Advice for Coping with Loneliness
If you’re experiencing an eating disorder, it might feel like a lonely time.
You may be avoiding social situations or feel like others are against you.
In turn, isolation can exacerbate feelings of shame and rejection.
If these feelings are familiar, you may be wondering 'what can I do?'
Our tips for dealing with feelings of loneliness:
- Sharing feelings of loneliness aloud can feel terrifying. However, talking to loved ones is a really important step to ease loneliness. Reach out to a friend for support
- When people ask, “are you OK?”, it’s easy to dismiss the question and say “yes”, when things really aren’t OK. This increases the distance between you and the loved one and can cause more loneliness. Next time, challenge yourself to give a real answer, and roll with the dialogue that follows
- Try joining a group with like-minded interests, even if this is only an online group or Whatsapp chat. It might be an early stage to increase connectedness with those around you
- Consider visiting places where you can just be around other people – for example, a park, the cinema or the beach
- If you are an animal lover but don’t have the space, time or money to have your own then there are lots of websites out there such as ‘borrow my doggy’ where you can sign up to take a dog for a walk or have some company during the day. This can be an easy way to meet other like-minded people and be part of a community
- Think about peer support. This is where people use their experiences to help each other. Check out our online support groups
- Volunteer for a good cause. This can provide a good opportunity to get out of the house and meet new people. Beat has lots of opportunities for volunteers and information on our website
- Give yourself social media breaks. It’s easy to compare your lifestyle to someone else’s online, but social media doesn’t always give an accurate depiction of reality
- Practice some mindfulness or meditation activities, if that’s your thing
- Contact the Beat Helpline, or Samaritans on 116 123
When you're experiencing loneliness, or other difficult emotions, it can be easy to turn to unhealthy habits so, you might find it helpful to have a go-to list of ways to distract yourself from the urge to use eating disorder behaviours, or from other difficult thoughts and feelings.
We've created a list of distraction techniques to help you through feelings of; Boredom, Loneliness, Anger, Stress and Tiredness.