Is Loneliness a Disease?

Is loneliness a disease? According to author Emily White, in her memoir "Lonely," loneliness needs to be treated the same as depression — with clinical study and, perhaps one day, pharmaceutical cure. Writer Daphne Merkin in Elle Magazine (umm... which I found through CNN.com...) describes White's theories by writing,

"Suffering from chronic loneliness as she does, White wants this "stigmatized" experience to be not only officially recognized by the world at large, but to be honored as an affliction worthy of extensive research and, God help us, given its very own category in the next DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), the fifth version of which is due out in 2013.
"This is presumably so that therapists and psychiatrists can look it up as a psychological problem in its own right in what has become an ever-proliferating doorstop of a manual (the fourth version features "caffeine-induced anxiety disorder" and "nicotine dependence"), and deal with its symptoms instead of brushing them aside as part of the human condition or confusing them with the symptoms of depression.
Indeed, throughout her memoir, White, a lawyer, is at pains to distinguish chronic loneliness from depression."

So, is loneliness a disease or disorder like depression? Thankfully for all that's reasonable and sane, Merkin resoundingly disagrees in her commentary, found here.

"And what I'm asking is: Why? What does it accomplish to tease out the one from the other, even if there is a genetic basis for both, and accord them equal pathological weight? What does it clarify? There is no pill for loneliness thus far that I know of, just as there is no pill for boredom; both seem to me to be part of the normal emotional climate of humanness rather than deviations from it."

Bingo. There is no pill for loneliness that doesn't end a life. To be lonely is to be human. We all suffer loneliness at some time or another — many times even when other people are near. That's why celebrities are some of the loneliest people. Loneliness is cured by intimate relationships — relationships that break past the ice and touch the warm heart of a person. When you have intimate relationships, you will be less likely to feel alone. It doesn't take a marriage partner to end loneliness. Most counselors will tell you that married people can be just as lonely as singles if their relationship with their partner is no deeper than the surface. When a couple starts "going through the motions" each partner becomes more isolated until they are estranged. Intimate relationships can be with a friend, family member or romantic partner.

Some people choose lives of loneliness. They aren't necessarily suffering from some disease (like social anxiety disorder). They could just be victims of circumstance.

Interesting article by Merkin, if a little boring.

— John

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