The short answer
Being alone and being lonely are different things, and you may come to like the first. For the second, a few arrangements can help: someone who checks in every day, a standing plan every week, and a doctor who knows how you are.
Each of these can be set up with a phone call or two.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- Set up a daily check-in with one person, at a fixed time, and agree what happens if you don't answer.
- Call the Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116, your Area Agency on Aging or your county sheriff's office to ask about a daily call service, if there is no one to ask.
- Give a spare key to a neighbor you trust.
- Keep one standing plan each week.
- Choose a company yourself and call it, if you want a personal alert device. Never buy from someone who called you.
- Tell your doctor if loneliness is weighing on you.
What can wait
- Deciding whether you like living alone.
- Getting a pet, if you don't have one.
- Filling every hour of the day. An afternoon with nothing in it is allowed.
Who can help
The Eldercare Locator, 1-800-677-1116, finds your local Area Agency on Aging. Ask there about daily check-in calls, senior centers, group meals and help getting to them. AmeriCorps Seniors, open to anyone 55 and over, runs the Senior Companion Program.
Your doctor is a reasonable first person to tell if the loneliness is heavy.
If it becomes thoughts of not wanting to be here, tell someone today. You can call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. It is for anyone who is struggling, and you do not have to be suicidal to reach out.
For most people who have these thoughts, support and treatment work. If the thoughts feel like a plan, call or text 988 now.
You can also text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. The Veterans Crisis Line is 988, then press 1, or text 838255, and it also serves families and friends. Where to get help tonight, at the back of this book, lists every line.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 6: The People Around You
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 12. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 3 to 18.
Hear when the next book is out
Five or six short emails a year at most, and a note when a new book is out. Each one is about something that tends to come up in the first two years. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.