Loneliness and suicide

Loneliness has been conceptualized both as an objective state of physical alienation and a subjective state of distress due to feeling alone. The construct of loneliness has been empirically linked with a variety of mental health conditions including depression, hopelessness, suicide ideation, and/or suicide-related behaviors. This chapter examines loneliness and suicide through Aaron Beck's cognitive behavioral theory and largely through Erik Erickson's theory of psychosocial development. More specifically, we review how ambivalence resulting from competing drives of connectedness, authenticity, and self-protection may contribute to loneliness and explore manifestations of loneliness and suicidality during childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, middle adulthood, and older adulthood. Intervention strategies to address loneliness in the context of suicide are explored, and recommendations for clinical practice and future areas of empirical inquiry are presented.