Travel blogger shares battle with ‘crippling’ loneliness

A blogger found herself inundated with messages of support after a spontaneous tweet about feeling lonely went viral. 

Lifestyle and travel writer Lotte Brouwer, from London, admitted to occasionally experiencing a ‘crippling’ sense of loneliness in a tweet, and asked ‘anyone else?’

Her frank admission prompted a flood of messages from others who had been through similar phases, but struggled to talk about it.  

Lotte, who said the response inspired her to write a blog post about the taboo topic of loneliness, said her tipping point had come after moving home not long after cutting off ‘toxic’ friendships, and added that working from home was also a factor.

Taking to Twitter, Lotte asked her followers: ‘Anyone else get a crippling sense of loneliness sometimes? I don’t like to bear [SIC] my soul online, but is there anyone out there?’

The blogger said: ‘It was in a way comforting to receive so many honest and open private messages on both Twitter and Instagram, from people who were experiencing similar things’

Lotte wrote on Twitter: ‘Anyone else get a crippling sense of loneliness sometimes? I don’t like to bear [SIC] my soul online, but is there anyone out there?’

Within seconds, she was met with an influx of responses, both in private messages and public tweet form.

One person said: ‘In a world where we’re so connected, we can also be more disconnected than ever.’ 

Another commented: ‘When everyone puts their lives on social media, it seems like everyone is so happy and content. No one ever talk about what happens offline.’  

Within seconds of sharing her tweet, Lotte was met with an influx of responses, both in private messages and public tweet form

Commenting on the overwhelming response, Lotte said: ‘It felt very vulnerable posting something like that online, in public, and immediately I felt like taking it down – until I noticed that people were starting to respond that they were also feeling the same.’

She added: ‘It was in a way comforting to receive so many honest and open private messages on both Twitter and Instagram, from people who were experiencing similar things for a multitude of reasons. 

Commenting on the overwhelming response, Lotte said: ‘It felt very vulnerable posting something like that online, in public, and immediately I felt like taking it down’

Lotte said of the response: ‘It was in a way comforting to receive so many honest and open private messages on both Twitter and Instagram, from people who were experiencing similar things for a multitude of reasons’

‘But in another way it also felt sad that something that is so common is also so rarely talked about. I heard from mums (some in relationships, some single) who spend their days alone with their children and have lost touch with their friends. 

‘I heard from professionals who have moved to different cities and are struggling to integrate, while feeling excluded from their past friendship circles. Other professionals felt lonely because they work long hours in a bitchy environment. 

‘I heard from people who have come from broken families or moved around a lot, and don’t feel like they have much of a support network around them, and from a few who have surrounded themselves with people that are toxic and make them feel crappy and empty.