Research suggests the loneliness people feel after a long career ends isn't about missing the work - it's about discovering that most of their relationships were infrastructure, not friendship - Silicon Canals

"I expected to miss the classroom when I retired. I expected to miss the rhythm of September, the smell of new textbooks, the particular chaos of 28 teenagers discovering The Great Gatsby for the first time. What I did not expect was to sit down one Tuesday morning with my tea and realize that a very large number of people I had genuinely liked... had quietly disappeared from my life."

"Most of us build our social lives around the structure work provides without ever noticing that's what we're doing. The office, the school hallway, the break room, the standing meeting on Thursday afternoons. These aren't just locations. They are the scaffolding our relationships hang on."

"Retirement involves an abrupt end of social contact at work, and fewer interactions with colleagues, which could lead to a reduction of social interactions followed by an increase in loneliness. But the research only captures part of the story."

Retirement can trigger significant changes in an individual's life, often resulting in heightened feelings of loneliness. Many retirees find that they have lost not just friends, but the social infrastructure that facilitated those connections. The absence of daily interactions in work environments leads to a profound sense of isolation. This loneliness is not merely about feeling unloved; it reflects a deeper realization that the social spaces once filled with camaraderie have vanished, leaving a void that is difficult to navigate.

Read at Silicon Canals