Do you have a deeply trusted confidant, a friend so special and so dear to your heart that you feel totally at ease talking to her about your deepest secrets, your most profound sorrows, and your greatest joys?

Do you have more than one?

If you answered yes to one or both of the above two questions, you are part of a very fortunate but ever-shrinking group of Americans, according to an important new study about the widespread growth of social isolation in the United States.

Lynn Smith-Lovin, a sociology professor at Duke University, and one of the key researchers involved in conducting this in-depth, comprehensive study, says the findings indicate that one fourth of Americans reported feeling that they have nobody with whom they can discuss their innermost thoughts, worries and woes.