Knackered Has Loneliness with Benzos

   Hey there, Knackered here.  The music we listen to has a lot to say about loneliness. Ray Orbison sang that “Only the lonely…know this feeling ain’t right.”  And just a few years later Otis Redding reminded us that, “Loneliness just won’t leave me alone” while he wasted time ‘Sitting on the Dock of the Bay.” If we admit that life and art mirror each other, I guess there are a lot of answers for us right there.

   It’s really no secret as to why the feelings of loneliness and social isolation plague many of us during this time of withdrawal and drug induced illness.  If we’ve been at the process of tapering vey long, we soon discover that friends start to gradually slip away.

   A lot has to do with the fact that we usually find ourselves just too ill to really get out much, but not being able to actually do the activities that hold social groups together plays a large part. Got body temperature problems?  It’s unlikely you’ll be camping out tonight.  Can’t join the softball game at a group picnic?  You’ll be sitting by yourself in a lawn chair on the sidelines.  Unable to have a beer or a glass of wine?  That stuff is the great lubricant of societal lips and the tie that binds unlikeable people together.

   And if all that isn’t bad enough, apparently there are health risks at stake as well.  Doctors report that social isolation has been associated with an increased risk of death from any cause, as well as dementia, heart disease, diabetes, and risk of stroke in older folks.

   With such a dismal forecast, what’s on the horizon?  For all of us, this whole thing started with behavioral health problems.  So one of the first things on the road to inclusion and interaction should lead to sorting all that out.  Yes, I know that we’ve taken meds, undergone therapy, and had our fill of doctors, but what about that support group you used to belong to?  Unable to drive to one?  We’re all members of a virtual one right here.  While we may remain anonymous, we have so much in common.

   Fur babies can turn you into an instant family.  You’re probably not in shape to host a puppy or kittens, but there are billions of homeless animals needing you.  And yes, most humane societies and adoption agencies with let you bring them back or ‘trade in’ if it just gets to be too much.

   Don’t set lofty goals with nutrition and exercise.  Just do what you can when you’re able.  Stay away from toxic people and social media. That ‘tik tok’ influencer probably lives in his or her parent’s basement and is photo shopping somebody else’s  body onto theirs.  Are you really keen on what their coffee cup looks like every morning?

   Waxing existentially, ‘sometimes you find yourself the middle of nowhere and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.’  Don’t forget to meditate.