The lonely American

by Jacqueline Olds

"In today's world, it is more acceptable to be depressed than to be lonely - yet loneliness appears to be the inevitable by-product of our frenetic contemporary lifestyles. According to the 2004 General Social Survey, one out of four Americans talked to no one about something of importance to them during the last six months. Another remarkable fact emerged from the 2000 U.S. Census: more people are living alone today than at any point in the country's history - fully 25 percent of households consist of one person only. In this crucial look at one of America's few remaining taboo subjects - loneliness - Drs. Jacqueline Olds and Richard S. Schwartz set out to understand the cultural imperatives. psychological dynamics, and physical mechanisms underlying social isolation." "In The Lonely American, cutting-edge research on the physiological and cognitive effects of social exclusion and emerging work in the neurobiology of attachment uncover the startling, sobering ripple effects of lonelin