Loneliness has been a huge theme in my life, a result of extreme childhood neglect.  Ever since I started dating as a teenager I have never gone more than a week being single because I can't handle being alone.  I have to have someone to tell my every thought to throughout the day, either a Favorite person or a significant other.  After my recent divorce I decided to break that habit and force myself to be single for a while and not emotionally attach to some poor unsuspecting soul, so there currently is no FP or SO in my life.   But it feels like I have no purpose if there isn't someone in my life that cares about me in that intimate/emotional type of way. It's like being needed by someone is what validates me.   I get panicky if I wake up to no text messages from specific people I've started to attach to and my entire day is then riddled with anxiety until I hear from them again.  I do so well putting on a calm and collected front but inside I feel so overwhelmingly alone. Hanging out with friends doesn't help.  I still feel like I'm the only person in the room.  I drink heavily to keep myself numb and I know that is probably making it worse.   Does anyone know how to cope with this?  I'm going thru therapy but it's a very slow process and we are tackling so many things that we haven't focused on this subject yet.