You may be surrounded by family and friends and still feel emotionally or socially disconnected.

Loneliness is a subjective feeling, and others do not guarantee us protection from the emotional wounds that loneliness can cause.

Loneliness activates our physiological and psychological stress response mechanisms and suppresses the functioning of the immune system, which puts us at increased risk of contracting a variety of diseases, including cardiovascular disease. Shockingly, the chronic toll of loneliness is so great that it increases the likelihood of early death by 26%.

Unfortunately, getting out of loneliness is more difficult than we think. Loneliness distorts our perceptions, leading us to believe that the people around us don't care about our feelings and negatively affecting existing relationships. Feelings of emotional detachment cause us to choose to be skeptical in the face of others' greetings, resentful, and push friends who might put us out of our misery into the distance. As a result, many people give up and close themselves off as a way to minimize the situation of being rejected or disappointed again.

Getting out of isolation and repairing the trauma is possible, but it's about our decision to give up the idea of an isolated self. You must do three things that require courage and conviction:

1. Make a move

Accept the fact that loneliness affects your perception and understand that people will respond to your invitation more positively than expected. If you're feeling emotionally disconnected, write down the names of five once-close friends and invite them to meet them and catch up on old times and family.

2. Adjust your mindset

You can assume that those people you hit it off with before will be having fun with you now too. Although they may have lost contact with you, and although they never called you back after agreeing to meet, you must assume that none of the above has anything to do with you. Likely, they were just busy with their own lives, and those competing goals, pressures, and opportunities made them lose out on being with you. Perhaps, they may have never hesitated to respond to your invitation. So, get in touch with them.

3. Reach out in a positive way

When you contact a friend on your list, don't complain about not contacting you for a long time or use an overly rusty tone. Instead, use positive emotions and invitations such as "Missed you!" or "Let's go for a cup of coffee," and list details like "How about next week?" and "What day in January?" If you're nervous, you can email or email the details to the person you want to talk to.

Loneliness can be incredibly painful, but once you realize the perceptual distortions and psychological pitfalls it brings, you will be able to escape the net of loneliness with courage and conviction and move toward freedom.