Hi there! Believe it or not I actually know how you are feeling. I've felt the same way. You know what has helped me? Volunteering...I know that sounds strange. But when I decided to volunteer at this church to serve meals to the needy it got my mind off of my family struggles and my loneliness..it also made me feel better to help others. It was very interesting.I also made some great connections with the people I volunteered with. Also, just hang in there. Know you are valuable and not alone:)

How recent was the breakup? For a little bit, say a few weeks, it is OK to let yourself feel sad, depressed, lonely. Let the tears roll. It is a HUGE adjustment to have been in a relationship with someone to living and being on your own! You need to feel that and go through that. But there comes a point where we need to shift direction and "move on." I like the idea of volunteering as a place to start.

Volunteering has crossed my mind and I will definitely give it a try! Thanks.

And the breakup was a year ago. I thought by now I would feel better and I do but I feel that now im dealing with the loneliness more so.

In the beginning, I was just dealing with losing someone I loved so much and had been with for so long and obviously trying to get over hia betrayal. If one thing I had very clear is that I would never want this person back. And now I feel loneliness is affecting me more. I do feel my family troubles are definitely making it worse but I really hate the fact that my tranquility and overall happiness depends on other people. I guess I need to learn to be happy on my own and not let other people including family members alter my peace, mood, etc..

Thank you both for replying!

I like how you admit to yourself that your happiness depends on other people...I'm the same way. BUT, I am happy with myself, I just want attention and be around people who acknowledge my happiness and let life begin, again...trust, smiles, content and energy all over again... I miss that in my life with lonliness here...so...keep your peace and kindness and hopefully gratitude will find you in a great state of mind!

I feel the same way OP. I'm so alone. I broke it off with a GF of 2 1/2 years a few months back. I'm in MS and she's in Canada. It go to be too much. So here I am, alone and grieving every day. I'm an introvert and beginning to think I'm a social outcast. I get no hits on my dating site and I don't even have on line fiends. How sad is that? I have 2 adult children in town but they don't know of my loneliness and depression. I hide it from them. Now the holidays are upon us and I don't even know how to think or act anymore.... I just want to crawl in a hole.

I think you need to learn how to be happy with yourself. Very cliche sounding - I know!! But solitude wouldn't be AS bad if you enjoyed yourself through doing things you love whether that be volunteer, exercise, hobby. It's so easy to type that - a million times harder to do all of that. I haven't been able to be happy with myself in a long long time. But it's a goal I am working toward and I completely believe it's worth working toward. Take it one day at a time. Keep talking to other people so you feel connected to people. You got this!!!!

I don't feel all that supported by my family either and I find it hard to connect with other people. I have a husband who I am close to and one or two friends, but in general i feel like an outsider. Please feel free to message me if you want to connect

Hey guys, I'm gonna say no to isolating, crawling in a hole, and hiding your depression.

You need to get out and do what everyone else does during the holidays. Shop for gifts. You don't have to break the bank but enjoy a shopping trip or two, instead of ordering everything on line. Don't lie, I know some of you are doing that!

Maybe take your gifts to a gift wrapping station and chat up your gift wrapper. Bring a coffee to another person short on visitors and strike up a good conversation.

Visit someone you haven't thought of in a thousand years. Invite someone over to bake with you. If you can't bake, ask a friend to show you how to bake cookies or some other interesting holiday treat. Or if you are person with a special talent offer to swap skills over the holidays.

Invite a group of people over with whatever cards they didn't send out last year and have a card swap. Make coffee or mixed drinks and enjoy the evening talking and listening to Christmas music.