What is the difference between being alone and feeling lonely?

Loneliness is the emotional discomfort that people feel when their social needs are not being met. It can happen even when someone is surrounded by others.

During illness or a pandemic, people are physically isolated, which increases the feeling of loneliness. This isolation makes it hard to maintain social connections.

Retirement often leads to social isolation because people no longer interact daily with coworkers and the work community.

Some common causes of loneliness include living alone, the death of loved ones, physical illness and lack of social connections.

(a) universal (b) age (c) alone (d) immigrants (e) social

Loneliness is a (a) universal emotion that everyone experiences at some point. Its causes can vary based on (b) age . For example, older adults often feel lonely due to living (c) alone or losing loved ones. On the other hand, (d) immigrants may face lonoliness after moving away from family. Understanding loneliness and its effects is important for building (e) social connections.