Lonely no more
Living alone can leave you more susceptible to feelings of loneliness and social isolation, particularly if you don’t feel well some of the time or you’ve lost someone you love. But joining a lifestyle community can help.
Loneliness can affect anyone, at any stage of life. It’s not just caused by physically being alone—loneliness is the feeling of being alone, no matter how much social contact you have.
You can often be surrounded by friends and family and still feel cut off from the world.
It’s normal to feel alone when you’re in transition. Retiring from a busy job, changing your lifestyle, or downsizing from a home that was once a thriving hub of activity, with children running around and constant visitors can leave you feeling isolated.
Loneliness can hit you at any time. Children grow up, friends move away, and coming to grips with a new illness that restricts how much you can get out and socialise can all increase feelings of loneliness.
And just existing in this modern life can make us feel more isolated. In a world where technology seems to bring us together more than ever, recent research indicates that more of us are feeling lonely more of the time, too.
As we age, many of us are alone more often than when we were younger, leaving us vulnerable to social isolation—and related health problems such as cognitive decline, depression, and heart disease.
Fortunately, there’s ways you can stave of these adverse effects and boost your quality of life. Here’s four of the best:
How to reduce feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
1. Stay in touch.
Finding easy ways to connect with friends and family is vital to reducing loneliness. Humans are inherently social creatures. It’s our connection to others that helps us to survive and thrive. If you can engage in meaningful, productive activities with others, studies show you’ll live longer, boost your mood, and have a sense of purpose—all useful ways to maintain your well-being whatever life throws at you. Make an effort to talk to people, whether it’s in person, online, or on the phone. Telling others how you feel can also help mitigate the effects of loneliness, so don’t be afraid to reach out when you need to.
2. Join a strong community.
If you’ve decided to age in place, this can sometimes lead to greater social isolation. As your existing community dwindles, you may find yourself more alone than usual. Lifestyle communities are a great way to reinvigorate your world with new people who share your values and interests. There’s often community-organised activities on offer, shared facilities (BBQ areas, pool and gyms), and social clubs where residents can come together regularly. This is a great way to make new friends, get out of the house, and do something fun!
3. Make new friends.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “the only way to have a friend is to be one.” But it’s also often harder to make new friends when you’re older—we get stuck in existing patterns of behaviour that can make it difficult to welcome new people into our sphere. Staying open to the possibility of meeting new people and energetically inviting them into your life is the way forward. Join a club, start a new hobby that puts you in touch with like-minded souls, take part in new group activities—anything that gets you out of the house, out of yourself and communicating with others.
4. Reduce financial stress.
Your family home holds many wonderful memories, but, as you grow older, it can also create stress. Maintaining upkeep, paying for necessary repairs, rates, bill creep, and other financial burdens can make you feel like you can’t afford to go out and socialise too often. If the family home is becoming burdensome, downsizing to a lifestyle community is a great option. There’s less to worry about in terms of maintenance, you’ll feel safe and secure knowing there’s people nearby if you need them, and the extra equity your realise by selling your home can help ensure you enjoy growing older more than you thought possible.
Many Encore Living Trafalgar residents say that having a raft of ways to meet new people makes their lives richer.
Events, activities, dining opportunities, connecting with neighbours your age, and having social support when you need it can go a long way to improving your mood and your health.
Don’t accept loneliness as an inevitable part of ageing. Join our community and start making new friends who share your interests—they’ll soon seem like a second family.
Say goodbye to loneliness and embrace a whole new way of life.