Wellness Wednesday: The Benefits of Solitude
Solitude can be experienced as unpleasant and even painful – particularly when it is unwelcome. In this regard, spending too much time alone can lead to feelings of loneliness and depression, and is generally seen as damaging to our well-being. However, when solitude is chosen and even sought after, it can also be experienced as calming, restorative, and blissful. It is this perspective that has led Prof. Robert Coplan – from the Department of Psychology and today’s Wellness Wednesday contributor – and his lab to explore the novel concept of aloneliness, conceptualized as the negative feelings that arise from the perception that one is not spending enough time alone. Results from his research suggest that aloneliness may play an important role in elucidating the complex associations being solitude and well-being.
“Historically, solitude has had a pretty bad rap” because it is sometimes used as a form of punishment, says Robert Coplan. The problem is that we forget solitude can also be a choice — and it doesn’t have to be full time. Because there is so much research demonstrating that humans are social creatures who benefit from interacting with others, “people will try to dismiss that it’s also important to spend time alone,” he said. “It’s hard for them to imagine that you can have both.”
You can read more about this research here. Prof. Coplan’s research on solitude was also recently profiled in the New York Times.
