If the lack of comments on your most recent Instagram post is making you feel down, or if you just think that no one else does,
really gets you, you've experienced it. Feeling lonely is, perhaps ironically, universal.
But what does loneliness really mean? Stephanie Cacioppo, PhD, says, "It's the difference between what you have and what you want from your relationships."
PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the University of Chicago, who specializes in the study of loneliness and social cognition.
It might not matter how many people are around you—you might feel especially alone in a crowd—what matters is how you feel. Often, when you feel lonely, it's because you're not quite
satisfied with what you have, whether it’s in that moment or throughout your life, Cacioppo explains. And until you're able to pinpoint and then address what you're dissatisfied with, you'll feel isolated, left out, and in need of companionship.