On March 4th 2023, at 5:47 am, we posted our curation on Loneliness. On May 6th 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General shared a report indicating how serious a health risk loneliness is. He said it is as deadly as smoking up to fifteen (15) cigarettes a day.
Read more here.
Below is our post on Loneliness dated March 4th 2023.
Loneliness and social disconnection are twin crises affecting modern life. The shift toward individualism and prioritizing the attention to self-seeking needs has led to a diminution in the value of social ties. Coming alongside with expansion of the virtual world and the recent social distancing measures to combat COVID 19- loneliness and social disconnection are not only precipitating mental health problems but are now thought to be associated with high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke.
Furthermore, it is important to distinguish between loneliness as part of the human existence and chronic loneliness because that’s when our ability to cope is endangered. Think of loneliness as a type of chronic stress. As loneliness is subjective in nature, it may mean asking ourselves about how connected we feel and taking action to heal. Curious about seeing if you are feeling lonely, try this test.
‘Social connectedness is a fundamental aspect of human nature. From an evolutionary perspective, social connection is not only beneficial to the species that receive support, but also evolutionarily adaptive to those who provide it. Neurobiological data further suggest that when an individual experiences social rejection, they experience increased activation in their stress response system as well as brain regions activated by physical pain, such as the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex.’ Jongho et al, JAMA Psychiatry December 2022.