The consequences of loneliness and depression

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LONELINESS AND DEPRESSION

Cl. Mario D’Couto SDB

            Aristotle once said, “Man is a social being” and going by that sentence, we see that in the heart of every human person is the need to love and be loved. When we show love towards someone and if that love is not reciprocated in return, the natural consequences is loneliness and depression. The movie “Cast away” beautifully depicts what loneliness can do to a person – it can KILL! When we are caught up with our idealized selves, we forget the real person we are. Today, society is projected with so many things that life has become even more complicated than it was before. It was not like where we had few things and were content with it in the past.


            While it is true that loneliness and depression are but natural consequences of not being content, it also has its positive side. Loneliness or depression can act as a good indicator to show that something is not right. It is also a good indicator to show that we are dependent. If we had to know everything that needs to be known then there is a possibility that we could become proud. By falteringly living with ambiguity, we continually risk discovering, both authentically and inauthentically, “who we are.” By willingly being ‘on the way’ we realize that we will always be arriving. Through a patient and humble dialogue with all that is a part of our lives, we may slowly come to know the real. Then, gradually we may let go of that which threatens and shackles the emergence and revelation of our true selves. 

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