In the book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran explains Loneliness in the following quote: “Sometimes I can hear my bones straining under the weight of all the lives I'm not living”. Loneliness often acts as a barrier between an individual and social opportunities. Loneliness is a prevalent obstacle people struggle with on a regular basis, though some experience the sense more frequently than others. If the presence of loneliness is a persistent occurrence, it can be extremely detrimental to the mental and physical health of one's well-being.
Loneliness is a universal experience. It is often inaccurately defined as the lack of interpersonal relationships with friends or companions but is actually a complex and usually unpleasant …show more content…
Research has focused on the young, the elderly and those at any age possessing a negative self-outlook. Some suggest children feel lonely due to inadequate social skills, and the elderly feel lonely due to loss of their loved ones. Some reasons have been connected to obvious indicators such as individuals who live alone, those who live far from home, unstable relationships, a failing marriage, past abuse or social rejection. At the same time, Loneliness could, in addition, be a symptom of another social or psychological issue, such as chronic depression. Flourishing evidence has proven that the presence of loneliness has a marked vulnerability to the hosting of psychological and physiological ills. According to the article “The Toxic Well of Loneliness” in the Scientific American: A 2015 meta-analysis (combining studies between 1980 and 2014) by psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad of Brigham Young University and her colleagues found that loneliness, social isolation and living alone—even more so that obesity— were all associated with a higher chance of early death. Reviewing the available evidence in 2017, Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues concluded that insufficient social connection, stemming not only from feelings of loneliness but also from isolation and poor-quality relationships, is a major public health concern