Practical Tips If You Are Lonely

The Campaign to End Loneliness offers some practical tips if you are feeling lonely:

• Think about what you would like more of - such as time with friends and family - and if possible do something to help you geta bit more of that
•  Look after yourself - eat well, take gentle exercise
•  Share your skills and time with others
•  Find out about local activities and book up to do some you are interested in
•  Speak to a health worker if you are very lonely, to see what other support may be available for you.

 These are all good sensible suggestions. As someone who has seen the usefulness of cognitive behavioural therapy techniques for dealing with negative thoughts, I would also add the following:

• Talk to yourself in a constructive way to try to keep your negative thoughts in perspective - for example, remind yourself of the good points about yourself and/or in your life and challenge any exaggerations in your thoughts about how bad or difficult your situation is - this does not mean you ignore your feelings or thoughts, it means you help to keep them in a realistic perspective.

For an ebook with ideas on how to address negative thoughts go to: 
CBT Techniques to Beat Negative Thinking