Loneliness is the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Loneliness affects us in different ways at different stages in life. For teenagers, peer recognition is even more important than it is for adults.

Trauma affects our response to challenging circumstances. For teenagers a common source of trauma is constant bullying by peers. Peer pressure is often at its highest at this age. I recently heard a testimony of a teenager being dissuaded from hanging himself in the woods by a timely call from his mother. Connecting to his spirit was the key to saving him.

The mind is the doorway to the spirit. We are built by what we constantly hear, for good or for ill. In the case of this young man his very character had persistently been attacked by his peers to the extent that his creativity had been ridiculed and stifled. Not seeing a way forward, he proposed a way to end it all away from everyone. He had become burdened with a sense of loneliness.

Satisfaction with what we do can determine whether or not we fall prey to loneliness.
Click To Tweet

At DMI many years back, Zoe had remotely counselled a teenager who was cutting herself. Often, our material well-being does not translate to mental well-being. This was thoroughly demonstrated in both cases. Loneliness is of the spirit and expressed in our emotions. Focusing our thoughts on negative things very often brings us low. The young man in question felt very alone. Nevertheless, he was from a materially well-off home. This was also the case with the teenager who was cutting herself.

Outcomes

I recently heard of someone who had gone into a lot of online activity as a result of loneliness. She ended up being heavily scammed. I am aware there are many similar cases. Satisfaction with what we do can determine whether or not we fall prey to loneliness.

What’s your experience of loneliness? Share with you contacts and comment for our audience

The post Loneliness- Mental Health of The Traumatised appeared first on Defying Mental Illness.