Time alone lowers both the highs and the lows, and settles stress when it is chosen, in four experiments
Nguyen, Ryan and Deci found time alone reduced high-arousal feelings in both directions: less excitement, and less anxiety or anger. When people chose solitude, it brought relaxation and lower stress.
Reasonable evidence with real limitations. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: Short laboratory experiments on momentary feeling by the originators of the theory being tested; sample sizes and funding not read. The effect includes lowered positive excitement, and only chosen solitude produced relaxation.
Four experiments on what being alone does to feeling, and when it helps.
Significant findings
Nguyen, Ryan and Deci report that solitude "generally has a deactivation effect on people's affective experiences, decreasing both positive and negative high-arousal affects". In Study 1 the drop happened when people were alone, but not when they were with another person. In Study 2 it did not depend on whether the person was doing something, such as reading, while alone. In Study 3, high-arousal positive feeling did not drop when participants deliberately engaged in positive thinking or actively chose what to think about. In Study 4, in the authors' words, "solitude could lead to relaxation and reduced stress when individuals actively chose to be alone".
The other direction
These are short experimental sessions with volunteers, measuring feeling over minutes, not weeks. Solitude also lowered positive excitement, which is not what everyone wants from time alone. Loneliness and chosen solitude are different things, and the paper's own point is that choice is what turned deactivation into relaxation. Ryan and Deci are the authors of self-determination theory, which predicts this result. Funding is not stated in the abstract.
What this does not show
It does not show that time alone treats anxiety or depression, and it is not a reason to withdraw from people or to change any treatment. Prolonged isolation is a risk factor, not a remedy.
Worth asking
When I am alone, did I choose it, and what do I do with it?
Source
Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation — Nguyen TT, Ryan RM, Deci EL (2018)
Reputable peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217733073
DOI: 10.1177/0146167217733073
How this was scored
- Study design
- Randomised controlled trial
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
- Published in
- Reputable peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published October 7, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "moderate evidence". Reasonable evidence with real limitations. It scores 58 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: Short laboratory experiments on momentary feeling by the originators of the theory being tested; sample sizes and funding not read. The effect includes lowered positive excitement, and only chosen solitude produced relaxation. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation — Nguyen TT, Ryan RM, Deci EL (2018). Published in: Reputable peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1177/0146167217733073. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Randomised controlled trial. Funding: Funding not disclosed. Independence from the proponent is not recorded. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.