Loneliness, Love and Their Connection: A Commentary

Abstract

A significant social stigma is associated with loneliness. The prevalence of social isolation, in the dawn of the 21st century points to the growing isolation in America. Lonely people who commonly display negative self-perceptions, show great difficulty to establish social ties, and that may be related to their personal inadequacies, or socially undesirable attributes. Lonely people suffer from a low social perception, painting them as less psychologically adjusted, and not very capable in relating to others. That is being expressed in such indicators as social networks which are smaller and sometimes do not exist at all. This commentary, briefly, reviews the nature of loneliness, how is love related to isolation, and the myriad of approaches to address loneliness and its pain.