness does not depend on a specific context or situation, but is perpetuated over time, staying in different areas of a person's life. Of course, that does not mean that it will never disappear or that we cannot do anything to make it disappear; given the right conditions, it can weaken until it disappears, but this costs more than in other more circumstantial kinds of loneliness.

On the other hand, it must be taken into account that the difference between chronic and transitory loneliness it is only a matter of degree, and there is no clear separation between them.

For this reason, for example, we can find cases in which a person is subjected to an extremely monotonous life that only consists of one type of environment, and feels lonely: in this In this case, it would not be very clear if it is the chronic or the transitory, since we can understand that it has been stuck in a moment of its life that is repeated over and over again day after day.

4. Self imposed loneliness

There are cases in which loneliness is the consequence of isolation that you have decided to use as a defining element of your own life. For example, people with fear of being disappointed by friends or loved ones, and who develop misanthropic attitudes or, in general, distrust towards others.

In some cases, this form of loneliness can also appear for religious reasons, such as the will to consecrate oneself to a life of dedication to one or more gods, without embracing feelings of hostility towards the rest of the people.

5. Imposed loneliness

The imposed loneliness is the consequence of a series of material deprivations to which the person is subjected, against the will of the latter. The inability to have normal and sustained relationships causes the feeling of isolation to appear, a sensation that is it corresponds to objective facts, such as the lack of free time or the fact of living in a very small place and barely leaving it.

It is one of the most common types of loneliness, since there are many factors capable of interposing between a person and the simple fact of meeting people new, both material (mismatch in time and space) and psychological (lack of skills social, extreme shyness, etc.).

On the other hand, that loneliness is imposed by others does not mean that the existence of this emotion is the objective of the measures imposed on those who suffer them. For example, it can be caused by very demanding working hours, in which the important thing is to make money.

6. Existential loneliness

Existential loneliness is very different from other types of loneliness, because it has relatively little influence on the quality and quantity of the interactions we have with other people. Rather, it is a state in which the emotion of loneliness is mixed with the existential doubt of what we live for and what exactly connects us to others.

If self-awareness is a subjective, private experience that cannot be shared, our existence can come to be perceived as something radically separate from our environment and those who inhabit it.

On the other hand, the absence of a meaning for one's own life can contribute to our feeling disconnected from the rest of the cosmos. That is, it is an experience that normally generates discomfort or concern, and that cannot be faced by trying to make more friends or meeting more people.

7. Psychopathological loneliness

Psychopathological loneliness can be a mixture of the above, but in this case it is characterized by going associated with a deterioration of the mental health of the person, or directly by the expression of a disorder psychiatric. For example, it is typical in cases of Schizoid personality Disorder.

Bibliographic references:

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• Jaremka, L.M., Andridge, R.R., Fagundes, C.P., Alfano, C.M., Povoski, S.P., Lipari, A.M., Agnese, D.M., Arnold, M.W., Farrar, W.B., Yee, L.D. Carson III, W.E., Bekaii-Saab, T., Martin Jr, E.W., Schmidt, C.R., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J.K. (2014). Pain, depression, and fatigue: Loneliness as a longitudinal risk factor. Health Psychology, 38, 1310-1317.
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