Category: solitude

Psyche offers a comprehensive essay “The Age of Solitude: Why More People Are Choosing to Be Alone—and What It Means for Society” by Choas Cabinet. Byline: “Beyond the stigma: How intentional silence is becoming a modern survival strategy for the soul.” From the essay: “Solitude is being repackaged today. In the calm of a corner café, on solitary walks of many miles, or in nights without screens, increasingly people are discovering that solitude can be an act of empowerment, even liberation. No longer connoting loneliness, solitude is increasingly being redefined as a decision: a conscious taking of time and space for reflection, renewal, and focus.”

URL: https://vocal.media/psyche/the-age-of-solitude-why-more-people-are-choosing-to-be-alone-and-what-it-means-for-society

from Catholic Outlook (Australia) offers the reflective essay “The Virtues of Solitude,” by Lynn Casteel Harper, first published in Commonweal. Article byline: “To cure the loneliness epidemic, we need to learn how to be alone.” URL: https://catholicoutlook.org/the-virtues-of-solitude/

from WHY, Philadelphia public radio ,podcast (50 min.). “The joy of being alone: why we all need solitude,” by psychologist Robert Coplan, author of “The Joy of Solitude,” on the restorative power of being alone. URL: https://whyy.org/episodes/the-joy-of-being-alone-why-we-all-need-solitude/

from Psychiatric Times: “Should Solitude Be a Psychiatric Value?” URL: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/should-solitude-be-a-psychiatric-value

from Psychology Tiday: “When to Prioritize Solitude—and When to Participate.”
URL: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/breaking-good/202512/when-to-prioritize-solitude-and-when-to-participate

Here are several recent items focusing on solitude, two from medical journals:

“Pathological and non-pathological hikikomori: social media use, digital engagement, and therapeutic implications,” article in the Journal of Psychiatry. URL: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1596504/full

“Impact of self-stigma of loneliness on psychological distress in older adults: mediation effect of relative deprivation and moderation effect of positive solitude,” article in BMC Geriatrics. URL: https://bmcgeriatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12877-025-05904-x

More popularly, from the web site Psyche: “Solitude can be profoundly restorative. Here’s how to savour it.”URL: https://psyche.co/guides/solitude-can-be-profoundly-restorative-heres-how-to-savour-it