It's just too easy to isolate yourself now, whether you really want to or not. The world has gotten too big, and, in a way, our lives too small.

For a paper I wrote last year, I spent ten days alone. I didn't leave my house, I didn't pick up the phone, I didn't answer the door. I'd planned ahead, of course, so I had food, beverages, toiletries, etc. In that time, I watched television, read books, but interacted with absolutely no one.

It was remarkably easy, I found, to isolate myself. In today's society, we aren't pushed to gather together. We actually have to TRY to get out and meet people, and in many areas, it just isn't that simple.

Small towns can be friendly or alienating. It's a coin toss. Relocating, if that's even an option, isn't a bad idea, though you have to keep in mind that big cities can be just as lonely.

That's our modern world.

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I hear you. We were a happier race of people when we actually knew our neighbors, counted on them, and socialized regularly. When the word community truly meant something.

I may be going out on a limb here, but...weren't we healthier, then, too? Depression seems to be spreading like wild-fire. All sorts of new mental issues are cropping up. Had anyone ever heard of social anxiety disorder 30 years ago? What about post-partum psychosis?

I'm not saying these things didn't exist, I'm simply suggesting that there aren't as many people we can reach out to. When a man is thinking about suicide, how many people notice? When a woman is overwhelmed with a new baby, who offers to help lighten her load?

Yes, there are places we can turn when we need to, but calling an 800 number just isn't the same as confiding in a friend. And when making a good friend becomes yet another job we have to work at, I think a lot of us just give up, turn on the television, and check out who's eating what on Fear Factor.