Loneliness - Today's Silent Scourge

"I'm cut off, sad, just putting in time. I'm alone. I eat alone, walk alone, sleep alone and talk to myself. There isn't anyone around to hear me. Nobody except myself."

"Love is not being lonely anymore. Boredom hurts."

These suicide notes were the final pleas of two persons overwhelmed by "an invisible, silent disease," now reaching epidemic proportions: loneliness.

More and more people are feeling the gnawing pain from the sharp realization of not belonging, and of not being wanted...no, not even by their own relatives.

"There is no one I know that really understands me!" bemoan many. These may be surrounded by people, but they dwell in a silent world, without a soul with whom they can share intimate concerns and who is interested, sympathetic and accepting. It Is at the Top of the List

A poll conducted in 1978, involving over 52,000 participants, asked what emotions brought them the greatest discomfort. What was at the top of the list? Over 40 percent said they "often feel lonely." This is quite alarming when we consider that very few like to admit to loneliness.

Really, though, almost everyone has experienced feelings of loneliness. For many, such feelings soon pass. But for millions of others loneliness becomes chronic and life grows miserable.

Loneliness is no respecter of persons. Teen-agers, young singles, the middle-aged and senior citizens have all known its sting. Wealth and position are no protection against it.

Marriage is not automatically a shelter from loneliness. Several researchers say: "Among the loneliest people in the world" are couples trapped in a marriage in which there is no real communication.

Of loneliness, one expert said: "There is no human condition so acute-or so universal."

The Tragic Effects on a Person's Life

At its worst, loneliness can cause suicide. Several studies have linked the dramatic increase of suicides, especially among teen-agers, to the spread of loneliness. One study reported: "If one theme runs through the accounts of suicides, it is isolation from family, friends, from anyone who could serve as an anchor to reality or simply listen well."

To block out loneliness, its victims have turned to alcoholism, compulsive overeating, drug abuse and promiscuous sex. Often loneliness is the impetus behind singles bars, dance clubs, encounter groups, computer dating and columns in newspapers advertising for mates.

A host of medical ills have been attributed to loneliness-gastric disturbances, asthmatic attacks, skin eruptions and others. In the book The Broken Heart-The Medical Consequences of Loneliness, author James J. Lynch provides documentation showing that single or divorced individuals, persons who often live alone, have shorter lives and suffer a greater number of heart ailments. His blunt conclusion is, "Human companionship is quite literally an important form of life insurance."