Coping Strategies of Loneliness among Elderly Widow and Widowers

Loneliness is an unpleasant feeling in which a person feels a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. However, it is a subjective experience. Loneliness has also been described as social pain- a psychological mechanism meant to alert an individual of isolation and motivate her/him to seek social connections. The phenomenon of loneliness occurs in people of all ages but may be a particular problem in the elderly it is acknowledged that loneliness is not a necessary accompaniment to ageing and that ageing is not solely responsible for the development of loneliness in elderly people However, there is a relationship between ageing and loneliness is a complex and usually unpleasant emotion which typically includes anxious feelings about a lack of connectedness or communality with others. As such, loneliness can be felt even when surrounded by other people. The aim of the present study is to examine the coping strategies of loneliness among elderly widows and widowers and sample size 120 and random sampling technique used for this study, cross sectional research design was was used in this study. Elderly widowers have more coping strategies in comparison to widows. Singh B. kiran U. V. (2014)