There are products and services available to address every human need and condition you can imagine; Loneliness is no exception.
We all feel alone sometimes but when this feeling becomes more persistent this can lead to loneliness. While Loneliness is a choice, sometimes this feeling becomes so ingrained that we need a product or service to help address the issue and break the habit. We may already be familiar with some types of products and services that help address loneliness, but let’s review.
For example, there are physical services such as landscaping, plumbing, carpentry and tutoring, etc… We also have mental service such as psychotherapy, mentoring and self-improvement to name a few. Loneliness can be addressed with both physical and mental services. Loneliness is a choice so if you find yourself in a chronic position of feeling lonely then you need to replace thoughts of loneliness with “other thoughts”. The process of replacing these thoughts is simply a process of replacing one habit for another. Hopefully the habit is replaced with a more productive habit.
Services that address loneliness come in a wide range of options, let’s review some:
Rent a Friend in Real-Time
This rent a friend service is simple and straight forward. You are simply hiring a person to either talk or chat with. One place to find affordable friendship services is with FIVERR. A quick search on the FIVERR site will produce results with many men and women who are available for platonic communication at an hourly rate or a flat fee. Some sub categories while searching for loneliness revealed:
- Hypnosis for love
- Love spells
- Soulmate finder service
- Custom poems written specially for you
- Talking about your problems
- Chatting in general
- Coaching
- Custom songs written about or to you
- Healers
- Prayers directed to you
Virtual Pets
Pets are great companions but sometimes they are not practical. For those who are in school or work fulltime, having a pet may not be convenient. If you are not home often enough, some people feel lonelier knowing they have a living pet waiting for them and are not spending enough time with them. An alternative to a physical pet is a “virtual” pet. This can be an application on your handheld device or a program that runs on your computer. There are also “devices” that serve as a virtual pet.
An application that runs on a personal computer or handheld device tends to be more sophisticated since its features and capabilities are limited only by the resources of your machine.
Some Apple Store searches reveal:
An example of a virtual “Girlfriend” running as an application on your computer is shown below:
Her name is “Kari” and she is advertised as a virtual girlfriend designed to mimic human awareness. One her main design features is “knowledge acquisition”. Every time you talk with her she will learn, remember and understand what you say.
The cost is about $40 and there are additional add-ons that can be purchased too.
There are also portable devices that are less sophisticated but still attractive to users. An example of this is pictured below:
They are advertised on Amazon as digital pet machines that let you “feed” and “play” with your pet. This is a simple toy advertised for children and teenagers but adults may play with these too. While digital pets are limited, they are easier to care for, portable and less complicated than a real pet.
The prices can range from $5-$60.
Virtual Character Hologram
Think of this a fancier but different version of “Echo” and “Alexa”. You have a device you interact with using your voice and you actually get to view a hologram version of the character:
You can ask the character basic questions and give basic requests like “What time is it?” and “Can you set an alarm for 7:00”. The device can control lights and other appliances too (additional components required). This device also learns as you interact with it through conversations and begins to interact with you like a real companion.
The cost is about $1400
Cuddling Services
Sex sells! Selling sex is one of the oldest services available. Sex fulfills a physical need but what about the emotional need associated with a real relationship? If you are lonely then chances are that you may not be either physically or emotionally connected or satisfied with a partner.
Many people have figured out how to address the sexual part of a relationship by paying for it, but as the saying goes “You get what you pay for”. Sex is sometimes just sex, especially if you are paying for it. Their however is a big part of the relationship or loneliness issue that is not addressed with sex. This is where “cuddling” comes in.
Cuddling defined:
- Holding close in a tender and affectionate manner.
- Lying closely together while caressing; nestling together.
- Foreplay without contact with the genital organs.
We desire cuddling and now you can rent that service too. The service is available in every state in America. Cuddling services are strictly plutonic. Typically the cuddling services is a generic friendship service which means you can talk, walk, hold hands, go out to eat, and even cuddle. This type of service reflects what you would expect from a fulfilling relationship but without any sexual contact.
The cost of the service ranges from $60 per hour to daily rates of $400 and more.
Love Dolls
We already discussed sex and the obvious role it plays in a lover’s relationship, but for those who are lonely or have a fear of intimacy, “Love Dolls” can help satisfy the sexual part of a relationship. These dolls have qualities that make them seem real. The materials used to create the dolls skin, hair, eyes and genitals are constantly refined and have evolved to create a “believable love character”. You can also dress the dolls in different attire to create an exact look you desire.
These types of dolls can get expensive and on average start at around $2000
Rent a Man
This service allows you to rent a “Man” for any occasion. I first discovered this services while writing another article and initially found that woman in Japan were renting men for platonic fulfillment. In Japan there are perceived social pressures that sometimes prevent men and woman from authentically expressing themselves. We can find this type of pressure in many cultures but this reservation prevents people from expressing their true feelings. Instead of jeopardizing your social standing you can rent a set of ears to listen and acknowledge what you are truly feeling.
You can rent a man for any type of social event too.
Renting a man is probably available in many cultures but I have noticed this availability in Japan and America. You can rent a man to listen to you or supplement your company at social events.
The cost is usually hourly and ranges from $40 dollars per hour in Japan and can go up to $350 an MORE per hour in America for high-end service:
American Example (https://www.cowboys4angels.com/services/)
Rent a Family
I have mentioned this in another article but it does expand on the concept of renting a “man” or “woman”. In Japan you can rent any combination or iteration:
- Rent a father
- Rent a husband
- Rent a mother
- Rent a wife
- Rent a wife with an infant (The infant is the real birth baby belonging to the rental wife)
- Rent brothers and sister
- Rent a bride
- Rent a groom
There are a number of social events that traditionally
expect a certain combination of characters.
If for some reason you do not have the correct requirements then
attending that social event may be awkward or stressful. For $40 per hour per person you can rent any combination
of persons you require.
Rent a Sister
While you would think that rent-a-family would cover renting a sister, in Japan there is also a service labeled “Rent a Sister” which was designed specifically to help home bound hermits. These modern day hermits are referred to as Hikikomori. “Rent a Sister” is a service where a woman will befriend a Hikikomori and slowly attempt to assist with recovery. At first, trust is built through repetitive talking and listening at the hermit’s home. The goal of the relationship is to break a lonely unconventional pattern of living home bound and to eventually have the hermit develop a more normal life.
This is a platonic nurturing relationship and is usually charged at less than $100 per hour.
Single Weddings
I reviewed this in another article but it is worth mentioning again because this is a service designed to give a user the experience of a wedding without actually getting married. Many women have visualized their wedding day since they were children. For whatever reason, if you are not in a position to get married but still want to experience the event, you can! There are event planners that will coordinate the entire event without actually exchanging vows or getting married.
- Pick a dress
- Arrange a fancy reception for yourself
- Pick a cake
- Have a photo shoot
- Rent fancy transportation
After the event is complete, you now have the memory of an event and pictures to prove it!
The cost varies greatly depending how extravagant your event is.
These products and services illustrate how loneliness is being addressed in the marketplace. Hopefully they can be used responsibly and everyone realizes how to become better version of themselves.