MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023 - LONELINESS

 MONDAY, MAY 8, 2023 - LONELINESS

(Mostly from news sources today -with a few comments from me)

America's top doctor declares LONELINESS an epidemic and warns it's as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day

• Being lonely is as bad for you as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the advisory said

• US surgeon general Vivek Murthy said: 'Answer that phone call from a friend

• READ MORE: Loneliness epidemic is one reason why US life expectancy is falling

Fifteen cigarettes a day. A typical pack of cigarettes holds 20 cigarettes - so, loneliness is like smoking 3/4ths of a pack of cigarettes a day.

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Loneliness is the next big public health crisis, the US surgeon general has said.

Dr. Vivek Murthy (US Surgeon General)  said social isolation was as bad as smoking 15 cigarettes per day and should be treated with the same urgency as 'tobacco use, obesity, and the addiction crisis'.

Lonely people are up to 30 percent more likely to suffer heart disease, previous research has suggested. They are also at a greater risk for dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and early death. 

(Karen adds - 30% more likely - for a lot of things -including dementia, heart disease, stroke, and depression - OUCH!!)!

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Social segregation has been rising over the years and was made worse by lockdowns during the pandemic. Americans spent about 20 minutes a day in person with friends in 2020, down from 60 minutes daily nearly two decades earlier.

Dr Murthy's advisory, released Tuesday, called for people to engage more with friends, relatives, and colleagues, and spend less time online and on social media.

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(Karen adds - many years ago a speaker was talking about seeing two teenage couples in a convenience store.  The two boys were playing a video game and the two girls were watching.  The speaker said ‘That is the demise of Western Civilization’.  I’ve taught about that comment over the years as kids played more video games, watched more television, and spent more time alone. Instead of conversation - and even making out, they were mostly doing anti-social activities.)

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To counter the loneliness epidemic, Dr. Murthy said children need to be taught how to build and maintain healthy relationships.

Dr. Murthy said: 'Answer that phone call from a friend. Make time to share a meal. Listen without the distraction of your phone. Perform an act of service. Express yourself authentically.' 

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There are times when I’m out to lunch with a friend that we see other tables with couples not talking to each other but on their phones.  Maybe they are texting, maybe checking social media, maybe even checking baseball scores - but they are NOT talking to each other)

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Research cited in the advisory found that time spent with friends dropped 20 hours a month between 2003 and 2020. Meanwhile, time spent alone shot up by a whole 24 hours a month, likely exacerbated by Covid lockdowns.

Now more than half of Americans experience loneliness, particularly younger adults. 

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The old expression “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” 

“The popular proverb "An idle mind is the devil's workshop" teaches us that evil thoughts enter our mind easily when we are lazy and idle. When a man is overcome by idleness, all sorts of evil ideas come to his mind and it becomes the perfect place for the devil to do evil works.
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Socially connected people live longer, as loneliness can cause chronic stress, which leads to inflammation which damages tissues and blood vessels. (And, as mentioned above depression, dementia, heart attack, and stroke).

We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It's like hunger or thirst. It's a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,' Dr Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. 

'Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that's not right. That's why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing.'

The declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness but will not unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combatting the issue.

Research shows that Americans, who have become less engaged with worship houses, community organizations, and even their own family members in recent decades, have steadily reported an increase in feelings of loneliness. The number of single households has also doubled over the last 60 years.

But the crisis deepened when Covid spread, prompting schools and workplaces to shut their doors and sending millions of Americans to isolate at home away from relatives or friends.

People culled their friend groups during the coronavirus pandemic and reduced time spent with those friends, the surgeon general's report found.

The loneliness epidemic is hitting young people, ages 15 to 24, especially hard. The age group reported a 70 percent drop in time spent with friends during the same period.

Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30 percent, with the report revealing that those with poor social relationships also had a greater risk of stroke and heart disease. Isolation also elevates a person's likelihood of experiencing depression, anxiety, and dementia.

The surgeon general is calling on workplaces, schools, technology companies, community organizations, parents, and other people to make changes that will boost the country's connectedness. 

He advised people to join community groups and put down their phones when they're catching up with friends; employers to think carefully about their remote work policies; and health systems to provide training for doctors to recognize the health risks of loneliness.

Technology has rapidly exacerbated the loneliness problem, with one study cited in the report finding that people who used social media for two hours or more daily were more than twice as likely to report feeling socially isolated than those who were on such apps for less than 30 minutes a day.

Dr. Murthy said social media is driving the increase in loneliness in particular. His report suggests that technology companies roll out protections for children, especially around their social media behavior.

Dr. Murthy said: 'There's really no substitute for in-person interaction. As we shifted to use technology more and more for our communication, we lost out on a lot of that in-person interaction. How do we design technology that strengthens our relationships as opposed to weakening them?'

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Karen adds.  I’ve lived alone for five years.  I’ve been lonely.  It seems lately that I’m slacking off on getting outside, going to exercise, or meeting up with friends.  

In my work at the senior housing facility, I know some people have become hermits - rarely interacting with others.  Some even get their meals in their rooms instead of going to the dining room where you might actually talk with another human.  

I’ll look more at this tomorrow!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, MAY 8, 2023