Interesting take, not totally sure I agree about replacing social stimulation with a open source version of chatgpt but at it’s most crude I do agree that avoiding loneliness is basically just about maintaining the correct brain chemistry.
For me, it is about seeing it as solitude, not isolation, that is the critical part. With solitude I have inner peace, I have unlimited potential for self improvement and growth, I have acceptance and gratitude for my situation and the situations of those around me. Unlike loneliness, solitude is about coming to terms with what you have (and potentially what you do not have) and even going as far as to be thankful for it. Loneliness is always craving more. Focusing on the opportunities you’re missing instead of identifying and pursuing the real chances you have.
Try to feel grateful for the things you do have control over, rather than overwhelmed with frustration and rage over the things that you can’t. Rage leads to more rage. Gratitude leads to acceptance. Acceptance isn’t happiness, but it is way better than rage for your default brain state.
One thing social interaction will do (and is difficult to replace) is make further social interaction easier. If you do not get enough social interaction then this can cause a negative feedback loop where this ‘skill’ can degrade. Prevent this by giving yourself ‘social fuel’ where required: obtain some basic social defense mechanisms that will work and reduce the challenges of these situations. Specific examples that work for me include: talking about the weather, talking about seasonal holidays, or talking about apolitical uncontroversial issues that are relevant to the context or present situation you are in (‘wow the price of bread is crazy these days huh’).
That all being said, if you read this far and know of some alternative version of chatgpt, hit us up with the link fam.
I get into a state of anxiety sometimes where thinking almost anything will trigger a cascade of neurotic thoughts. This has led to many sleepless nights. Whilst it doesn’t always work, I found one effective technique to make your brain sleepy is just try to think of the most boring, unstimulating ideas. For some reason, I find it really effective to think about plain flat colors like brown or grey. I’m not getting much inspiration to proceed with an inner critical monologue when I think about the colour brown or grey. Not objects in these colors, just the actual colors. I imagine myself in a sea of that color and it is calming and neutralising, for reasons I don’t fully understand.