The Path to Relieving Loneliness

Loneliness is solved by fully accepting that one is lonely and how loneliness is affecting their lives. Defense mechanisms may prevent those who suffer from recognizing just how lonely they feel. Finding some good friends is thus vital in touching the lives of those who are suffering from loneliness since it opens doors for opportunities and connection. Such connections are useful for the older adults in avoiding things that could perpetuate loneliness and negativity.

It has to be accepted by the society that loneliness exists mostly among the elderly than the other age groups. An experiment to aiming at determining whether loneliness is associated with higher health care utilization among older adults in the United States reveal that one among three older adults in the United States report loneliness (Gerst Emerson and Jayawardhana 1013). On the same note, it is important to remember that loneliness is a common experience that does not reflect any defect in an individual’s personality.

During the mentioned experiment, there are issues that might have affected its outcomes. To begin with, the sample used for the experiment was limited to persons aged 60 and above in 2008. The limitation might have also limited the results as the adults below the age of 60 were not experimented. The persons aged 60 and above in nursing homes were also not used as samples, leading to an imbalance in the experiment (Gerst Emerson and Jayawardhana 1014).

I believe nursing homes amplify the issue of loneliness as the older adults in such homes are locked away from the public, whom they can always share their troubles. For instance, the samples used in the experiment did not include those in nursing homes because of the assumption that they are not lonely, which might be false.