A recent survey revealed that 56% of people view alone time as vital for their overall well-being. However, a recent study reveals that not all forms of solitude are equally beneficial.

Being physically alone isn’t the only way to feel lonely. A person can feel lonely while a partner is disrespecting them. Or being surrounded by a group of people where they feel like an outsider.

As someone who has spent years studying the joys and pitfalls of being alone, Thomas believes our isolation anxiety “stems in large part from our culture’s deficit view of solitude.” ...

“That’s a really important point: Being alone is not being lonely,” says Kira Birditt, a research professor at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. That’s not ...

I suspect it has to do with a collective anxiety about being alone. This anxiety stems in large part from our culture’s deficit view of solitude. In this type of thinking, the desire to be alone ...

My research has found that solitude’s positive effects on well-being are far less likely to materialize if the majority of our alone time is spent staring at our screens, especially when we’re ...

I suspect it has to do with a collective anxiety about being alone. This anxiety stems in large part from our culture’s deficit view of solitude. In this type of thinking, the desire to be alone ...

I suspect it has to do with a collective anxiety about being alone. Being alone can help remind people who they are. This anxiety stems in large part from our culture's deficit view of solitude.

This isn’t just my own observation. A study published in February 2025 found that US news headlines are 10 times more likely to frame being alone negatively than positively. This type of bias ...