Usuario:DamyLechu/Taller

Sentimiento negativo de soledad

Soledad, de Jean-Jacques Henner

La soledad como detonante negativo en la vida de una persona, puede ser entendida como una respuesta emocional compleja y generalmente desagradable al aislamiento social. Suele incluir también sentimientos de ansiedad debido a la falta de conexión y/o comunicación con otros individuos, tanto en el presente como en el futuro. Como tal, quien padece de sentimientos de soledad puede sentirse así incluso en presencia de otras personas. Sus causas son variadas e incluyen una amplia cantidad de factores sociales, mentales, emocionales y físicos.

Diversas investigaciones han demostrado que la soledad prevalece en toda sociedad, incluyendo aquellas personas que hayan contraído matrimonios, que estén en una relación amorosa, entre familias, gerontes e incluso personas con carreras exitosas. ​ Ha sido un tema muy explorado por mucho tiempo en la literatura de los seres humanos desde la antigüedad clásica. También se la ha descrito a la soledad como un dolor social (mecanismo psicológico destinado a motivar a una persona a buscar conexiones sociales). ​ En definitiva, se la suele asociar muy a menudo en un contexto de interacción social: "experiencia desagradable que ocurre cuando la red de contactos sociales de un individuo es deficiente de manera significativa". ​

Causas comunes

Puede haber muchas razones, así como muchos eventos de la vida que pueden causarla. Uno de ellos puede ser la falta de amistades durante la infancia y adolescencia, o la ausencia física de personas significativas. Al mismo tiempo, la soledad puede ser un síntoma de algún otro problema social o psicológico, como la distimia o la fobia social. En ese sentido, puede ser consecuencia de una disfunción de la comunicación, o el resultado de vivir en lugares con baja densidad de población en los que hay pocas personas con las que interactuar.

Muchas personas experimentan la soledad por primera vez al quedarse solos en la primera etapa vital de su vida (cuando son bebés). También es una consecuencia esperable, generalmente temporaria, de una ruptura, un divorcio, un duelo o una pérdida de cualquier relación importante a largo plazo. En estos casos, puede deberse a la pérdida de una persona específica y al consecuente retiro del grupo social debido a la pérdida evento asociada a ella.

Las personas pueden sentirse solas incluso cuando están rodeadas de otras personas.​ Incluso puede verse como un fenómeno social, capaz de propagarse como una enfermedad. Cuando una persona en un grupo comienza a sentirse sola, este sentimiento (de acuerdo al contexto en que se encuentre) podría propagar a otras personas, lo que aumenta el riesgo de que todos se sientan solos. ​ También puede ocurrir después del nacimiento de un niño (a menudo expresado como una depresión posparto), después del matrimonio o después de cualquier otro evento socialmente perturbador, como mudarse del hogar a una comunidad desconocida, lo que lleva a la nostalgia.

Typology

Feeling lonely vs. being socially isolated

There is a clear distinction between feeling lonely and being socially isolated (for example, a loner). In particular, one way of thinking about loneliness is as a discrepancy between one's necessary and achieved levels of social interaction,​ while solitude is simply the lack of contact with people. Loneliness is therefore a subjective experience; if a person thinks they are lonely, then they are lonely. People can be lonely while in solitude, or in the middle of a crowd. What makes a person lonely is the fact that they need more social interaction or a certain type of social interaction that is not currently available. A person can be in the middle of a party and feel lonely due to not talking to enough people. Conversely, one can be alone and not feel lonely; even though there is no one around that person is not lonely because there is no desire for social interaction. There have also been suggestions that each person has their own optimal level of social interaction. If a person gets too little or too much social interaction, this could lead to feelings of loneliness or over-stimulation.​

Solitude can have positive effects on individuals. One study found that, although time spent alone tended to depress a person's mood and increase feelings of loneliness, it also helped to improve their cognitive state, such as improving concentration. Furthermore, once the alone time was over, people's moods tended to increase significantly.​ Solitude is also associated with other positive growth experiences, religious experiences, and identity building such as solitary quests used in rites of passages for adolescents.​

Loneliness can also play an important role in the creative process. In some people, temporary or prolonged loneliness can lead to notable artistic and creative expression, for example, as was the case with poets Emily Dickinson and Isabella di Morra, and numerous musicians^[¿quién?]. This is not to imply that loneliness itself ensures this creativity, rather, it may have an influence on the subject matter of the artist and more likely be present in individuals engaged in creative activities.^{[cita requerida]}

Transient vs. chronic loneliness

The other important typology of loneliness focuses on the time perspective.​ In this respect, loneliness can be viewed as either transient or chronic. It has also been referred to as state and trait loneliness.

Transient (state) loneliness is temporary in nature, caused by something in the environment, and is easily relieved. Chronic (trait) loneliness is more permanent, caused by the person, and is not easily relieved.​ For example, when a person is sick and cannot socialize with friends would be a case of transient loneliness. Once the person got better it would be easy for them to alleviate their loneliness. A person who feels lonely regardless of if they are at a family gathering, with friends, or alone is experiencing chronic loneliness. It does not matter what goes on in the surrounding environment, the experience of loneliness is always there.

Loneliness as a human condition

The existentialist school of thought views loneliness as the essence of being human. Each human being comes into the world alone, travels through life as a separate person, and ultimately dies alone. Coping with this, accepting it, and learning how to direct our own lives with some degree of grace and satisfaction is the human condition.​

Some philosophers, such as Sartre, believe in an epistemic loneliness in which loneliness is a fundamental part of the human condition because of the paradox between people's consciousness desiring meaning in life and the isolation and nothingness of the universe.​ Conversely, other existentialist thinkers argue that human beings might be said to actively engage each other and the universe as they communicate and create, and loneliness is merely the feeling of being cut off from this process.

Frequency

There are several estimates and indicators of loneliness. It has been estimated that approximately 60 million people in the United States, or 20% of the total population, feel lonely.​ Another study found that 12% of Americans have no one with whom to spend free time or to discuss important matters.​ Other research suggests that this rate has been increasing over time. The General Social Survey found that between 1985 and 2004, the number of people the average American discusses important matters with decreased from three to two. Additionally, the number of Americans with no one to discuss important matters with tripled​ (though this particular study may be flawed​). In the UK research by Age UK shows half a million people more than 60 years old spend each day alone without social interaction and almost half a million more see and speak to no one for 5 or 6 days a week.​ On the other hand, the Community Life Survey, 2016 to 2017, by the UK's Office for National Statistics, found that young adults in England aged 16 to 24 reported feeling lonely more often than those in older age groups.​

Loneliness appears to have intensified in every society in the world as modernization occurs. A certain amount of this loneliness appears to be related to greater migration, smaller household sizes, a larger degree of media consumption (all of which have positive sides as well in the form of more opportunities, more choice in family size, and better access to information), all of which relates to social capital.

Within developed nations, loneliness has shown the largest increases among two groups: seniors​​ and people living in low-density suburbs.​​ Seniors living in suburban areas are particularly vulnerable, for as they lose the ability to drive, they often become "stranded" and find it difficult to maintain interpersonal relationships.​

Loneliness is prevalent in vulnerable groups in society. In New Zealand the fourteen surveyed groups with the highest prevalence of loneliness most/all of the time in descending order are: disabled, recent migrants, low income households, unemployed, single parents, rural (rest of South Island), seniors aged 75+, not in the labour force, youth aged 15-24, no qualifications, not housing owner-occupier, not in a family nucleus, Māori, and low personal income.​

Americans seem to report more loneliness than any other country, though this finding may simply be an effect of greater research volume. A 2006 study in the American Sociological Review found that Americans on average had only two close friends in which to confide, which was down from an average of three in 1985. The percentage of people who noted having no such confidant rose from 10% to almost 25%, and an additional 19% said they had only a single confidant, often their spouse, thus raising the risk of serious loneliness if the relationship ended.​ The modern office environment has been demonstrated to give rise to loneliness. This can be especially prevalent in individuals prone to social isolation who can interpret the business focus of co-workers for a deliberate ignoring of needs.​

Whether a correlation exists between Internet usage and loneliness is a subject of controversy, with some findings showing that Internet users are lonelier​ and others showing that lonely people who use the Internet to keep in touch with loved ones (especially seniors) report less loneliness, but that those trying to make friends online became lonelier.​ On the other hand, studies in 2002 and 2010 found that "Internet use was found to decrease loneliness and depression significantly, while perceived social support and self-esteem increased significantly"​ and that the Internet "has an enabling and empowering role in people's lives, by increasing their sense of freedom and control, which has a positive impact on well-being or happiness."​ The one apparently unequivocal finding of correlation is that long driving commutes correlate with dramatically higher reported feelings of loneliness (as well as other negative health impacts).​​

Effects

Mental health

Loneliness by Hans Thoma (National Museum in Warsaw)

Loneliness has been linked with depression, and is thus a risk factor for suicide.​ Émile Durkheim has described loneliness, specifically the inability or unwillingness to live for others, i.e. for friendships or altruistic ideas, as the main reason for what he called egoistic suicide.​Plantilla:Unreliable source? In adults, loneliness is a major precipitant of depression and alcoholism.​ People who are socially isolated may report poor sleep quality, and thus have diminished restorative processes.​ Loneliness has also been linked with a schizoid character type in which one may see the world differently and experience social alienation, described as the self in exile.​

In children, a lack of social connections is directly linked to several forms of antisocial and self-destructive behavior, most notably hostile and delinquent behavior. In both children and adults, loneliness often has a negative impact on learning and memory. Its disruption of sleep patterns can have a significant impact on the ability to function in everyday life.​

Research from a large-scale study published in the journal Psychological Medicine, showed that "lonely millennials are more likely to have mental health problems, be out of work and feel pessimistic about their ability to succeed in life than their peers who feel connected to others, regardless of gender or wealth".​​

Pain, depression, and fatigue function as a symptom cluster and thus may share common risk factors. Two longitudinal studies with different populations demonstrated that loneliness was a risk factor for the development of the pain, depression, and fatigue symptom cluster over time. These data also highlight the health risks of loneliness; pain, depression, and fatigue often accompany serious illness and place people at risk for poor health and mortality.​

Physical health

Chronic loneliness can be a serious, life-threatening health condition. It has been found to be associated with an increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.​ Loneliness shows an increased incidence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity.​

Loneliness is shown to increase the concentration of cortisol levels in the body.​ Prolonged, high cortisol levels can cause anxiety, depression, digestive problems, heart disease, sleep problems, and weight gain.​

″Loneliness has been associated with impaired cellular immunity as reflected in lower natural killer (NK) cell activity and higher antibody titers to the Epstein Barr Virus and human herpes viruses".​ Because of impaired cellular immunity, loneliness among young adults shows vaccines, like the flu vaccine, to be less effective.​ Data from studies on loneliness and HIV positive men suggests loneliness increases disease progression.​

Physiological mechanisms link to poor health

There are a number of potential physiological mechanisms linking loneliness to poor health outcomes. In 2005, results from the American Framingham Heart Study demonstrated that lonely men had raised levels of Interleukin 6 (IL-6), a blood chemical linked to heart disease. A 2006 study conducted by the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago found loneliness can add thirty points to a blood pressure reading for adults over the age of fifty. Another finding, from a survey conducted by John Cacioppo from the University of Chicago, is that doctors report providing better medical care to patients who have a strong network of family and friends than they do to patients who are alone. Cacioppo states that loneliness impairs cognition and willpower, alters DNA transcription in immune cells, and leads over time to high blood pressure.​ Lonelier people are more likely to show evidence of viral reactivation than less lonely people.​ Lonelier people also have stronger inflammatory responses to acute stress compared with less lonely people; inflammation is a well known risk factor for age-related diseases.​

When someone feels left out of a situation, they feel excluded and one possible side effect is for their body temperature to decrease. When people feel excluded blood vessels at the periphery of the body may narrow, preserving core body heat. This class protective mechanism is known as vasoconstriction.​

Treatments and prevention

There are many different ways used to treat loneliness, social isolation, and clinical depression. The first step that most doctors recommend to patients is therapy. Therapy is a common and effective way of treating loneliness and is often successful. Short-term therapy, the most common form for lonely or depressed patients, typically occurs over a period of ten to twenty weeks. During therapy, emphasis is put on understanding the cause of the problem, reversing the negative thoughts, feelings, and attitudes resulting from the problem, and exploring ways to help the patient feel connected. Some doctors also recommend group therapy as a means to connect with other sufferers and establish a support system.​ Doctors also frequently prescribe anti-depressants to patients as a stand-alone treatment, or in conjunction with therapy. It may take several attempts before a suitable anti-depressant medication is found.​

Alternative approaches to treating depression are suggested by many doctors. These treatments include exercise, dieting, hypnosis, electro-shock therapy, acupuncture, and herbs, amongst others. Many patients find that participating in these activities fully or partially alleviates symptoms related to depression.​

Paro, a robot pet seal classified as a medical device by U.S. regulators

Another treatment for both loneliness and depression is pet therapy, or animal-assisted therapy, as it is more formally known. Studies and surveys, as well as anecdotal evidence provided by volunteer and community organizations, indicate that the presence of animal companions such as dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs can ease feelings of depression and loneliness among some sufferers. Beyond the companionship the animal itself provides there may also be increased opportunities for socializing with other pet owners. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are a number of other health benefits associated with pet ownership, including lowered blood pressure and decreased levels of cholesterol and triglycerides.​

Nostalgia has also been found to have a restorative effect, counteracting loneliness by increasing perceived social support.​

A 1989 study found that the social aspect of religion had a significant negative association with loneliness among elderly people. The effect was more consistent than the effect of social relationships with family and friends, and the subjective concept of religiosity had no significant effect on loneliness.​

One study compared the effectiveness of four interventions: improving social skills, enhancing social support, increasing opportunities for social interaction, addressing abnormal social cognition (faulty thoughts and patterns of thoughts). The results of the study indicated that all interventions were effective in reducing loneliness, possibly with the exception of social skill training. Results of the meta-analysis suggest that correcting maladaptive social cognition offers the best chance of reducing loneliness.​

See also

• Adam's Song
• Autophobia
• Eleanor Rigby
• Individualism
• Interpersonal relationship
• Loner
• Pit of despair (animal experiments on isolation)
• Solitude
• Shyness
• Social anxiety
• Social anxiety disorder
• Social isolation
• Schizoid personality disorder

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References

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Solitude by Frederic Leighton

Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e., lack of contact with people. It may stem from bad relationships, loss of loved ones, deliberate choice, infectious disease, mental disorders, neurological disorders or circumstances of employment or situation (see castaway).

Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think or rest without being disturbed. It may be desired for the sake of privacy.

A distinction has been made between solitude and loneliness. In this sense, these two words refer, respectively, to the joy and the pain of being alone.​​​​

Health effects

Symptoms from complete isolation, called sensory deprivation, often include anxiety, sensory illusions, or even distortions of time and perception. However, this is the case when there is no stimulation of the sensory systems at all, and not only lack of contact with people. Thus, by having other things to keep one's mind busy, this is avoided.​

Still, long-term solitude is often seen as undesirable, causing loneliness or reclusion resulting from inability to establish relationships. Furthermore, it might even lead to clinical depression. However, for some people, solitude is not depressing. Still others (e.g. monks) regard long-term solitude as a means of spiritual enlightenment. Indeed, marooned people have been left in solitude for years without any report of psychological symptoms afterwards.^{[cita requerida]}

Enforced loneliness (solitary confinement) has been a punishment method throughout history. It is often considered a form of torture. In contrast, some psychological conditions (such as schizophrenia​ and schizoid personality disorder) are strongly linked to a tendency to seek solitude. In animal experiments, solitude has been shown to cause psychosis.^{[cita requerida]}

Emotional isolation is a state of isolation where one has a well-functioning social network but still feels emotionally separated from others.^{[cita requerida]}

In the last few years, however, researchers like Robert J. Coplan and Julie C. Bowker have bucked the trend that solitary practices and solitude are inherently dysfunctional and undesirable. In their groundbreaking work The Handbook of Solitude, the authors note how solitude can allow for enhancements in self-esteem, generates clarity, and can be highly therapeutic.​ In the edited work, Coplan and Bowker invite not only fellow psychology colleagues to chime in on this issue, but they also invite a variety of other faculty from different disciplines to address the issue. Arguably the most interesting of these alternative views comes from Fong's chapter on how solitude is more than just a personal trajectory for one to take inventory on life; it also yields a variety of important sociological cues that allow the protagonist to navigate through society, even highly politicized societies.​ In the process, political prisoners in solitary confinement were examined to see how they concluded their views on society. Thus Fong, Coplan, and Bowker conclude that a person's experienced solitude generates immanent and personal content as well as collective and sociological content, depending on context.

Psychological effects

Breslover Hasid practicing hitbodedut.

There are both positive and negative psychological effects of solitude. Much of the time, these effects and the longevity is determined by the amount of time a person spends in isolation.​ The positive effects can range anywhere from more freedom to increased spirituality,​ while the negative effects are socially depriving and may trigger the onset of mental illness.​ While positive solitude is often desired, negative solitude is often involuntary or undesired at the time it occurs.​

Positive effects

There are many benefits to spending time alone. Freedom is considered to be one of the benefits of solitude; the constraints of others will not have any effect on a person who is spending time in solitude, therefore giving the person more latitude in their actions. With increased freedom, a person’s choices are less likely to be affected by exchanges with others.​

A person's creativity can be sparked when given freedom. Solitude can increase freedom and moreover, freedom from distractions has the potential to spark creativity. In 1994, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that adolescents who cannot bear to be alone often stop enhancing creative talents.​

Another proven benefit to time given in solitude is the development of self. When a person spends time in solitude from others, they may experience changes to their self-concept. This can also help a person to form or discover their identity without any outside distractions. Solitude also provides time for contemplation, growth in personal spirituality, and self-examination. In these situations, loneliness can be avoided as long as the person in solitude knows that they have meaningful relations with others.​

Solitude can be positively used to pray: the devotion of the Rosary helps the person to pray with a feeling of being accompanied by Jesus and the Virgin Mary in the contemplation of the mysteries of their life with a great sense of peace; the Rosary fills with prayer the days of many a contemplative, or keeps company with the sick and the elderly.​

Negative effects

Too much solitude is not always considered beneficial. Many of the negative effects have been observed in prisoners. Often, prisoners spend extensive time in solitude, where their behavior may worsen.​ Solitude can trigger physiological responses that increase health risks.​

Negative effects of solitude may also depend on age. Elementary age school children who experience frequent solitude may react negatively.​ This is largely because, often, solitude at this age is not something chosen by the child. Solitude in elementary-age children may occur when they are unsure of how to interact socially with others so they prefer to be alone, causing shyness or social rejection.

While teenagers are more likely to feel lonely or unhappy when not around others, they are also more likely to have a more enjoyable experience with others if they have had time alone first. However, teenagers who frequently spend time alone do not have as good a global adjustment as those who balance their time of solitude with their social time.​

Other uses

As pleasure

Howard Pyle's 19th century illustration of a marooned pirate.

Solitude does not necessarily entail feelings of loneliness, and in fact may, for those who choose it with deliberate intent, be one's sole source of genuine pleasure. For example, in religious contexts, some saints preferred silence and found immense pleasure in their perceived uniformity with God. Solitude is a state that can be positively modified utilizing it for prayer allowing to "be alone with ourselves and with God, to put ourselves in listening to his will, but also of what moves in our hearts, let purify our relationships; solitude and silence thus become spaces inhabited by God, and ability to recover ourselves and grow in humanity. "​ The Catholic devotion of the Holy Rosary includes the most beautiful prayers to meditate in solitude the mysteries of Jesus and Virgin Mary's life, feeling in Their company; it’s a devotion to which is associated the divine grace and that causes an effective change of the emotional and spiritual state.^{[cita requerida]} The Buddha attained enlightenment through uses of meditation, deprived of sensory input, bodily necessities, and external desires, including social interaction. The context of solitude is attainment of pleasure from within, but this does not necessitate complete detachment from the external world.

Archivo:Jacques Bodin, De dos XXXXV, oil on canvas.jpg

Solitude and the Sea, a theme by Jacques Bodin

This is well demonstrated in the writings of Edward Abbey with particular regard to Desert Solitaire where solitude focused only on isolation from other people allows for a more complete connection to the external world, as in the absence of human interaction the natural world itself takes on the role of the companion. In this context, the individual seeking solitude does so not strictly for personal gain or introspection, though this is often an unavoidable outcome, but instead in an attempt to gain an understanding of the natural world as entirely removed from the human perspective as possible, a state of mind much more readily attained in the complete absence of outside human presence. In psychology, introverted individuals may require spending time away from people to recharge. Those who are simply socially apathetic might find it a pleasurable environment in which to occupy oneself with solitary tasks.

As punishment

Isolation in the form of solitary confinement is a punishment or precaution used in many countries throughout the world for prisoners accused of serious crimes, those who may be at risk in the prison population, those who may commit suicide, or those unable to participate in the prison population due to sickness or injury. Research has found that solitary confinement does not deter inmates from committing further violence in prison.​

As treatment

Psychiatric institutions may institute full or partial isolation for certain patients, particularly the violent or subversive, in order to address their particular needs and to protect the rest of the recovering population from their influence.

See also

• Hermit
• Hikikomori
• Hitbodedut
• Lone wolf (trait)
• Loner
• Privacy regulation theory