Hi 5730–
I used to feel that there was nothing worse than loneliness. Then I had a 9-year marriage with a narcissist that got worse and worse, and she got angrier and more violent and abusive. The divorce was finalized a year ago. Now I have a different view of loneliness. I still don’t like it, but it’s peaceful, I don’t feel threatened, or attacked, or walking in aminefield, and I’m not sleeping on the couch. It’s soooo much better than the alternative.

There is much wisdom in what beeX wrote: you might not have company all the time, but it’s good to schedule some kind of healthy interaction every day: a phone call, an online chat, a walk, a trip to a bench outside Starbucks, or even if you just blast the radio and sing along.