- Hardcover: 317 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co. (9 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0393061701
- ISBN-13: 978-0393061703
- Product Dimensions: 16.6 x 2.8 x 24.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 394,070 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A magnificent expos . --Frans de Waal
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
John T. Cacioppo s groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of social context a factor so strong that it can alter DNA replication. He defines an unrecognized syndrome chronic loneliness brings it out of the shadow of its cousin depression, and shows how this subjective sense of social isolation uniquely disrupts our perceptions, behavior, and physiology, becoming a trap that not only reinforces isolation but can also lead to early death. He gives the lie to the Hobbesian view of human nature as a war of all against all, and he shows how social cooperation is, in fact, humanity s defining characteristic. Most important, he shows how we can break the trap of isolation for our benefit both as individuals and as a society.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Unlike the other reviewer, I do not work in mental health. But I would recommend this book to anyone. It has a deeply important message - that loneliness is not just a troubling and painful psychological experience, but rather harmful to phyical health. Perhaps more importantly, the experiences of loneliness creates a vicious circle in which the sufferer's social intelligence is impaired, causing them to misread people's attempts to include them, become less trusting, less persevering and more prone to retreat further into isolation and pessimism. Thought-provoking stuff...
The book helped me to look again at periods in my own life where I have felt lonely, and think again about the consequences this feeling led to.
I have only not given it five stars because individual chapters are not very well structured. The book itself has a three part structure, which works. But too often I found myself reading a variation on the overall theme, without being clear on how this fitted into his argument.
But putting aside these issues, this is an excellent, important and timely piece of work.
The book helped me to look again at periods in my own life where I have felt lonely, and think again about the consequences this feeling led to.
I have only not given it five stars because individual chapters are not very well structured. The book itself has a three part structure, which works. But too often I found myself reading a variation on the overall theme, without being clear on how this fitted into his argument.
But putting aside these issues, this is an excellent, important and timely piece of work.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As I work in mental health field I found this book to be very important. Social contact is so important for us yet unfortunatly generally ignored or dealt with. This book shows the research on how company,or lack of it effects people. As society becomes more fragmented and atomised, you can see further problems will develop. I should say its not a depressing book,just thought provoking.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The authors have done an excellent job of finding out all the bad things that loneliness can do to us, but they missed out two important questions: what makes us lonely, and if we are lonely, what can we do to overcome it? We know it is bad, and to show exactly how bad it is can be informative, but it is hardly helpful.
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