What Causes Loneliness in People?

In today’s world there are more and more lonely people that are struggling to find a place in life. From a young child that is different in ways, that other children are cruel to them and make them feel lonely and isolated. These children do not have lots of friends and are usually alone and it is easy for them to become depressed and very lonely. I believe that loneliness affects the elderly quiet often. The loss of their spouses and their children can cause a sense of loneliness.

I go to the nursing home to visit my grandma who suffers with Dementia and early Alzheimer’s. When you look around the nursing home and you see all these elderly people sitting in their wheel chairs it is sad. Most of them have nobody and are all alone in the world. The nurses say that all of the people in the home cry from time to time because they are lonely and are missing someone they once had in their life. There are so many more divorces in today’s world than there was 30 years ago, which have shown to have a huge impact on teenagers today.

As a teenager I have been through this by my parents divorcing when I was 8 years old. I became angry and I sort of isolated myself from my family and as I became older my issues and problems became worse until a few years ago. I suffered from loneliness a lot because I didn’t really want to be around people. I had friends but I still felt lonely most of the time. Loneliness leads to depression at least it did from my experience. But as I grow older and I deal with the situations and the trouble that come my way I have my family to get me through it and the loneliness I felt, isn’t as bad because I have my family and a few close friends to keep me busy and not alone.

My grandfather had told me that during World War II and the great depression men and woman of all ages suffered from loneliness. You had your soldiers gone off to war to fight for their country and most of these men were young. They had to leave their loved ones behind and go into battle and missed their families very much and even though they were fighting a war they were lonely for their loved ones back home. This had to have been hard especially for the husbands and fathers who left. My grandfather had told me that while he would be sitting in their camps at night or in a foxhole in the dark, the loneliness was like a dark black cloud that rushed over him, as he missed his family and home. I’m sure all they could think about was missing their wife and their children who were growing up without their dad.

For the wives and the children of World War II had to be just as hard and lonely for them. Trying to keep their home together without their husbands and the not knowing whether or not they will ever see them again had to be extremely hard. And as their husbands were lonely and longing to be with them, the wives had to be just as lonely especially at night in the darkness of their homes. We now find ourselves in another war in today’s world, “The War on Terrorism” and our loved ones are once again faced with the loneliness of missing one another as they say goodbye and leave for war. Although in today’s world they at least have the opportunity of the internet and things like Skype to see their loved ones via a webcam and hear their voice. During World War II this was not an option for either side, the ones shipped off to war or the ones at home waiting to receive a letter that could be weeks old.

I feel that no matter what, during either war, loneliness in these people was and is at an extreme high. To end the agony of loneliness for these people who are living today’s war we need to bring them home and reunite these families. These are just a few things that cause people to suffer from loneliness. My belief is that loneliness is a horrible feeling and state to be at in your life. People who are lonely need to get some sort of help from friends, family, support groups and churches. It is sometimes difficult for people who are suffering from loneliness to reach out, my suggestion to others is perhaps you reach out to those who may think are lonely and need your help to not feel so alone.