Do you ever feel alone in a crowded room? The question is a lyric from a band called Jack’s Mannequin that Emily Hemendinger, MPH, LCSW, said provides her with a great lead-in for discussing chronic loneliness with patients.
“It’s a feeling of never fitting in, of always being on the outside,” said Hemendinger, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and clinical director of the OCD Program. “And anyone at any point in their life can feel lonely, if they don’t feel like they have meaningful and deep relationships.”
At a time when the U.S. Surgeon General and other health experts are calling loneliness an epidemic, Hemendinger treats her share of patients whose health and lives are being affected by a lack of connection. In the following Q&A, she details how to identify loneliness and the progressive steps that individuals can take in therapy to help find better connections in their lives.
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See related story: Unraveling the Connections Between Loneliness and Emotional Eating |