Ralph Waldo Emerson once wisely stated: "The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere." Between pandemic distancing, prevalent social media lifestyles, the price of gas, dinner for two, and other things that bring you closer to others, people are staying further apart than ever and failing to find the good in themselves and others. Isolation isn't healthy for anyone, but unfortunately, times and circumstances have forced an ever-widening distance between people. Loneliness, among other things, can lead to deep sadness, obesity, and an impaired immune system.

A professional counseling service can help, beginning in the following ways: 

1. Managing The Stress Of Your Life

Dealing effectively with stress can help you make better choices, including social ones. When you're not burdened by the physical and emotional constraints of constant pressure, you're more at ease with your surroundings and, therefore, more apt to explore them in a friendly way.

2. Understanding What's Keeping You From Others

You may have personal issues unrelated to external conditions, like the pandemic and everyone's addiction to living via social media buttons. Self-doubt, past abuse, and social anxiety are a few examples of wedges that stand between you and a healthy social life. Whatever is holding you back psychologically, talking to a counselor is the first step in making lasting change.

3. Relating To People In Similar Situations 

When people learn that their human peers are wrestling with the same conundrum as themselves, they tend to feel better immediately. Not to wish the same fate on others, but to be able to relate. A counselor puts problems in perspective, including how rampant these problems are. 

4. Learning To Take The Steps That Lead To A More Satisfying Life

The most important result of visiting a professional counselor is a positive change. Although that may not come quickly when there are many factors influencing your personal loneliness, counseling teaches you how to take the steps needed to get you to a better place. Whether it's practicing elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, such as diaphragmatic breathing to alleviate anxiety, or giving yourself a positive prep talk before venturing out socially, you'll learn, on your own terms and in your own time, how to start making the moves that make life rewarding.

5. Coping With Setbacks

Change of this magnitude doesn't happen overnight and like most other things, it may involve setbacks. It's important to be prepared for them and to learn how to effectively deal with them, lest they lead you back to where you began. Counseling instills confidence, along with coping skills.

Being lonely doesn't have to be a permanent way of life. Unfortunately, loneliness leads to depression and other disorders that confine a person to being by themselves. If loneliness has you feeling like you're living on rock bottom, try talking to a professional counselor about initiating the changes that lead you to higher ground, emotionally and otherwise.

Contact a local counseling service to learn more.