Loneliness the newest form of depression?

I was getting my monthly fix of Elle Magazine, and I came across an article that introduced the notion that loneliness should be seen as a form of depression. I began to think about how I feel when I get lonely. Even when I am surrounded with friends and family who love and care about me, there have been times in my life where I have felt lonely. Until this article, it never occurred to me just how depressed I can get when I feel lonely. Last semester I took a course called "Homelessness in Canadian Society", where I got to meet a lot of homeless people. Practically every week there was a guest speaker who was either homeless, has experienced homelessness, or who have worked with homeless people.

After reading the article I began to think about the things that some of those guest speakers talked about. One homeless speaker spoke about how lonely he felt sometimes, and it doesn't help that society tends to ignore, or is scared of him. Interestingly enough, more than half of the guest speakers who have experienced, or was currently experiencing homelessness, spoke about mental health and addiction issues that they have. It is exciting that Ontario's health promotion's strategic framework includes mental health and addiction as a priority issue. I hope that a program that encompasses Rosenkranz and Dzewaltowski's (2008) framework, that looks at how one can create a healthy built environment to help positively influence a child's dietary intake, can be created to help those with mental health and addiction issues.

Mental health and addiction is an issue that needs support from a micro as well as a macro level. In the political and economical environments, governments can create affordable housing units that allow lower income individuals to get a grasp on their ability to afford a nice and safe place to live. Individuals can also build community groups that encourage the participation of those with mental health and addiction issues. At the socio-cultural environment, people can become more open to the idea of incorporating those with mental health and addiction issues into society. The government can make it mandatory that teenagers are taught about issues that those with mental health and addiction problems face. However, it is the responsibility of the individual to change their frame of mind on people with mental health and addiction issues. In terms of the build environment, people need to stop shying away from those with mental health and addiction issues. After all, they are still human beings. Do they not deserve the same amount of care, respect and love as any one else? One homeless man spoke about the fustration and isolation he felt when people refused to let him move into the apartment complex because he had mental health and addiction issues. I think people need to be more accepting of the idea of including people with mental health and addiction issues in their community. In terms of how the government can help at the built environment, governments can be more strategic at advertising support programs for people with mental health and addiction issues. While researching for my Homeless in Canadian Society class, I had a difficult time trying to find information on the resources that people with mental health and addiction issues can access. Imagine someone who didn't have the resources to access this information.

Many things can be done to help empower, engage, and educate those with mental health and addiction issues, Rosenkranz and Dzewaltowski's (2008) framework is just one.