Young and Lonely : The Social Conditions of Loneliness (Paperback)

Though we tend to think of youth as a time of connection and involvement, loneliness is an acute problem for young people today. This book presents evidence of young people's experience of loneliness and connection and sets them in the context of long-standing cultural and historical discussions of loneliness and solitude, friendship and belonging. Young and Lonely argues that loneliness should not be considered only or even primarily as a psychological disorder, even while acknowledging that severe loneliness may be connected to forms of psychological and emotional distress. Instead, the authors propose shifting narratives about loneliness toward a more engaged conversation that gives a more full and complex social account of the experience rather than seeing it as a problem that individuals have to solve on their own.