Loneliness in old age is never ideal. It affects everything from your mental well-being to your physical health, and it has to be stopped in its tracks. It is one of the leading causes of mental health problems in senior citizens and leads to all sorts of deterioration. There are, thankfully, lots of ways to combat loneliness before it becomes a major problem, and this guide has the best solutions.
Stay Active
You may be wondering what does staying active have to do with fighting loneliness? Well, there are lots of benefits to maintaining positive habits for your physical self, one of which is that it makes you feel more confident to get out and about. It helps you manage any health conditions that you might be dealing with and provides a way to socialize through exercise groups or similar.
Keep a Journal
If you haven’t considered keeping a journal before, these are wonderful tools for processing emotions and staying in touch with reality. Both of these skills will enable you to feel better about meeting and communicating with peers or friend groups, and it is a great space to unwind if you are ever feeling overwhelmed about anything.
Find a Pet
The link between happiness and pet ownership is nothing new. A dog or a cat companion, or maybe even something smaller like a bird, does wonders for the way you feel about life. Not only this, but it provides constant companionship in a comfortable setting too. There are lots of pet-friendly senior and assisted living facilities that will consider a living application if you have your best friend along for the ride, so you don’t need to worry about it being an obstacle there either.
Make Time For Friends
As life moves on, so do people. However, that is no excuse to lose touch with the people you love. Make time for friends just like you used to do when you were younger, and the good times will follow. A big part of not feeling lonely is staying connected to people who stimulate your happy hormones and cognitive ability so if you have not picked up the phone in a while, now is the time to reach out and do it.
Try Dating
There are no rules at all that say just because you are older now doesn’t mean you have to stop dating. Dating is a wonderful way to make sense of the world and an intimate bond with someone you can trust brings lots of benefits to the way you feel about yourself and the wider world too.
Volunteer
If dating is not on your radar, why not think about volunteering instead? Just because you’re retired, it doesn’t have to mean your skills and experience go to waste! Find a community project or offer your knowledge to a local learning establishment and see where the dice land. There will be plenty of stimulation and socialization and you will feel like you have a purpose too.
Fighting loneliness has to be an active choice. There are plenty of ways to do it, and it is extremely good for your mental and physical well-being as you get older too.