The Power of Fiction

I am certain that Facebook and Twitter, with all the so-called “friends” has not solved the loneliness problem in the United Kingdom. A February 11, 2018 article in the New York Times titled “Is Loneliness a Health Epidemic?” addressed this troublesome issue. According to the article in question, Prime Minister Theresa May referred to loneliness as “The reality of modern life.” In fact, a consensus of public health leaders agreed with her and Great Britain now has a “Minister for Loneliness.” There have been numerous studies that have correlated loneliness and social isolation to heart disease, cancer, depression, diabetes, and suicide. In fact, our former United States Surgeon General has stated that “loneliness and social isolation are associated with a reduction in life span similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.” The professor, who wrote the article, didn’t think that we have a loneliness epidemic. He cited various studies that had contradictory results to prove his point. First of all, we know that all studies are flawed based on the non-universal population sample studied. We know that a random sample of individuals is not really random because of the tremendous cost required to obtain such a sample. With that being said, it’s not surprising that the loneliness findings have different conclusions. Another problem related to a conclusion is the lack of a clear cut definition of loneliness. One definition of loneliness stated “Sadness because one has no friends or company.” Sadness, according to the definition, can also mean depression, which is a mood state. It is known that sadness is only one component or mood state of an individual. Loneliness suggests [the absence of real friends] that an appropriate degree of secondary narcissism has not been developed or established. When secondary narcissism is impaired, we find an individual that is too self-centered, not concerned about the other, and therefore narcissistic. This suggests deficits in being able to form appropriate and/or meaningful attachments. In the process of development, if that individual has also developed hateful sadomasochistic tendencies, coupled with depression, then we can expect future mass military style shootings. To Be Continued