Why Do Millennials Feel So Lonely?

Everyday the rising concern worldwide about the increase of a global and general epidemic of loneliness has caught the attention of scientists, psychologists, and sociologists. The general social survey found that the number of Americans who reported no close or strong social relationships has tripled in the last 3 decades. Likewise, the number of Americans who feel they can ''trust for important matters or personal interactions'' has fallen almost 40% during the same period of time. Among millennials (aged 23 to 38), 27% reported no close friends and one of five affirmed having no remarcable social bonds, according to a recent report of YouGov foundation.

At DreamCloud Psychiatry, we understand that this are times where society is constantly demanding the establishment and implementation of social relationships for almost everything, millennials face a reality where loneliness could be emotionally painful and can lead into psychiatric disorders like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and even hallucinatory deliriums, but as a ehealth care and telemedicine company we offer professional solutions for anyone that is ready to start a new journey to enhance their inner happiness. 

A significant number of studies conclude that loneliness and isolation is extremely bad for your health. But why do Millennials feel so lonely? Here are some leading causes:

INTERNET AND HYPERCONNECTIVITY

The main reason why the internet makes Millennials feel lonely, is the bad habit of replacing real relationships with online relationships. Some studies indicate that even though Millennials feel a temporary wellness after engaging others virtually (friends, contacts, customers, co workers), these connections tend to be superficial and ultimately dissatisfying, mostly social media platforms.  At the same time, hyperconnection brings new positive scenarios like the one we provide at DreamCloud, using the internet and technology to bring value solutions for anyone that is looking for a professional and effective way to improve and overcome any struggle related with mental health.

According to a study by GlobalWebIndex, Millennials are spending almost 3 hours on social media everyday. This unstoppable information and online content consumption has led into a tendency to compare themselves with others. This is a huge mistake that develops insecurities and social isolation in most of the cases, behind a fake idea of a ''perfect life'' showed online, that in most of the cases, it's just content completely dressed up for a mainstream idealization of happiness (All of us smile in pictures and almost nobody posts their struggles). A study by the University of Pennsylvania found a strong link between time spent on social media with a perception of decreased well - being, a crucial factor that psychologists identify in the development of depression and many other psychiatric problems.

CAREER PRESSURE

First you need to go to highschool, make sure you graduate with exceptional grades just to pursue a scholarship and then apply to the best universities and colleges. Once you are in college, add extra curricular activities to build a strong professional network and become the best in your class. As soon as you graduate from college you need to start working because for a master or any kind of undergraduate program you will need between 3 to 5 years of field experience, then and just then, you can say you build a strong career and all of this gotta be before you reach the 40's because after that age and with out any of the last things listed before, you are not useful or non qualified for a good job position. 

These premises are a list of thoughts millennials face everyday since they chose or started pursuing any option of a professional career. Unfortunately, the exhausting and constant pressure for a successful life model sold by society, has built a lonely generation of human-machines that step out of any kind of social interactions like friendships and romantic relationships prioritising on a career development. The significant increase in the offer of qualified professionals and the small demand for decent job positions put an extra pressure on the life of Millennials, who represent 70% of the labor force worldwide, according to a study by the World Health Organization. 

MAINSTREAM CONCEPTION OF FRIENDSHIP

From Friends to New Girl and from Glee to Gossip Girl, Hollywood and any kind of mainstream platform has sold an idealized idea of happiness as the result of having dozens of close friends and strong personal relationships. A Study of HowToWatch.com estimates Millennials spend almost 7 hours a day watching streaming platforms and the same study indicates that Millennials will spend 13 years of their lives watching streaming platforms like Netflix. 

John Cacioppo, professor of neuroscience at the University of Chicago, indicates that loneliness is the discrepancy between what you watch and learn from social relations in contrast with your perception of what those relations are. A wrong conception of the necessity of a large amount of friends as a necessary step to happiness has build a self discrimination and self exclusion idea in Millennials that makes them perceive their lifes as lonely, crucial factor on a short term development of mental health dissorders. At DreamCloud we train our patients with professional techniques and full time guidance on how to overcome these kinds of adversities. 

There's a huge impact of the perception of ourselves and the environment around us over the origin of loneliness emotions, but challenging our inner discretion can be one of the most powerful tools to feeling stronger to pursue what we really want in life. There are multiple ways to conquer those wrong misconceptions about loneliness and these are steps that can lead us down a more social, empathic and connected path where we can build better and stronger relationships and bonds with people. At DreamCloud we are willing to give you full time and professional guidance to develop extremely useful tools to face any kind of the problems listed on this article, sign up now if you want to learn more about us and our services.