Mind : ( 24/10/2012. )

What can family and friends do to help? : This section is for friends and family who want to support someone they know who is lonely. You may be worried that a friend or relative is lonely, perhaps because they are socially isolated or because someone has told you they are lonely. You may not be able to resolve this for them but there are things you can do to help. Keep in touch : If you think, or know, that someone is lonely – for example, after a bereavement or relationship break-up – a small gesture, such as inviting them for lunch, or even just saying hello, can make them feel less alone. If someone lives far away or you are too busy to visit, make whatever contact you can. Phone, email, text or Skype to let them know you are thinking of them. Show your support : Be aware of how your behaviour might impact on someone who is lonely, and think about how you can be more supportive and encouraging. For example, if you cancel a date that your friend or relative was l...

Getting Support : What other help is available? After living a life full of loneliness, I thought nothing could change. But after I started therapy, I realised things can  actually get better, despite the neglect, abuse and mental health difficulties I suffered with. You may find that, despite your best efforts, you are unable to get the social contact that you need or that you experience feelings of constant loneliness that you can’t resolve by yourself. In these cases, a talking treatment, such as counselling or psychotherapy, may help. Talking to a therapist allows you to explore and understand your feelings of loneliness and can help you develop positive ways of dealing with them. See talking treatments for more information. If anxiety about social situations has made you isolated, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) may help. CBT is a form of therapy that focuses on how you think about the things going on in your life – your thoughts, images, beliefs and attitude...

How to cope with loneliness : How can I overcome feelings of loneliness? : For many people, overcoming loneliness is about increasing the level of social contact that they have with other people and there are different ways to do this. However, if you experience feelings of loneliness that are unrelated to social contact, you may need to develop different strategies to help you overcome this. We discuss both types of strategy here. Connecting with the world around you The way I deal with loneliness is to go out and spend time outside, have a small conversation with the cashier as I pay for my things, phone my mum or see a close friend. For some people, feeling lonely is not about how many friends they have, but about feeling disconnected from the rest of the world. In this case, it can help to take small steps to feel more connected with the world around you. Making contact with people you know can be a useful first step in helping you feel less alone. If you have fr...

Loneliness and Mental Health : How can being lonely affect your mental health? : Loneliness and social isolation can have a significant impact on your mental health. Studies have shown that people who are socially isolated experience more stress, have lower self-esteem and are more likely to have sleep problems than people who have strong social support. All of these things can have a negative effect on your general wellbeing. Being lonely can also contribute to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Social isolation has also been linked to rarer mental health conditions like schizophrenia. If you are concerned that  your feelings of loneliness are developing into a mental health problem, you may find it helpful to talk to your GP. Sometimes feeling lonely can feel so overwhelming that you have suicidal thoughts. If this happens, remember that you can pick up the phone at any time of night or day and talk to the Samaritans. See how to cope with su...

What is loneliness? : As social beings, most of us feel the need for rewarding social contact and relationships. One common definition of loneliness is that it is the feeling we get when our need for this type of contact is not met. However, loneliness is not the same as being alone. You might choose to be alone and live happily without much contact with other people. Or you may have lots of social contact, or be in a relationship or part of a family and still feel lonely. Loneliness is not feeling part of the world. You might be surrounded by loads of people but... you are [still] lonely. Loneliness can have a significant impact on your mental health. It can contribute to mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression. Having a mental health problem can also make you feel lonely. For example, your condition may mean that you find social contact difficult or that you find it hard to maintain friendships, or you may feel isolated because of stigma and ...

Spiritual sadhana is not a hectic activity of the physical personality or the social individual; it is a spiritual retransformation of the very consciousness which we really are. It is difficult to conceive what spiritual sadhana is. Though we advertise it, print books on it, and talk about it to others, it has not really entered our spirit, and so we are still weeping. Our weeping has not stopped. It is necessary, therefore, to reinterpret ourselves, understand our situaiton once again in a proper form and perspective, and stand undaunted, confident and perspicuous in our understanding. Can any of us believe that we are in the very presence of God just now? But, this is the fact. It is therefore imperative for us to reconsider our position in this world, to reconsider our relationships to other people and things, and reconsider the very meaning of sadhana. If the Truth is properly grasped, we should regard ourselves as thrice blessed. It is a hard thing to understand, an...

The psychology of the mind has to be understood. Thought concretises itself into reality. Do you know that the cosmic mind has concretised itself into this world which looks so solid? The cosmic mind, externalised in the space-time complex, appears to have descended into the concrete, solid form of the physical universe. That is the story of creation. Every little mind is a great potency. It is like a minute atom bomb which can assert, and what it asserts will take place. Think, and it is there. But you are dubious in your adjustment of thought. You are always under the fear that something else is there outside you which will not agree with you. When you have the feeling that something is outside you which is different from you and cannot agree with you, you are really not en rapport with it, and it will really not like you and it cannot agree with you. What you think you are – that you really are. You must remember that. If you demoralise yourself, condemn yourself as a nobo...