i cant even afford to replace my defective mouse till next month, so just a little from article:

1. most mental illness comes from loneliness

2. 'we must love one another or die"---quote from a poet

3. rejection an important part of loneliness, duh.

4. loneliness "is the want of intimacy"---there, for people who think that wanting to get laid is so terrible.

5. being rejected can alter your brain cells!

6. have lowlife scumbag parents like i did and you'll wind up lonely the rest of your life----there's actually a paragraph in article akin to that.

The Essay referred to is interesting but very old and back from 1959. They're fun to read and laugh at. The old hairdresser manuals from I believe the 1950s mentions that hairdressers should not dye their own hair as it makes them look less professional to their clients. Again, it's fun to look through those moldy oldies and laugh.

Mental health has come a long way since 1959. PTSD, bipolar, schizophrenia, OCD, agoraphobia, BPD, and even depression are not related to loneliness and you can check on them and other mental health ailments on a list on the site below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mental_disorders

The Merriam Webster Dictionary definition of loneliness is below and it doesn't define it as the want of intimacy or getting laid.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loneliness

Intimacy doesn't only refer to sex. Even those who get laid by a different mate every day of the week can feel lonely. There are people here with spouses that still feel lonely.

Loneliness is a bit too complex to be summed up in any article and we all experience it for different reasons.

Interesting perspective, friend. My brother was always the favorite, he was 4 years younger than I and was born on my 4th biethday. So I had to share my birthdays with him every year, and I hated it. His gifts were always over the top, while I got something half hearted that showed no thought what so ever. 'Long story. When my parents passed away, my brother received more of their estate than I did. That was their final gesture to show that I was not wanted, And being deaf on top of everything else, was just too much. My brother and I are not friends, we trade barbs on Facebook once in a while, that's it. Thank God I no longer have to share my birthday with him, he celebrates with his own family.

Very good reading! Thank you.

This article is really informative and interesting. It goes along with what I have read--being lonely is really bad for your health, both mental and physical. It's not the same as being alone, though. One can be lonely in a crowd or not lonely when all alone.

I think, however, that Fromm-Reichmann's idea that most mental illness is caused by loneliness has not been shown to be true. It may be a factor, and it may contribute, but that is not the same as causation. As ATGB points out, mental health has come a long way since then, and so has the logic of designing research studies. They're much better now at knowing the difference between correlation and causation.

"Intimacy" doesn't just refer to sex. It refers to letting people see who you really are and knowing who they are, too. So the "want of intimacy" means, really, that you don't have anybody you can really talk to.

Thanks for sharing this article! And I'm going to try and be an optimist about being lonely the rest of my life. The article DOES talk about things they're coming up with to help the lonely learn to connect better with people. I find it hopeful.

Hi KittyKai: I'm so sorry about your parents and the way they treated you less than your brother. Your parents were twisted.

According to Psychology Today, loneliness can be attributed to "mental health" issues including depression. It is a state of mind and if you are having mental health issues such as depression this can contribute to is. See link below.

http://psychology.about.com/od/psychotherapy/a/loneliness.htm

Loneliness is not synonymous with being alone, nor does being with others guarantee protection from feelings of loneliness, writes John Cacioppo, the leading psychologist on the subject.

So true.
I've learned to make lemonade.