People keep pets for the affection, companionship and fun it provides. Pets especially dogs helps to deal with frustration and loneliness. A lonely person goes through friendlessness and finds solace in company of pets. High attachment to pets is directly related to high level of loneliness according to a study. A dog provides not only emotional support but the lonely person also gets a chance to meet new people and pet lovers as a result of dog walking. Though, pet support may not be sufficient to compensate for insufficient human social support.
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Lonely people keep their lives so busy that their mind is always occupied with work and leaves no space to feel the loneliness. But this busy lifestyle does not relieve the loneliness in a person permanently though it can ease for a while. So instead of facing the reality and trying to build connections with their relations, they are running away from it.
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A Ph.D. scholar mentioned in his article, ‘Loneliness and sleep problems have plagued me since I was 7. My family moved twice in a year and I struggled to make new friends. Lacked self-esteem, plummeted shyness developed a pattern of persistent loneliness. Empty days matched with insomnia filled nights. Little changed as I grew older working from home, I spent hours in bed from sheer loneliness, then wandered the house at night and arose to work at 3 a.m.” Loneliness destroys quality of sleep. Lonely people wake up more at night and spend less time in bed actually resting. They may be due to a feeling of no safety, less structured lives and lacking stimulation to go to bed without feeling tired.
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Loneliness is major precipitant of depression. We are social animals and function best when our social needs are met. If this need is not met we suffer mentally and physically. Loneliness erodes our arteries, creates stress. High blood pressure and lessens learning and memory. Loneliness tears our emotional well being with its feeling of sadness, emptiness, isolation, deprivation. Loneliness precedes depression. And depression can increase the risk of suicide.
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