hamstergirl I am 42 and have no significant other, nothing even close to a significant other, and never had anything close to a significant other or even a potential significant other for my whole life.

I used to be OK with that because I had lots of friends and lived a fulfilled and fun life. But now I feel betrayed by those friends and the lonliness is really really getting to me. The feeling of betrayal makes me feel it is even worse than if I had no friends to begin with.

Which brings up the old adage: "Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all." Wonder if the people who say that think about how much that hurts people who have never loved at all.

Its another horrible complication to this illness. At least you have your teddy bear. I have my stuffed dog Winston. I think it is a way of loving ourselves, as hard as that may be to realize given how negative and undeserving we may feel. Something deep inside knows that fundamentally we can love ourselves. I think that is important to recognize whether or not you have people around.

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