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This question arose in another thread. What is the difference? My guesses would be a) solitude is more sporadic "alone time" as opposed to constant, as well as more likely to be voluntary and wanted. But the state of being itself (aloneness) is the same. Also, is it inherently a bad thing? My feeling is that it's a question of attitude toward that state of being. We always hear that people "go crazy" if solitary, yet who is actually "crazy"? If we mean psychotic as in schizophrenia, it's usually young adults living a normal life with family and friends when it strikes. If we mean psychopathic, as in sociopaths, they're often very sociable. If we mean the depressed, most people I know being treated for the disorder are married with children. So is solitude (or isolation, if you prefer) necessarily inherently damaging, or do we just view it that way? After all, in some Eastern religions, being free of all emotional attachments is the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment and evolution and much to be sought after and attained. Feedback?
Solitude is welcomed by those of us deemed introverts...we thrive, get energized by solitude. Often a choice. Misunderstood by many.
Isolation can be a physical sense, yes, the boot, or a feeling of...those who are more extroverted and long to be around more people but feel separate for some reason.
Solitude is welcomed by those of us deemed introverts...we thrive, get energized by solitude. Often a choice. Misunderstood by many.
Isolation can be a physical sense, yes, the boot, or a feeling of...those who are more extroverted and long to be around more people but feel separate for some reason.
So you agree that any distinction is a question of attitude. Or just semantics. Is there no other qualitative or quantitative difference?
I don't know the technical psychological definitions. They both speak to a state of being alone. To me, solitude is choosing to be alone; isolation is being forced to be alone. Solitude is something that one might consciously seek ("get away from it all") but isolation might be imposed by others (such as someone being shunned by their community). One might be refreshed by solitude but oppressed by isolation.
This question arose in another thread. What is the difference? My guesses would be a) solitude is more sporadic "alone time" as opposed to constant, as well as more likely to be voluntary and wanted. But the state of being itself (aloneness) is the same. Also, is it inherently a bad thing? My feeling is that it's a question of attitude toward that state of being. We always hear that people "go crazy" if solitary, yet who is actually "crazy"? If we mean psychotic as in schizophrenia, it's usually young adults living a normal life with family and friends when it strikes. If we mean psychopathic, as in sociopaths, they're often very sociable. If we mean the depressed, most people I know being treated for the disorder are married with children. So is solitude (or isolation, if you prefer) necessarily inherently damaging, or do we just view it that way? After all, in some Eastern religions, being free of all emotional attachments is the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment and evolution and much to be sought after and attained. Feedback?
The main difference lies in connotation...isolation indicates a separation from others that it not necessarily voluntary or a situation that is one's ideal choosing. Solitude is a less loaded term. Solitude is more something that a person may access as they choose. Isolation is something you're for whatever reason, stuck with.
As far as the mental health benefits and risks of things like isolation and solitude, there are a number of variables that come into play in that discussion. Context is important, cultural norms and values are things that affect how alone time is viewed and experienced, and an individual's overall mental state also affects whether those things are risks or benefits.
FWIW, depression isn't any more or less common among those with families than with those on their own. It's an equal-opportunity condition. It may be exacerbated by feeling isolated (even though self-isolating is a common depressive behavior). But bear in mind that one can feel very isolated even if they are never actually alone.
Just had a talk to my Psychiatrist who is treating my insomnia about this topic. I told him that I had a problem that bothered me. I live in a very active retirement community with 2,800 activities with 1,000 active daily. Yet I choose to stay at home most times. I like posting on forums like this. I also have my amateur radio station set up in my home and need no one to help. I also am getting back into photography but when I do that, I want to do it alone since I am not there for conversation but to look for good images.
I told my PDOC that everyone was treating me like I had a problem and encouraging me to do things that I really am not that interested in. I should say that I have done everything I ever wanted to do by the time I was 40. I have been to 21 countries and 26 States. I have fought in combat, scored the winning home run or touchdown, made it to the top in one of my professions and relocated 13 time with my wife of 46 years. Some business articles I wrote were published, I have been quoted in newspapers, rub shoulders with famous and powerful people and so on. Most I accomplished by the time I was 30. I am somewhat of an over achiever blessed with gifts at birth that enabled me to excel at most things I have an aptitude for.
So here I am at 67 and sitting at home sometimes for two months before I leave my house. I was concerned as to why I could not will myself to go out and do things like other people. My PDOC asked me if I was happy and content. I told him that I cannot remember the last time I was sad. He then told me that my problem is that I think I have a problem. He said that we live in a community of active adults that numbers over 125,000. Many of the people who live here go from one activity to another all day long trying to cram it all in before they die and also just to have fun. I had no kids and an income that allowed me to do all the things I wanted to when I wanted to. I had nothing that I had to wait for so I did and bought everything I ever wanted, within reason of course.
The end result was that he told me that the only problem I had was thinking that I had a problem because others were unable to do the things they wanted to do while raising kids which is time and money consuming. He advised that I do not let their view of retired life affect mine. I am just retired and anything can happen in the coming years but for now I am enjoying solitude after years of travelling so much that I would sometimes wake up and forget what country I was in. Travelling so much that it affected my sleep patterns and am still battling insomnia and getting off of the pills that other doctors put me on to fall asleep and keep me awake.
I also was in solitude due to programming software and lots of technical writing co-authoring a three volume reference book. I worked from home or on the road so I was by myself a lot. While my co-workers would hit the bars after work to get drunk or cheat on their wives, I would go to my hotel room and order room service, call my wife and watch TV. My hobbies did not require anyone but me. I shy away from clubs because they are usually run by cliques or democracy which is like two wolves and a rabbit deciding what to eat for dinner. I do not want to go along with the majority. Simply because the majority wants something does not mean I like it or want to do it and am not going to go along with them simply to fit in so that I feel like a part of something bigger than me. I am big enough that I do not need to feel bigger.
I have a good book called Company of One. It goes into all the good things living a life of a loner brings to you. You have the freedom to do what you want to do, when you want to do them. When part of a group you are forced to compromise, drawn into their drama, involved in petty infighting and even asked to help to move them into another house. You get obligations and fall into something called group think where you tend to think about things like the others do so that you fit in. This book showed me all the things I thought about but presented them in a positive light and not the negative light that others have painted it in.
Isolation is different. It is getting away from others, perhaps living far from civilization and eschewing modern conveniences. Sort of living off of the grid. I like the grid but want to use it as I want if I can. Look, I know that I have to follow laws even if I disagree with them. I know it is good to be polite to people and help them if I can. I know that society benefits all its members but where there is a choice of solitude or going out just for the sake of doing so or needing others to feel good about myself or complete, that is where I just say no.
Solitude has enabled me to do things that I am proud of. I have accomplished a lot in my life and the funny part is that everyone likes me because I am not involved in their business like their regular friends are. I am surprisingly very social when I do attend events. I used to be a magician in my younger days and I have lots of interesting and funny stories from all of my world travelling and things I heard from the famous and powerful people I met while they were drunk.
There is also one other positive in leading a life in solitude, when I show up at your house you know darn well it is because I really want to be with you.
So, if not perceived as a hardship, is it inherently unhealthy or deleterious?
There is nothing inherently negative about being alone.
The context of the experience and the individual experience of the person who is alone is what determines whether or not it is a negative experience.
In general, if something is not causing pain, difficulty, or affecting your functioning or that of those within the purview of your care in any way, it isn't seen as maladaptive.
If someone withdraws due to depression, goes into isolation, and retreats from their basic responsibilities in life, sure, that's unhealthy. If they are miserably unhappy with the solitude they find themselves in, of course that is deleterious. If someone is perfectly content with solitude and prefers to be left completely alone, but is the sole caregiver of a child who needs care and attention and not to be neglected by an inattentive caregiver, sure, that's obviously deleterious to the child. But if someone just really benefits from a solitary existence, has worked out a way that it doesn't disrupt their life functioning, and nobody is harmed by them doing so, there should be no problem.
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