social isolation
Cutting off contact
Social isolation is the state of having minimal contact with others—few relationships, little social interaction, limited community ties.
It can be voluntary or imposed by circumstances: illness, geography, poverty, or social rejection.
Unlike loneliness, which is a feeling, social isolation is an objective condition: The elderly are particularly vulnerable to social isolation.
Prolonged isolation carries serious health consequences.
Absence of substance
- sadnessState of emotional pain
- depressionProlonged low state
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- heartacheDeep emotional distress
melancholy · despair · abandonment · homesickness · grief · hopelessness · anxiety · desolation
Emotional separation between people
- disconnectionState of being severed
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
- disaffectionLoss of loyalty
anomie · stigmatization · detachment · displacement · othering · ostracism · disassociation · fragmentation
Act of taking away
- reclusionVoluntary social withdrawal
- confinementState of being restricted
- hermitPerson choosing total seclusion
- shut-inPerson confined indoors
housebound · homebound · agoraphobia · reclusiveness · hiding · retreat · enclosure · cocooning
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- reflectionReturned light or thought
- stillnessComplete lack of motion
quietude · silence · peacefulness · serenity · self-discovery · mindfulness · retreat · alone time
Enforced restriction on movement
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- confinementState of being restricted
- outbreakSudden eruption of trouble
epidemic · infection · virus · contact tracing · shelter-in-place · bubble · cocooning · restricted movement
emptiness
Absence of substance
- sadnessState of emotional pain
- depressionProlonged low state
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
heartache · melancholy · despair · abandonment · homesickness · grief · hopelessness · anxiety · desolation · neglect
estrangement
Emotional separation between people
- disconnectionState of being severed
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- exclusionBeing barred from participation
disaffection · anomie · stigmatization · detachment · displacement · othering · ostracism · disassociation · fragmentation · polarization
withdrawal
Act of taking away
- reclusionVoluntary social withdrawal
- confinementState of being restricted
- hermitPerson choosing total seclusion
shut-in · housebound · homebound · agoraphobia · reclusiveness · hiding · retreat · enclosure · cocooning · insulation
meditation
Focused attention practice
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- introspectionObserving one's own mind
- reflectionReturned light or thought
stillness · quietude · silence · peacefulness · serenity · self-discovery · mindfulness · retreat · alone time · sanctuary
lockdown
Enforced restriction on movement
- pandemicGlobal disease outbreak
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- confinementState of being restricted
outbreak · epidemic · infection · virus · contact tracing · shelter-in-place · bubble · cocooning · restricted movement · separation
- elder abuseelder neglect, elder fraud, senior neglect, nursing home abuse, caregiver abuse
- solitudesolitude, alone, aloneness, seclusion, solo
- Aging Problemsdementia, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, arthritis, falls
- aging psychologyaging brain, life review, late adulthood, life span, brain aging
- aging strugglesloneliness, memory loss, cognitive decline, bereavement, mourning
- alienationestrangement, disconnection, exclusion, outsider, outcast
social isolationsocial integration
Absorption into community life
human connection · connectedness · belonging · companionship · togetherness
social isolationcommunity engagement
Active local participation
social inclusion · social integration · community involvement · civic engagement · belonging
social, associate, isolate, association, sociable, isolation, antisocial, socialize, insulate