Bring Back the Third Place
The answer to loneliness might be to bring back the third place.
Loneliness is a longing for something you do not have or that you miss and wish you had again. And unfortunately for many of us with ADHD, feeling lonely and wanting a friend or group of friends is common. As much as we know that social connection is good for our health and wellbeing, finding friends and keeping them in our lives isn’t always easy.
I have spent a good part of my career looking for solutions to this challenge. The key, to me, is that the solutions need to be aligned with our neurology, be less taxing on our executive function skills, and help us to find friends and much-needed circles of support in a simple, easy way.
An often overlooked solution to the challenges of loneliness is to bring back the third place.
Historically in American life we have home, work, and then a “third place” where we gather and hang out. It could be a coffee shop, park, library, bar, bowling alley, sports club, bookstore, community or senior center, or a house of worship. Third places are really spaces in-between work and home where you can connect with another, often more social, part of yourself.