Do you feel happier being isolated?

[cemeteryismyhome]

Isolation is bliss. Solitary confinement would be heaven. I don't hate people but they do make me tired and uncomfortable. In my mind I am completely alone.

 

[lostintheraincirce]

I like it. I felt better when I got a house on my own, without having to answer to my parents anymore, lonely.

 

[divinemistress36]

Most the time. Every now and then I want to be around friends

 

[OptingOutSmiling]

Yes, I can relate. Don't need a tv though, just a laptop and wi-fi and I'm happy. Before I could also live with books only, but I stopped reading some time ago.

 

[easypeasy]

Yes, I can relate. Don't need a tv though, just a laptop and wi-fi and I'm happy. Before I could also live with books only, but I stopped reading some time ago.

Love that! I can relate to not needing a tv, too! I just needed a place to walk and something to read. That changed due to chronic pain. I need the distraction but yes I can relate!

 

[patheticparasite]

I wouldn't say I'm happy in isolation, but it definitely puts me at ease. The Covid period was nice because it felt normal doing what everyone else was doing.

 

[cme-dme]

Yes but I think I would be consumed by loneliness if I did not speak to anybody at all. Outside of work I rarely speak to people IRL. Online friends fill the loneliness void for me. I feel safe in my room sealed away from the world and most people I end up meeting just hurt me in the end. At home I often only really come out of my room when everyone is at work or asleep. I think I just have a natural instinct for avoiding people.

 

[vitbar]

When I was a teenager it did ease my issues, until it didn't and I felt cripplingly lonely. More recently I've again fallen into the pattern of isolation without the loneliness.

Not sure if I'm happier, or just less stressed. My happiest moments have involved people. I love having a social life, but wish it didn't come with anxiety. I wish I had more time outside of simply surviving.

 

[DarknessWave]

I like being isolated because it means i don't have to worry about doing stupid stuff and hurting other people around me.

 

[Reticent Being]

Talking to others can be triggering for me, especially if I'm not being understood properly or being ignored. I'm sensitive to how others perceive me. my self worth is tied to them, so when I am alone, I'm more free. I get angry easily. I'm not good at communicating with others. I rather shut down. Social skills doesnt come naturally to me and it shows . I have not been someone people want to be around. by being alone, I'm probs doing someone a favor.

it makes me happy/relieved to not be around anyone. Some people aren't caring and view others as objects. People always passed over me because I was too quiet(bc social anxiety) and boring for them. No networking event, no school, no clubs, nothing changed this.

Now, I'm realizing I'm never enough and the connection with others isn't there. Most people are too dedicated to their biological family or their work to care about an outsider.

I don't feel alone bcause i still interact with ideas and thoughts from other people, just in a more manageable way. Like a book or an online article gives me information, but isn't as emotionally demanding. Luckily, I value connections in different forms; it's about quality not.. don't think I'm "missing" out. However, i do feel left out like I never had a chance to have friends.

 

[citrusrope]

I think isolation lessens my anxiety in some regards, while also upping my anxiety in others. With isolation, I don't have to adhere to expectations or use up my little energy that I have left into maintaining relationships, but also maybe it's the monkey parts of my brain that craves social connection, that it at the same time heightens my depression and anxiety over not having anyone to rely on. I hate it. But unfortunately isolating myself is just a smidge easier than putting in effort to keep friends around because all I have to do is sleep and rot away in my bed or room...

 

[ConfusedClouds]

For me my preference to isolation is issues with communicating, especially things like emotions. I try, I fail, I feel worse/guilty for messing with others and it creates a whole drama where they try harder to 'help' which only flusters me more and ends up them feeing like I'm deliberately bottling or not sharing something/don't trust them fully. I do, I just don't have words/understanding in myself which is exacerbated when asked and even worse when I remember I'm supposedly an adult. So if I don't try, I can't fail. Ironically I feel loneliest around folk 'closer' to me.

My happy medium is to spend time in anonymous public places such as supermarkets/gyms where everyone is going about their own thing and the only questions/conversation is functional/matter of fact.

 

[outrider567]

I never feel happy

 

[BloomingAzaleas]

I used to really struggle feeling lonely and being alone, but after cutting off everyone in my life and spending time with myself I finally made peace with it. And now I much prefer being alone than with others

 

[BeyondOver]

yes

 

[deleteduser853695]

Absolutely. I lived alone while abroad for six years and had never been so happy. My happiest was the year when, during the pandemic, we all had to stay at home and I was WFH on a solo project which only required me to check in with my manager once a week, and I didn't have to talk to any other colleagues. I had no friends, I'd lost contact with everyone besides my parents (and even them, I only called a couple times a month to let them know I'm alive), and I didn't feel lonely at all. I hate to say it, I know the pandemic was difficult and heartbreaking and deadly and terrifying in many ways, but I loved that I could be alone.

If I could have my own place again and be WFH at a role that doesn't involve much collaboration, that would be the dream. I'm very happy with my own company. It's having to live with my parents again after six years of living alone that's killing me. I can't stand them, and I can't stand not knowing when I'll get a job and can move out again.​

 

[lamy's sacred sleep]

yes

people tire me

 

[Tumblewillow]

No. It did initially because I just couldn't cope with people which is why it started. I was so shy and awkward and people close to me were being really horrible or abusive when I loved them so much and just wanted to be included. But now I'm lonely and that feels worse.

I miss having friends to hang out and be silly with or it would be nice to have a regular, loving family. I think loneliness is the top contributer to being suicidal for me.

 

[Neutron-Witch]

I wouldn't say that I'm happier when isolated, but I'm certainly more comfortable. I hate interacting with other people, it's uncomfortable and exhausting. There's still some part of me that gets lonely, but being around people almost always generates more irritation than satiating the loneliness, so in the end I'm mostly content keeping to myself.

That's not to say that I don't want friends; I do miss the friendships I had, but I have no desire to pursue further friendships. For me to want to be friends with someone, I first have to become comfortable enough with them to tolerate being in the same room. But because of my social anxiety and misanthropic streak (I find most people to be, at least on a surface level, vapid and/or actively hateful), I never get to that point under ordinary circumstances.

For instance, both of the friendships I've had in the past few years only came about because I was forced to interact with them daily until the ice broke (one continuously engaged me in conversation next to me in class because she was lonely and didn't know anyone else; I had to eat lunch with the other daily, and it still took me the better part of a year before I could stand making eye contact with her). Outside of those special circumstances, I will never get to know someone well enough to justify willingly spending time with them.

So I wish I had friends, but since I have nobody I want to be friends with, I'd much rather isolate myself than experience the torture of existing around other people.

 

[yowai]

I used to be like that most of my life but it was extremely lonely sometimes, I spent so much time by myself I didn't develop any social skills so when I felt like reaching out I didn't know how to do it and making friends seemed impossible. Something changed these past few years and I started craving company a lot, I'm actually putting myself out there and enjoy meeting new people even if it's really tiring lol. I just recharge and seek contact again. I'm on discord playing video games with other almost every day. It's still extremely difficult to actually maintain these relationships or talk about personal stuff but at least now I have the option to do so if I felt like it

 

[Silently Dying]

Yes. The fewer people I have to be around the happier I am. I'm a huge empath. I've never met anyone who is like me. I feel things deeper than anyone I know. I hate being around people. It sets me off.