A recent study indicates that lonelier people may see the world as more threatening. Learn what brain scans can tell us about loneliness on the brain.
Humans are meant to be around one another. It’s been that way for millennia. We needed each other to hunt, construct homes, procreate, care for our offspring and protect one another against the saber-toothed tigers and dire wolves that meant to harm us. We also need each other to be happy and to take up the burdens that sometimes weigh us down. All told, being a human is exceedingly difficult when life is lived alone.
The research makes sense because when you’re in a chronic state of loneliness, you’re probably more likely to see the world as more threatening and overwhelming. Other people are resources for us that make nearly every aspect of our lives more pleasant, says“There’s all these tangible and intangible ways that having people in our lives makes things easier, and if you don’t have that mental, physical and social support, then the world is going to look more challenging,” says Wood.
For example, if you’re friends with tons of people and you don’t feel connected to any of them, you can still feel lonelier than a person who has only a few friends but feels very connected to those friends. Still, it’s easy to confuse those who are considered introverts and do not really need social connection with those who might need more than they are getting, but as a result of social anxiety or a general fear of rejection, they may end up not getting the socialization that they require. “While some might claim to be introverts, they’re really just afraid of social intimacy,” says Wood.
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