User:Af975949/Solitude

The Importance of Spending Time Alone (draft)

What is solitude? Solitude is the quality or state of being alone or far-off from society. Depending on the person, solitude can have positive or negative effects on someone's psychological health. As a whole, positive and purposeful solitude is largely more beneficial than detrimental. Some people see solitude as loneliness, defined as sadness because of ones' lack of friends or company. For overall mental health and well-being improvements, spending time alone is one of the most beneficial things an individual can do for themselves.

History

The idea of solitude came into light around 1791, when M. Zimmerman published Solitude Considered with Respect to its Dangerous Influence Upon the Mind and Heart. Zimmerman was of Swiss and German descent, making him fluent in English as well as Swiss-German. When he first released his book it was heavily looked down upon. Readers said it “seems to require confinement in a solitary cell to read it.” (Vincent, 2020) Within the following months, more negative reviews on Zimmerman’s book were released. After the book was translated into English, many then viewed it as a “misconception that it was a mere celebration of retirement.” (Vincent, 2020). Regardless of the backlash, Zimmerman wanted his book to be viewed as “the task of balancing all the comforts and blessings of society with all the advantages of seclusion’.”

Zimmerman was using a multitude of resources to gather information for his book, including texts from the 1300s. The most prominent text that he drew his ideas from was The Life of Solitude by Francesco Petrarca. This book was written in 10 years in total, from 1346 to 1356. What prompted and inspired Zimmerman’s writings on the impact of solitude was his profession, leading as one of Europe’s medical practitioners. He spent a lot of his time observing sick patients who were alone, and this is where Zimmerman formed the bulk of his theories.

Solitude in Adolescents

Those that benefit the most from solitude are adolescents. The young growing mind needs space to be alone in order to form rational thoughts and distinguish personal opinions over opinions of others that have been reinforced in one's mind.

With the number of mental health cases in adolescents growing rapidly in individuals from ages 18–29, studies conducted have shown that when someone purposely sets aside time for themself, their mental health gradually improves. Mental health concerns are especially common in adolescents entering the stage of their lives where they move out and leave for college. The transition from home to a completely new environment for someone under or around eighteen years old is extremely strenuous and could negatively impact their mood and mental health.

Finding time to spend alone and sort your thoughts is one of the quickest ways to calm an overactive mind. Meeting new people, establishing new routines, and paying for loans are all things that can build up in a student’s mind and add to extreme stress. A study conducted in 2020 has shown that the impact of all these stressors can be lessened, even eliminated, through just intentional time spent alone. Other studies have shown that individuals who prefer solitude over constant large gatherings have less psychological issues during adolescence.

A common reason why so many adolescents feel depressed or lonely while spending time alone is because of enforcement from their peers. It is enforced throughout childhood and through many friendships to look down on someone else when they are alone. It can be viewed as weak or sad, and this causes young individuals to view solitude this way.

It is important for adolescents to realize the positive effects of purposely spending time alone. The negative stigma around being alone needs to be removed in order for young adults to improve their mental health. A majority of past research shows that adolescents view time spent alone as social exclusion, leading to why many young adults force themselves to spend time with others that lead to situations that could negatively impact them.

A study conducted in 2018 had young participants complete an online survey on questions about their personality and well-being. Results showed that most participants answered that involuntary or unexpected solitude resulted in lowered emotions and higher levels of loneliness, social anxiety and depression. Those who responded and said they participate in voluntary solitude had positive emotions and an improved well-being.

Benefits

Positive solitude is the most beneficial way to improve your mental and physical health. Positive solitude is voluntarily choosing to spend quality time with yourself in order to improve overall well-being. This time can be used for reflection, thought organization, expansion of creative efforts, or anything you so choose. The most common outcomes of positive solitude include long lasting optimism, an increase in energy, and decreased mental health issues. Long lasting optimism lowers health risks and improves daily motivation.

One study consisting of 14 men, around age 50, studied their routines and asked them to implement positive and intentional solitude into their day. The results of this study showed development of numerous skills that were regularly implemented into daily routines. These skills included connecting with self, emotion regulation, time mindfulness, and achieving a healthy balance between socialization and solitude. These results prove that knowledge and practice of these skills not only improve mental health and moods, but also prepare an individual for situations of unwanted isolation.

Dr. Robert Puff, author, YouTuber, and children’s psychologist, shares frequent podcast episodes on ways to benefit the mind. His podcast, called the Happiness Podcast, shares informative and factual information on different topics for those interested in learning about the mind and its functions. In one episode, called Benefits of Spending Time Alone,  Puff states that his research has shown that the most challenging thing a human could do in their life is spend genuine time alone. He mentions that individuals are uncomfortable in complete silence, alone with their thoughts. Although it may sound simple, us humans rarely are completely without any distractions. Spending time without others around is commonly thought of as being fully alone, but Puff shows that this is not the case. Being physically AND mentally alone is being completely without distractions, simply spending time with oneself and not other humans or objects. Social media or a mobile phone are common ways that no one is truly spending their time alone.

Humans tend to crave some kind of distraction at all times, whether it is from another human or from an object, Dr. Puff explains. He also states that spending time alone is a great way to single out routines in your life that are not healthy. Routines like constantly reaching for your phone, or craving a substance that is detrimental to your health. Recognizing these routines is an immediate benefit to spending time alone.