The Surprising Health Benefits Of Spending Time Alone

I am an ardent extrovert. I love people, I get my energy from socializing and meeting new friends. But after a long day at work, followed by Christmas drinks and a return home for one last teenage shower at home, is it okay to yell at my needy cockatiel Bertie scratching at the bathroom door? “I just need some time alone!” Is it just me, or does anyone else just want to be “just me” sometimes?

While many studies show that loneliness and spending too much time alone can be bad for your health, research now shows that spending quality time alone is good for mental health.

Loneliness can be good for you

A new study released earlier this month found that time spent alone is good for your well-being, helping you relax, feel less stressed, and better cope with the stresses of modern life. The University of Reading study tracked the social habits of 178 people for 21 days, asking them to keep a daily diary of the time they spent alone, without interacting with anyone physically or digitally.

Volunteers who participated in the study were asked to answer three questions. how free they felt and how much control they felt over what happened during their time. Research has shown that the more time people spend alone, the less stress they feel. 

“Loneliness can often be seen as a bad thing,” said lead researcher Dr Netta Weinstein, professor of psychology at the University of Reading. “People assume that loneliness means you will feel alone and isolated, but research has shown that the opposite is true: solitude can relieve work and stress pressures. Choosing solitude can help people calm down, become more focused and capable. to deal with.

“There is a difference between solitude and solitude. Loneliness is a negative emotion in which people do not feel connected to others, to their community, and feel abandoned and rejected. But you can feel just as alone in a crowd and in a relationship. However, solitude is a neutral state potentially beneficial against negative emotions.

Indeed, research has shown that loneliness is a better indicator of the quality of social connections than their quantity. Just think about your unhappily married friends to realize that there is nothing lonelier than being in a relationship with the wrong person.

Build a relationship with yourself

So why is loneliness good for mental health? “Our research shows that when you have time to spend alone, you begin to develop a healthy relationship with yourself and are able to understand your thoughts and feelings and learn what you want ,” says Weinstein. “We found that when people are alone, they can be more themselves, feel free and spend time doing things that interest them and are important to them. When you are with other people, you always agree on what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. And it can be stressful.”

Solitude has also been found to increase your creativity. In a 2020 study, researchers found that feelings of social isolation made the parts of the brain that control imagination work harder. When you don't have social interaction, your brain activates its creative networks to help you pass the time. Research has also shown that productivity increases when you can structure your day alone, and that open offices can reduce productivity.

The good news for busy people who struggle to find time for themselves is that 15 minutes a day of alone time can recharge their mental health batteries. "In our next study, we'll look at what's called 'loneliness framing,'" says Weinstein, "which deliberately encourages you to create a list of things you can do alone that allow you to engage and/or or pursue your interests and passions. It suggests things like learning to draw in just 15 minutes, or learning about trees and taking a 15-minute nature walk where you'll discover different types of trees or plants, or “read a book where you learn about different historical topics What do you learn, notice, and become more aware of the world around you? “The goal of creating solitude is to find activities that develop your agency and autonomy, spark your curiosity, and give you a sense of fulfillment,” she says.

Choose to be alone

So, if solitude is important, how can you make the most of it? “First of all, it is important to have a positive attitude. It’s your interpretation of what loneliness means that influences your sense of well-being,” says Weinstein. “If you interpret loneliness as 'people don't care about me and I'm alone because something is wrong,' then loneliness will not have a calming effect on you. However, if you actively and consciously choose solitude and believe that "solitude allows me to think, to connect with myself, to connect with nature and to know myself", then solitude can have an effect positive. your mental health. “Even if you feel connected to others and think well of people even if they're not there, you won't feel alone,” she says.

The study found that being alone is not a positive experience, but the researchers concluded that being alone only makes you feel bad if you don't want to be alone. However, actively choosing to spend time alone can make life better. “Our research has shown that if you see the importance of being alone and can still feel connected to others when you're alone, you won't feel alone,” Weinstein says.

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