Do you know someone who may be lonely?
I saw a program that said that even though they spent a lot of time on social media, so many of those people were still lonely. Many people think that the count of friends on social media meant that they had friends. As we all know, the friends on any social media does not mean a thing. So many people are lonely no matter how many social media friends or followers that they have. Some people may post on social media and then wait for someone to like what they put up, to justify their existence.
The program was talking that people who feel lonely may develop depression and that the depression may lead to suicide. So how can we stop that process.
Many people have gone to video conferencing but that is no help. People still need to meet face to face, shake hands with people, look into each others eyes.
We are not supposed to be people living in our own worlds. We are to be social beings.
If someone of our community is missing, we should check on them. We should see if they are alright and be caring and see if they have any needs?
We used to bring meals over to neighbors or would share meals. Why don't we still do that? Why don't we call people that we have not spoken to for a while? I know that it is easy to say that if we did not hear from them in a while, why don't they call me or maybe I should just delete their contact information.
We say that there are many events or things for people to do but the person may be getting depressed to the point where they don't want to go anywhere. What the person may need is a friend to invite them to go together.
I know that some police agencies do wellness visits on citizens that their families or friends have not heard from them in a while. Some veteran groups reach out to people by bringing a pizza to veterans who have been out of touch with people.
We can probably make a half an hour out of our week to check on people who live alone or have an illness, to help lift their spirits. When was the last time that you played checkers with an elderly person or visited someone who cannot get out of their apartment in a while?
There are people that may be attending functions and going to parties but they are alone in a crowd because people just walk by with smiles that are painted on. You are asking them how they are doing and they say "fine", with a smile on their face but they are feeling so low and we just keep the conversation very light.
One of the things that I appreciated was years ago I had to have surgery. As a side effect of the surgery, I felt lonely and felt depressed. A friend was working in an office and he pulled out a chair and invited me to sit down. I told him that I did not want to take part. He told me that I did not have to say a thing but sit down and take part as I felt comfortable. That simple gesture, helped me so much and was a big help.
It may not take much to help someone know that they are not alone and that they are cared for.
Please go places and interact with people. Talk with a server when you go out to eat. Just interacting with people at any level, can really be of assistance or talk with someone on the phone.
Have a check in buddy. Check on someone each day. It will do them and you a world of good.
Reach out to someone, anyone.
Help cure loneliness before it gets to depression.
Stay safe,
Didymus McHugh
didymus-mchugh.com
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