New self-help group: Loneliness - not with us!

April 11, 2023 the first meeting of the newly founded self-help group “Lonely - not with us” took place. The bi-weekly meetings planned for the future are to focus on the exchange of information about loneliness and being alone.

The SHG "Lonely? - Not with us!" aims to alleviate the loneliness of the participating people and thus to increase the quality of life again.

What is loneliness?

Loneliness is defined as a perceived discrepancy between desired and actual social relationships and is a subjective condition that is perceived as painful by those affected. A distinction is also made between emotional and social loneliness.

Possible reasons for loneliness

There are certainly a variety of reasons that can drive us into the hands of loneliness. Perhaps a move to a new city, social media that seems to have driven us further apart again, job stress that has robbed us of our energy, straying from societal norms, mental illness, strokes of fate, and many more.

What are the effects of loneliness?

Loneliness has an extremely negative impact on the quality of life and often brings health consequences. The feeling of loneliness, when we feel at its mercy, leads to stress at the physical level and therefore acts as a major risk factor for physical and mental illness.

Opinion, experience and imagination

Loneliness seems to become an ever increasing problem and from my own experience I know how painful loneliness feels and where it can lead. Therefore, I would like to help others and myself with this support group to alleviate this problem or even to get rid of it completely. As described above, there are many reasons for loneliness and almost every population group can be affected. Therefore, a tolerant and respectful behavior towards other participants is an indispensable part of this group.

Contact person Age group Phone E-Mail
Michael Glanz 40-60 years 0176/98476752 michaelglanz@gmx.de
Inge Raudzus 60+ 03641/796896

Interested people are very cordially invited - initially all age groups. We will think together about how we want to structure ourselves in the future, how often we want to meet, what we will “do” together.

We are looking forward to meeting you!