A loner refers to someone avoiding or having difficulty keeping interpersonal relationships.
Psychiatrists have proposed several reasons for someone being a loner, including but not limited to religion, introversion and spirituality.
Loners reportedly act in the following ways:
It is said that not all loners are the same. Some loners reportedly feel lonely when they have spent too much time alone, possibly due to racism, classism or ableism. Some reportedly never feel lonely, while some enjoy being alone only when doing their work.
Loners are often equated with introverts and seen negatively. The overlap of loner's features with symptoms of some mental disorders reinforces bias against loners. Some loners are said to be suffering from alexithymia (poor ability to identify and describe emotions),or social anxiety, borderline personality disorder (BPD), avoidant personality disorder (APD), depression, autism, schizoid personality disorder alike. Loners may have multiple of such disorders at the same time.