Overcoming a fear of loneliness can be a difficult process, but experts have several recommendations that you may find useful. For starters, you may want to consider getting some kind of pet. Research has shown that people can deal with loneliness a lot better if they have an animal companion. Another remedy is cognitive therapy, and you can receive this treatment from many qualified therapists. In some cases, people may deal with a fear of loneliness by using anxiety medications, and they can also simply change their lifestyles so that they spend less time alone.
Changing your lifestyle to deal with loneliness can be handled in a positive way, and if you do it right, you can enhance other aspects of your life as well. For example, if you were to join a club associated with something you’re interested in, you might meet people with a common hobby. Another example would be doing volunteer work for your community, which can allow you to meet people and also potentially get some satisfaction from doing good things for others.
A psychiatrist or other therapist will probably be able to teach you some specialized methods for dealing with your fear of loneliness. For example, a good therapist might show you how to interrupt the process of your fear and look at the situation in a different way. There are some ways of looking at being alone that can be enlightening and even make the experience into a positive. If therapeutic methods don’t work, a psychiatrist may be able to prescribe certain medications that can help calm your nerves when you’re alone.
For some people, the fear of loneliness gets so severe that it causes anxiety attacks and other physical symptoms. If your problems are this severe, you may want to seriously consider getting some kind of professional help. Severe phobias can have a very detrimental effect on someone’s life, and if they are allowed to fester, they can sometimes get worse.
Individuals who suffer with a terrible fear of loneliness may take extreme measures to avoid being alone, and in some cases, this can be detrimental. For example, if a person stays in a destructive romantic relationship just to avoid loneliness, it can be very harmful in the long run. Experts suggest that fear of loneliness is one of the more common reasons people cite for why they don’t want to leave a bad relationship.