I think it is well established that certain relationships can be even worse for a person's mental health than being alone, so it should not be surprising that other relationships can be neutral for long term mental health.
Great point. When I look at my married friends, many seem so miserable. So if you're having bad times with someone else then it's less dementia-causing than if you're just happily alone? That doesn't make sense. Even so, loneliness is part of the human condition; every one of us gets lonely from time to time, and yet all of us don't become demented.
Yes, I think it's very possible to "feel lonely" while in relationships, and I observed many who have been in such a situation. However, I think their main point is that basically "feeling lonely", whether in relationships or not (which is why they don't say "being alone"), is not healthy for the brain. I don't think that the word "perceived" is meant to say that such people are unaware of being physically in the presence of others or have a support network, it's just declaring a logically true statement: it is perceived because some people do have friends or company (see definition below), whether goods friends or bad friends.
It sounds to me that your idea of "feeling lonely" is an idea of being depressed, thus an abstract idea of mentally being alone. However, my idea of "being lonely", which is passive - as opposed to "being alone", which is active - is instead an image of social exclusion, rejection, and worst of all, dying alone as a result, as opposed to a chosen autonomy or an intentional rejection of others, where isolation is an option.
lonely:
adjective ( lonelier , loneliest )
- sad because one has no friends or company
- without companions; solitary
This is why they say "perceived". It's quite a literal translation.
To constantly feel that you are an outcaste in society, or to create negative imaginary social interactions in your head, cannot be good physiologically in the long run. And of course, if you have a significant other who reinforces all of those negative self-perceptions and fears, then it is just as bad, or worst.
Point of story: The common misperception that being alone is unhealthy is now seemingly untrue - it's rather
continually feeling lonely, which indicates that it is more mental than physical, and that even if we physically cannot always change a situation, we have the ability to change our position and perspective mentally.
Edited by JBForrester, 13 December 2012 - 10:55 AM.