ABSTRACT
"To be alone is to be different. To be different is to be alone, and to be in the interior of this fatal circle is to be lonely. To be lonely is to have failed" (Susan Schultz, 1976)
Loneliness carries a significant social stigma, as lack of friendship and social ties is socially undesirable, and social perceptions of lonely people are generally unfavourable. Lonely people often have very negative self-perceptions, believing that the inability to establish social ties is due to personal inadequacies or socially undesirable attributes.
This book is divided into three parts. The first part reviews loneliness in general, describing what it is and how it affects us. The second part examines loneliness throughout the life cycle, analysing how it affects us in childhood, adulthood and as we age. The final part explores the connection between loneliness and other conditions such as arthritis, eating disorders and depression.
Loneliness Updated offers the latest research on how loneliness can affect us in our daily lives, and how it is expressed as we travel through life from childhood to old age. It will be a highly interesting read for scholars, students and researchers of clinical psychology, particularly those interested in further exploring the effects and consequences of loneliness.
This book was originally published as a special issue of The Journal of Psychology.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|56 pages
A Review of Loneliness
part II|165 pages
Loneliness Through The Life Cycle
chapter |15 pages
Life Events and Personality Predicting Loneliness Among Centenarians: Findings From the Georgia Centenarian Study
part III|62 pages
Loneliness and Other Conditions and Maladaptive Behaviors