Loneliness is a universal emotion that many of us experience at times, whether from lack of companionship in your daily life, feel left out and without a connection to those around you, or you’ve moved across the country away from family and friends.
Loneliness is a feeling of unwanted isolation or lack of connection. It can occur if you are alone or surrounded by others. Solitude, on the other hand, is a choice. People may choose to be alone for hours or days and not feel lonely at all. When you’re lonely, you feel rejected, so you withdraw and become more critical of yourself and the people around you. This isolates you further often intensifying loneliness.
Veterans on active duty lived with many others throughout their military service. When discharged to civilian life they lost that peer companionship. They are not only alone, but afraid of the change. Such fear in most cases leads them to isolate themselves from others leading to loneliness. This can cause depression that grows deeper as time passes. They, like civilians may have many other reasons for the feeling of loneliness. Many veterans facing loneliness may turn to alcohol or drugs in hopes to ease their problem, however that only causes even deeper feeling of loneliness. It also causes others to avoid association with them.
How to Cope with Loneliness.
Even in a crowd of people it is possible to suffer loneliness-especially if you feel you don’t belong there with them. However there are things that can be done to relieve the problem.
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2. As a veteran join a veteran organization where you be able to associate with brothers and sisters in peer comradeship. Many of those peers you met at the pots have gone through the problems you are facing so they understand your problems and may be of great help.
3. Try Volunteering or helping your community such as in community kitchen or ommunity services that are done by volunteers.
4. Get a dog. Dogs are known as man’s best friend, and in many cases that’s what they are. You can tell all your problems to a dog and it will listen, and never tell anyone else. In addition it will ever show more love to you after you tell it you problems.
5. Do not hesitate to seek help from the VA medical services. The VA medical services can help relieve your depression and loneliness without labeling you with PTSD. They can help you without making that stigma of mental disorder. You can have them reassure you that they will not label you with PTSD before they treat you. Their function is to help veterans recover from their injuries and problems.