http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR200
6062201763_pf.html
"Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 23, 2006; A03
Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two
decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no
one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new
evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.
A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can
discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were
similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans
have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around
three to about two.
The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an
increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once
seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of
psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In
bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone.....
Compared with 1985, nearly 50 percent more people in 2004 reported
that their spouse is the only person they can confide in. But if
people face trouble in that relationship, or if a spouse falls sick,
that means these people have no one to turn to for help, Smith-Lovin
said....
Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a
friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could
count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a
neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19
percent to about 8 percent..."
6062201763_pf.html
"Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 23, 2006; A03
Americans are far more socially isolated today than they were two
decades ago, and a sharply growing number of people say they have no
one in whom they can confide, according to a comprehensive new
evaluation of the decline of social ties in the United States.
A quarter of Americans say they have no one with whom they can
discuss personal troubles, more than double the number who were
similarly isolated in 1985. Overall, the number of people Americans
have in their closest circle of confidants has dropped from around
three to about two.
The comprehensive new study paints a sobering picture of an
increasingly fragmented America, where intimate social ties -- once
seen as an integral part of daily life and associated with a host of
psychological and civic benefits -- are shrinking or nonexistent. In
bad times, far more people appear to suffer alone.....
Compared with 1985, nearly 50 percent more people in 2004 reported
that their spouse is the only person they can confide in. But if
people face trouble in that relationship, or if a spouse falls sick,
that means these people have no one to turn to for help, Smith-Lovin
said....
Whereas nearly three-quarters of people in 1985 reported they had a
friend in whom they could confide, only half in 2004 said they could
count on such support. The number of people who said they counted a
neighbor as a confidant dropped by more than half, from about 19
percent to about 8 percent..."