Truly being alone

[Scythe13]

There are many different coping strategies with being alone.

One obvious one is to get as much experience of being by oneself as possible. This can be done by being in situations where you feel isolated. Whether in a town you don't know, or better still, being away for a short period of time in the woods, or as wild an area as possible. This will be a great way to test your emotional state of being 'alone'. It's not the real thing, but it's a step in the right direction. Small portions act as a stress inoculation. Same as how some people help out in mountain rescue or as an emergency responder, and as a response are much better to cope with physical stresses, the same is true mentally.

Another option is to keep yourself as busy as possible. Real life examples of castaways and people whom were shipwrecked showed that those whom kept busy physically, also kept mentally aware and sane. Studies suggest this is because the mind is active in problem solving situations, which force them to act (mentally) on the here and now, and not to dwell in the past or let their minds wonder.