How I Overcame Loneliness

Do you feel that your generation is faced with more responsibilities than other generations?

• “I feel like because of the issues in our world growing and becoming more prevalent, people my age have been affected more than my parents or their grandparents, like the cost of living crisis puts pressure on us to choose a stable career and a profitable future or pathway, and this then further puts pressure on us to succeed academically and choose realistic job prospects opposed to dreams and ideals.”

Do you think that people your age have found a normalization of mental health?

• “I think this is partially true just because nowadays mental health is so common in our community and in that sense it’s become less of a taboo topic than it would’ve been during my parent’s generation. We see on social media people making depression and anxiety jokes and glamourizing taking medication and being in bad states of health.”

Do you feel that there are other approaches to tackling mental health instead of medication and therapy?

• This is completely dependent on the person, I think that in some serious cases, the final resort is medication, and therapy should always be in the process, but for some people, I know that seeking out help from others can be very daunting, so attempting to find your solutions independently can be easier even though seeking help from professionals will always be ideal.

Looking at the other approaches to mental health, what did you first seek refuge in before you found the courage to get help?

• “Around lockdown, I found myself beginning to struggle because I wasn’t continuously surrounded by people to occupy me I was left with my thoughts and that caused me to essentially dissociate for the first few months of the pandemic, I found myself in a rut and then the only way to feel connected to life before was to just go outside. This kickstarted my love for running. I started off taking walks in the evening once a day, and then once a day would become leaving the house 2,3,4 times a day just to merely stroll down the road and back.”

How was it that you were able to not only keep this activity going but develop it?

• My Brother had always been into running before the pandemic so he was the one who had initially brought up the idea of running instead. I decided to take a run one evening and the adrenaline rush that I found from that one evening will be one I will never forget. The sun was just setting and there were one or two cars on the road, birds were flying around as I live in the countryside, a few people were out walking their dogs and for the first time in a few months, I had felt at peace. I was in my own world, I felt completely separate from my anxieties which were connected to my phone, my house, and my life essentially. For the first time, it was just me and the world, minus everyone else. Ever since that moment, I continued to run and for this context only, running away was the solution. I started taking new routes on my run, exploring different curves and valleys, running past cows in the marshes and ducks in the river, I was shocked that even though I had lived in the same area for upmost 12years and had never seen this beauty before in my life. I had become come completely aware of the world that had been missing out on, all of these stresses and anxieties that I had been clouding my head with were completely meaningless because right outside my window the world was continuing its cycle, growing and thriving, producing beautiful creatures, sunsets and the cosmos in the sky smiled down at us.

How was it that you were able to not only keep this activity going but develop it?

• My Brother had always been into running before the pandemic so he was the one who had initially brought up the idea of running instead. I decided to take a run one evening and the adrenaline rush that I found from that one evening will be one I will never forget. The sun was just setting and there were one or two cars on the road, birds were flying around as I live in the countryside, a few people were out walking their dogs and for the first time in a few months, I had felt at peace. I was in my own world, I felt completely separate from my anxieties which were connected to my phone, my house, and my life essentially. For the first time, it was just me and the world, minus everyone else. Ever since that moment, I continued to run and for this context only, running away was the solution. I started taking new routes on my run, exploring different curves and valleys, running past cows in the marshes and ducks in the river, I was shocked that even though I had lived in the same area for upmost 12years and had never seen this beauty before in my life. I had become come completely aware of the world that had been missing out on, all of these stresses and anxieties that I had been clouding my head with were completely meaningless because right outside my window the world was continuing its cycle, growing and thriving, producing beautiful creatures, sunsets and the cosmos in the sky smiled down at us.