:(

I didn't explain myself very well. What I meant is that giving medication for loneliness is like putting a bandage on a festering wound without cleaning it first. The underlying cause of the illness is still there (i.e. being alone).

I know what you mean about the bullying thing. I recently went through yet another situation in which I was bullied at work, and of course nobody was on my side, and in fact many sided with the bully against me, even though some of his acts of gross misconduct were caught on video! They just were not willing to believe that I was an ok person and that maybe the bully wasn't such an ok person. I think that was the worst thing, even worse than the bullying itself: the fact that I am no longer there and everyone is under the impression that it is because of something I did wrong.

Yes, is there anywhere you can find your own personal space, is it your family or friends,  I would put some strong barriers around you, you deserve some respect and understanding.  Sometimes you will find you are not the only ones who feel the same way, the brash and noisy people need to respect the gentler quieter friends.  

That's alright just celebrated my 52nd birthday with a friend who's in his eighties, listening whilst I knitted and crocheted alternatively. I am going to an Autistic Support group for the first time on Monday and am a bit apprehensive.

I find this to be horrible feeling. Being around people and feeling lonely.

And if I cannot leave and go somewhere else, I panic.

My knitting goes everywhere I go, glad it's not just me. Counting counting all the time.

Sorry for my mini rant.

I feel the same at family gatherings and used to take a book with me, my Auntie could never understand why,  I also felt upset and cried at parties too, even at weddings. I used to try and find some nice quiet space.  I loved going out into the garden on a fine day and just sitting by myself.  Now I know why and need not feel so ashamed and so do my family, now I have a diagnosis and can notice that some of the little ones have these traits and can come and sit quietly with  me.  I take my knitting and crochet along.

I feel very lonely right now. We have family over so there are 11 people in the house instead of the normal 5, it's loud and smelly, some one is wearing a very strong perfume or aftershave. Very soon food will arrive, they are having Indian and some of them will have meat in their meal.  I want to die.

Not all autistic people have carers, some of us have survived independently with or without support and only been diagnosed recently due to anxiety and stress problems and I am still alone and having to cope but with a better understanding of myself. 

Because when you become lonely, you become sad and depressed and in the end it leads to mental health issues as in my case, when you can't face life because of the pain.  I was put on them initially when I became moderately depressed working in a factory where I felt isolated and alone.  There is also a report that states that autistic people can have secondary mental health problems and take their own lives or self harm because of misunderstandings and loneliness.  Loneliness is a killer, especially if no one is around who is on the same wave length, in my case I was bullied at work.

Why would drugs be considered a valid treatment for loneliness? I'm not an authority on getting over loneliness, but I would have though having people around who genuinely care would be a good solution to being lonely.

Yes I feel lonely too, usually in the evenings, after a days work as well as low moods which come and go like clouds, still I know these feelings pass but I don't like them.  In the past I have had moderate depression and am hoping that depression does not come back, that was eighteen years before the diagnosis.  I am now slowly coming off the latest anti-depressants after being on paroxotine for many years, I hated Sertraline, gave me stomach ache, I would rather face loneliness.

I have been the same in the past but not so much these days.

The most lonely I ever felt was when I was effectively working as a consultant and I was in a large office with easily over a hundred people on the floor I was working on and I might as well not have been there for all any of them would have noticed. The trend towards hot desking where staff just grab whatever desk is available does not help.

It is the same with me.

I can be totally alone at home all day. Not speaking to anyone. Yet not feel lonely.

At other times I'm surrounded by people, all communicating, but I feel completely alone and very very lonely as I do not fit in.

School was a loneliness nightmare. Children all around me. I was formal. But I was totally alone year after year. I had no friends.

This guy had a great view on solitude.

“Ordinary men hate solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing his aloneness, realizing he is one with the whole universe.”

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Glad Tidings to Mr. Math-Photographer...
Because it is your good self, I shall Post some things here, and see how they are received.

Positive Aspects to Feeling Lonely (Some of my own):

- I am on my own, and do not have to worry about malicious people taking pictures or throwing things at me.
- I can listen to cheery and rousing Music (on Headphones), and maybe dance around to it, & No-one gets in my way.
- I can sing out-of-tune, or practise my Foreign Languages out loud... & No-one can tell me off for making mistakes, thus I can improve my skills in peace.
- I sit upon the front-right of the Upper Deck of a Bus when travelling, and when another Bus with the same number passes in the opposite direction, I can wave and pretend that that other Driver is waving at me.
- I can watch endless repeats of Top Gear, The A-Team, Pokemon, and My Little Pony... without worrying that someone else is coming in to tell me off for this or for changing channels during the advert-breaks.
- I can splash into puddles (clean, of course) and take pictures of Rainbows or of Sunsets, without worrying over other people thinking that I am splashing them or taking pictures of them instead.

...Hopefully anyone reading gets what I am saying, here? ...<> I do not "live in my own world", yet it is grand to consider oneself outwards, every now and then. I could put more, but this is long enough already. Fair Play to Anyone reading...

Robert124 said:

I can be totally alone at home all day.  Not speaking to anyone.  Yet not feel lonely.

At other times I'm surrounded by people, all communicating, but I feel completely alone and very very lonely.

so, is loneliness the issue or just the realisation of the gulf of “not belonging”... feeling seperate from others, the awareness of “difference”... mind the gap!?