The Lonely American

Newer book that caught my eye... The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the Twenty-First Century

By Jacqueline Olds and Richard S. Schwartz

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 startling, sobering ripple effects of loneliness in areas as varied as physical health, children’s emotional problems, substance abuse, and even global warming. Surprising new studies tell a grim truth about social isolation: being disconnected reduces happiness, health, and longevity, increases aggression, and correlates with increasing rates of violent crime. Loneliness doesn’t apply simply to single people, either—today’s busy parents “cocoon” themselves by devoting all of their non-work time to children, leaving no time for partners, friends, and other forms of social contact, and unhealthily relying on the marriage to fulfill all social needs.

So they say... I will see...