Why isn't there a medication for loneliness, a pharmaceutical substitute for companionship? Becuause even though we all know it, it seems therapists will not admit to the fact (except maybe to another therapist after a few drinks), the dirty little secret (or, if you will, the inconvenient truth or 500 lb. gorilla in the room that everyone pretends to ignore) of loneliness is that some people will always be lonely becuase they're boring. (C'mon, therapists, admit it: you *know* you all know of at least 1 patient like this who cannot be helped.) & whether it's becuz some people are born boring (heredity) or being interesting & attractive to others has to be learned at a young-enuff age that it *seems* as if you have to be born that way or it's a combination of both nature & nurture, the fact that remains that no one wants to admit is that some people can not be helped to make friends or have social connections because they will never be liked by other people. (I'm not referring to people who are boring becuz they're self-centered; those people can possibly be trained to at least pretend to be interested in others or things that others are interested in; politicians do it [with varying success]). No, I'm talking about people such as myself who are just dull no matter what we talk about or do. And we are the ones who cannot be helped by joining groups or clubs or taking classes or volunteering because in spite of years--in my case--of trying that, It. Does. Not. Work. So some pharmaceutical help with the loneliness would be the humane thing to do, espec. for the lonely elderly; let us spend our few remaining years at least slightly less-depressed, for crying out loud; have a heart, therapeutic/psychiatric community!
This past year, one of those friends become seriously depressed and was hospitalized. No one wanted to go visit her (you REALLY find out who your friends are when you're in the psych unit, trust me on this!).
Recently, one of my daughters was fretting about going to visit a friend who had had a miscarriage. She was fussing that she really didn't want to go, it was uncomfortable , etc.
I talked about how much I hadn't wanted to visit my friend in the psych unit. And how being a friend means that you show up. When you're needed, not when it feels good.
So, try to BE that sort of friend to someone.