3️⃣ Dysfunctional attitudes: what we do wrong when trying to overcome loneliness

💡 Emotional loneliness, that emptiness we feel when important bonds in our lives are missing or lack quality, can be challenging to overcome. But sometimes, without realizing it, we ourselves block the process.

Today, I invite you to reflect on those attitudes that, instead of helping, sabotage us.

📊 1. Denying the problem: Denying that the discomfort we feel has to do with loneliness prevents us from seeking solutions. This denial may be a defense mechanism to avoid feeling vulnerable, but it ends up blocking any progress.

✨ "There is no worse blind person than the one who refuses to see."

📊 2. Exaggerating the problem: At the other extreme, seeing loneliness as an impossible tragedy to overcome only increases anxiety and paralyzes us. This attitude blinds us to the small, effective steps we can take.

✨ "Don’t make a storm out of a glass of water."

📊 3. Believing there is no remedy: Thinking that loneliness is an inevitable destiny leads to conformity and resignation, blocking any attempt at change.

✨ "If you think you can’t, you won’t."

📊 4. Believing everything depends on others: Expecting others to reach out, understand us, or seek us out as the only way to alleviate loneliness leaves us passive. We forget that we play an active role in building connections.

✨ "If your happiness depends on others, you will be in trouble."

📊 5. Blaming others: Blaming others for our loneliness, without recognizing our own responsibility, keeps us stuck in a rigid position, leaving no room for change.

✨ "Those who create their own storms shouldn’t complain about the rain."

📊 6. Over-blaming yourself: Carrying guilt that doesn’t belong to us increases discomfort and blocks the possibility of acting in a balanced way.

✨ "Don’t carry backpacks that aren’t yours." 🎒

📊 7. Not acting: Staying paralyzed, waiting for things to improve on their own, keeps the situation as it is or even worsens it.

✨ "The lying wolf catches no prey, nor does the sleeping man achieve victory."

📊 8. Acting desperately: Trying to escape discomfort, some people make rushed decisions: they get entangled in harmful relationships, seek refuge in addictions, or give excessively just to feel accepted. This doesn’t solve loneliness; it makes it worse.

✨ "Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease."

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🔹 Final reflection:

Sometimes the first step to overcoming loneliness is recognizing how we are feeding it without realizing it.

💡 I invite you to look within, recognize if you identify with any of these attitudes, and take small steps to change them.

🌿 Read the full post on the blog here: 👉 https://mentalhealthmaun.blogspot.com/2025/04/3-dysfunctional-attitudes-what-we-do.html

With love,
Dr. Arturo José Sánchez Hernández, your friend in health promotion. 💙

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📚 Did you enjoy this read? 

Discover more in the book Challenging Loneliness: Paths to Reconnect: 

https://books2read.com/Challenging-Loneliness-English

🧠 Would you like to know the story behind this project?
Read the interview with Dr. Arturo José Sánchez Hernández here: 
👉 https://mentalhealthmaun.blogspot.com/2025/04/interview-with-arturo-jose-sanchez.html

🌍 Looking for more articles on mental health and well-being?
🔹 Browse the blog index in Spanish here: 
👉 https://saludmentalmaun.blogspot.com/2024/06/index.html
🔹 Or explore the blog index in English here: 
👉 https://mentalhealthmaun.blogspot.com/2024/06/index.html

💬 And if you’d like to share your experiences and reflections on mental health in a safe, supportive space, I invite you to join our WhatsApp group Mental Health in the Heart of Maun: 
👉 https://chat.whatsapp.com/Bq2zInoxO6ZJzhmamfLmy0

💙 Together, we build paths toward emotional well-being.

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