United States: “The world is becoming lonelier and there’s some very, very worrisome consequences”, said Dr. Jeremy Nobel, the founder of The Foundation for Art and Healing, a nonprofit that addresses public health concerns through creative expression, which launched an initiative called Project Unlonely.
The United States too grappling with this epidemic called “loneliness”. Dr. Vivek Murthy, US Surgeon General said that the problem seeping in at the corners of our communities is loneliness.
The level of self-reported loneliness is setting a record. Murthy also said, “Most of us probably think of loneliness as just a bad feeling”, and “It turns out that loneliness has far greater implications for our health when we struggle with a sense of social disconnection, being lonely or isolated.”
Experts call loneliness, detrimental to mental and physical health which leads to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, and premature death.
At the same time, the public health leaders are planning to develop a framework to address this epidemic, according to the researchers, USA Today reported.
What is called loneliness?
Loneliness occurs when the connections a person needs in life are greater than the connections they have, said Murthy. Not everyone feels loneliness the same way or for the same reason since it’s so subjective to comprehend.
Psychological loneliness is experienced by some when they don’t feel like they have anyone to confide in or trust, USA Today reported.
Societal loneliness is feeling systematically excluded because of ‘a characteristic’- such as gender, race, or disability. Existential, or spiritual, loneliness comes from feeling disconnected from oneself.
Nobel, who is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said, “People can have all of these loneliness types at the same time”.
He said that loneliness is experienced throughout a person’s lifespan. It can shoot up as a result of trauma, illness, or the effects of aging. It can also be worsened by technology taking the place of human interaction, which is one of the main reasons why young people report the highest rates of loneliness.
Other populations that experience a high prevalence of loneliness and isolation include people with poor mental or physical health, disabilities, financial insecurities, single parents, or older populations.
As per Nobel, “This is why it’s so complicated when you try to address loneliness as a population health topic because it’s so varied based on the circumstances individuals have to navigate”, reported by USA Today.
USA and loneliness
Loneliness has worsened in recent years, says the expert. The University of Michigan’s National Poll on Healthy Aging showed data, which said- that among 50- to 80-year-olds, loneliness increased from 27% in October 2018 to 56% in June 2020, at the height of pandemic-era restrictions.
Nobel said as the American population becomes older, and sicker with chronic diseases, the rate of loneliness has increased. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, modern conveniences have also caused loneliness to expand dramatically across the population.
As USA Today reported, Murthy said- COVID-19 induced a boom in Zoom meetings and delivery services, which continued on some scale after restrictions on social distancing lifted. As a result, it leads to fewer opportunities for Americans to interact in person and build social connections. He also said, “We have to be intentional about building social connections in our life”.
Research shows that social media has exacerbated loneliness. Although “likes” and “followers” may make a person feel good at the moment, they don’t foster genuine connectedness with other people, Murthy said.
43% of young adults reported increases in loneliness since the outbreak of the pandemic, a Harvard study found. About half reported that no one in the past few weeks had “taken more than just a few minutes” to ask how they were doing in a way that made them feel like the person “genuinely cared.”
Murthy said, “You can be surrounded by lots of people and you can have lots of followers or connections on social media, but not necessarily feel like you’ve got somebody who knows you or shows up for you in a crisis”.
Loneliness and health issues
Loneliness can harm a person’s mental and physical health and often make it a lethal combination. Tackling this big problem would mean dealing with the greatest preventable risk factor for mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, addiction, self-harm, and suicidality, said Nobel. He noticed that all these problems can be set off and also exacerbate feelings of loneliness, as per the USA Today report.
Moreover, a report from The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory found that loneliness increases the rate of the risk of premature death by 26% and isolation by 29%. Murthy said in terms of your lifespan, continuing to live in loneliness is equivalent to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
Feeling lonely also increases a person’s risk of heart disease by 29% and the risk of stroke by 32%, as per the American Heart Association.
It is remarkable how penetrating the loneliness is, said the surgeon in general. One in two adults in the U.S. is living with measurable levels of loneliness – it’s a broader swath of the population than the number of people with diabetes, Murthy said. “Building social connections in our life has to be a vital priority.”
Lindsay Kobayashi, John G. Searle assistant professor of epidemiology and global public health at the University of Michigan School of Public Health said Loneliness could trigger stress hormones which cause, inflammation and dysregulates of bodily functions. Feeling lonely could also cause people to adopt unhealthy lifestyle behaviors like poor diet, smoking, and substance use, USA Today reported.
Lonely people may also be less motivated to seek preventive care, adhere to medication, and practice self-care, Nobel said.
Where does the solution lie?
Experts say recognition and awareness are important first steps to escaping loneliness.
As per Murthy, “There are a lot of people struggling with loneliness and it doesn’t mean that you’re broken or something is fundamentally wrong with you”.
As mentioned in USA Today, on an individual level, there are certain practices that people can perform, which ultimately could prevent them from feeling lonely. Murthy suggested- taking 15 minutes to reach out to someone you care about, looking for ways to serve others, and making the time count by giving other people your full attention and putting devices away.
Institutions like schools, employers, or health care systems, should also enthusiastically adopt public health strategies to head off loneliness at the pass. Tackling the nation’s loneliness epidemic will require that all sectors of society work together with a common goal, Murthy said.