Being alone can be frightening for a lot of people and the extreme and persistent fear of begin alone is called eremophobia. This type of fear is usually compounded by the natural desire to make friends and this desire can be denied and the reason is usually out of the control of the person. One might have grown up hearing stories of old people dying of loneliness because of an untimely death of a spouse, being left alone by their children, being left in a nursing home, or by divorce or legal separation. This person will try to make as many friends as possible and yet would feel lonely at times especially when they can’t connect with their friends.
Symptoms of eremophobia include tremors, shortness of breath, anticipation, mood swings, anger, hope, aggression, and crying. It operates in many levels of emotion. There can be times of euphoria and excitement at a possible friendship, and pain of going home w/o any real prospects of friendship.
This fear needs guidance on how to interact with people. A therapist will be of help in dealing with such fears. Often, a strong social element to this fear may also require the need to be some assistance in helping to learn on how to interact with people without stressing the individual.