Can Loneliness Kill You?

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My dad says loneliness can kill me, is it true? I am often lonely.

Lonely people are more likely to let themselves go.

Actually, feelings of loneliness has been linked to a number of health problems. Heart problems I believe, and mental illness like depression. It's because the human brain was hard wired for socializing, without being social the brain notices that there is something missing. Those emotions can and do have physical effects on the body. Animals also experience this- many caged animals die early without their kin to socialize with.
So yes, technically you CAN die from loneliness, it just may take a few decades...

Pretty sure mine isn't Sometimes I wish it was.......

Alone does not = lonliness.

If you crave to be with others but deal with nobody wanting to be around you, it would be more of an issue than for someone who honestly does not care about being around others.

Of course not. If you get depressed because you're alone, that's a different matter. But being alone by itself (LOL) will not kill you at all, that's crap.

Yeah you have people who like to live like hermits, but they can enjoy their privacy and divulge themselves in interests like games, reading, etc. to keep themselves busy and maybe even enjoying yourself. I think the majority of people though love company even if they can't admit it. So in that regard, if you're not like a hermit, then I'd say lonliness can be a 'killer.'

I guess loneliness can be related to things like depression that increase the chance of dying. I think being lonely all the time can feel like it will kill you, even if it will not actually end your life.

Seems like it can weaken you slowly over time. After all at the doctor's I'm always asked if I have any anxiety or depression which obviously are enough of a problem to be asked each time. I have gray hair already so I know that's a bad sign.

it doesn't have to kill you. just the same, if decades have elapsed and you are still not enjoying life for whatever reason [including loneliness], and the situation detracting from your enjoyment of life is intractible, then there is no real use in prolonging such a life, IOW if one is released from life early for whatever reason, then that would be a plus, IMHO.
this said, you are still very young, and you have many years left to you, to right the course of your life.

Loneliness will likely be my demise.

I guess that it can.

i am confused here- i thought you had a gf- i am wondering why, in that case, you would be feeling lonely? wouldn't NOT having a gf make you feel lonelier? i know that if i had been able to snag a mate, that i wouldn't have been so lonely for so many decades.

NO offense here but your dad may be watching the news too much. There's lots of stories in the media that talk about how people who are introverted become suicidal &/or homicidal. I hear complaints like this from people with mental illnesses in general that are unrelated to Autism & AS. People hear these sad sick news stories & they get the impression that the person flipped out/went psycho(or what ever other term you want to use here) because they wer introverted & wer assumed to have been lonely but there's much more to it that that. Feeling loneliness because suciety or others do no accept you can cause problems but it will not kill you directly.

No it can't kill you, I think I am my happiest when alone

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