Social Detoxing and Solitude: Alone, Lonely, or Aloneliness?

Many people disconnect from social activities and seek solitude to improve their well-being. This “Social detox” is a common lifestyle choice when things get overwhelming. Do people feel better when they spend some alone-time and delete social media apps? Does distancing from society help?

Research suggests that a lot depends on a person’s motivation, choice, and the intensity of detox. Being alone on purpose is a choice, but being lonely isn’t.

Loneliness is associated with a wide range of negative effects like reduced life-satisfaction^[1], poor coping with mental illness^[2], increased chances of mental health issues^[3], increased negative thoughts^[4], and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s^[5]. But, deliberate alone-time (solitude) and social detox have a number of positive effects.

Loneliness (unmet need for belonging) is different from being alone based on how much control a person has over social interactions. Loneliness, a passive state, is clearly linked to reduced well-being. However, alone-time & social detox might improve well-being.

Key terms

Loneliness: A feeling arising out of unmet social needs and a low sense of belonging & attachment. Isn’t a choice.

Alone-time/Solitude: A state of being away from other people without too many negative emotions. Is a choice.

Aloneliness: An unmet need for solitude & a mismatch between actual time spent alone and how much time you want to be alone. It is the negative feeling coming from not spending time by yourself.

A personality trait called Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) is important in understanding why some people choose to detoxify. This temperament describes how sensitive people are to physical sensations, emotional experiences, thoughts, and details in an experience. High sensory processing sensitivity can easily overwhelm a person. It can draw excessive attention to details that trigger multiple trains of distressing thoughts. At its core, sensory processing sensitivity is the depth of information processing, awareness of subtleties in the environment, ease of getting overwhelmed, and emotional processing/responses.

While this trait means “highly sensitive person,” it does not mean b*tthurt.

A high SPS has both positive and negative consequences. Some research indicates that SPS makes people prone to anxiety and fixating on negative details. But, on the plus side, high SPS is also associated with creativity and increased positive experiences.