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In childhood and teenage years, making new friendships seemed very simple, almost imperceptible. Friendships were formed spontaneously, without special effort – between classmates in the class, between peers who attended similar activities of interest, between children of neighbors… But even though you and your friends may have once promised to keep in touch forever, time often takes its toll . Different study courses, career paths, jobs and maybe even a change of country or at least place of residence contribute to the fact that certain ties inevitably loosen – and quite often they break completely. So suddenly you realize you don’t have any (real) friends anymore.

At the same time, you start to wonder if it is even possible to build genuine friendships when we grow up. Many believe that their train has long since left. Fortunately, this is by no means true. You have more than enough excellent opportunities to make new friends. Sometimes these are so obvious that we don’t even think about them!

The Loneliness Epidemic or Why You “Need” Friends?

Only in recent years has it started to be talked about as a kind of epidemic that is slowly covering an increasing part of the world. The sense of community is disappearing, which can on the one hand mean more freedom and opportunities to explore your own interests without feeling that you are constantly being watched and that your actions are constantly being evaluated, but the lack of a sense of belonging can also have negative consequences. Today, individuals are often very busy with their daily responsibilities, so the lack of close friendships may not even be perceived as a big problem at first. Thus, they do not invest special energy in nurturing relationships with the people they meet, so there is no chance for a closer friendship to begin to develop. However, eventually most do find that there is something they are missing.Although you may have a partner and children, you may still feel the desire to expand your social circle. In any case, it should be emphasized here that the feeling of loneliness is very individual. Although you may be surrounded by people most of the time, you can feel very lonely. Of course, the reverse is also true – just one person you can really trust and who listens to you even when you’re at your hardest, without judging you, can mean a lot. Therefore, any hasty conclusions, such as, for example, that loneliness is characteristic almost exclusively for the elderly who are already retired, are no longer valid. Although the problem is really widespread among the oldest generations, this does not mean that it is not also present in many younger people. However, we must be aware that loneliness can also have an impact on health. People who feel a sense of belonging and connection with others tend to be happier, healthier and live longer, and to top it all off, they tend to be more confident.