The brain processes loneliness in the same area as physical pain.  I know this because I've spent nights in tears over broken parts and pieces that no medicine could heal, that no bandage could fix, that no words could make better.  It's a sickness, being trapped inside your own mind sometimes - I don't know what happens when you can't find your way out.  The twists that my path to growing up has taken have been harsh, with severe consequences on either side of the coin.  Sometimes fear manifests itself in ugly ways; it makes you hate the person you've become, it seeps into every cell of your being and eats you alive from the inside out.  It manifests itself in harsh criticisms and negative words, in persistent pessimism and doubt, being too afraid to try anything at the risk of experiencing failure.  Screaming at yourself that you aren't good enough, you'll never be good enough!  Loneliness is a bitch, and isolation is her sister, neither of whom I'd like to encounter again any time soon.  These days I'd rather keep my head up and my shoulders high, the promises I've made to myself are of far greater importance than any empty notions or words that have been given to me in the past.  I love me, and I'm truly not givin a fuck what anybody else thinks.