A
critical mass is reached where the emotional
desolation surpasses a slow but insidious
sublimation point and changes qualitatively into manifesting physically; the palms itch, the skin slowly turns blue, joints progressively get skewed and in extreme cases, the lips disappear.
Treatment: While remedies vary from case to case (there existing radical treatments recently developed for the variants being lonely in a crowd and loneliness while making love) the generally-applied topical treatment consists of sufficient dosages of antidepressants, television and/or conspicuous consumption such that the subject is no longer sensible enough to realize exactly how lonely they are. Terminal cases can be eased, if not cured, by granting the inflicted the succour of Internet access and letting them exchange thoughts 24 hours a day with lonely and desperate people all over the datasphere in a frantic mockery of real, face-to-face interaction. This measure is only to be taken for advanced cases, however, as once adopting the painkiller of network therapy subjects stop responding to lower-level, physically-healing treatments.
Ultimately the afflicted transcend and become entities of sheer data, their old bodies turning black and falling off as they roam the grid aching for a hug and the smell of a fresh loaf of bread.
There is no known cure for getting too lonely.