Loneliness as dangerous as smoking, says US surgeon general

[borosp1]

Interesting article on how loneliness may cause many secondary issues including heart disease, diabetes, and early death. I think this all goes with the lack of understanding and lack of political will to address the role mental health plays in a humans life is not talked about enough in society as a whole. With the advent of Work From Home culture to the addiction of social media and internet addiction as whole makes some of us in societies live a life online vs. the real world.

A top US health official has warned the country is facing an epidemic of loneliness that is as dangerous to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
The Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has released an advisory calling for social isolation to be treated as seriously as obesity or drug abuse.
It warns that almost half of all Americans from all walks of life are thought to have been affected.
Mr Murthy has also unveiled a national framework to rebuild social connection.
Loneliness is reported to increase the risk of premature death by almost 30% - through health conditions including diabetes, heart attacks, insomnia and dementia.
Lack of social connection is also linked to lower academic achievement and worse performance at work, according to the advisory.

The issue has been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, which led many people to reduce the size of their social circles.
One study quoted in the report found a 16% decrease on average in the social network size of participants from June 2019 to June 2020.
In order to tackle this, Mr Murthy has called for a collective effort to "to mend the social fabric of our nation" in order to "destigmatise loneliness and change our cultural and policy response to it".
His strategy has six pillars that include efforts to strengthen social infrastructure in communities, in part by utilising public health systems.
The advisory calls for more "pro-connection public policies" that are developed with the help of a research agenda to help address gaps in the data surrounding the effects of social isolation.
It also highlights the need for more data transparency from tech firms and a reform of digital environments.

The advisory is part of the Biden administration's broader efforts to address mental health, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday. May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US.
While the declaration is intended to increase awareness, no new promises of federal funding to combat the issue have so far been made.

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recounts bout of profound loneliness

US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy tells of his struggle with isolation, likened to the danger of smoking.

www.bbc.com

and

Loneliness declared an epidemic, poses risks as deadly as smoking, surgeon general says

Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday i…

thehill.com

 

[nakedfrog]

"Working from home" doesn't automatically translate to loneliness. I'm an introvert, I very much treasure my time spent alone, but I also go out at least once a week and play with other musicians (people I actually like and share common interests with, versus being in an office where our common interest was "we work at the same place" mostly), in addition to participating in other community activities.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Meh. I don't mind being on my own. I don't smoke, but maybe I should consider stopping smoking (taken in context with the thread title).

 

[nakedfrog]

Meh. I don't mind being on my own. I don't smoke, but maybe I should consider stopping smoking (taken in context with the thread title).

You should consider taking up smoking, liberals hate it. It's a blatant display of your machismo and disregard for those around you.

 

[FelixDeCat]

You should consider taking up smoking, liberals hate it. It's a blatant display of your machismo and disregard for those around you.

Do Marlboros taste good with Bud Light? The pack still needs to get into my skinny jeans.

 

[nakedfrog]

Do Marlboros taste good with Bud Light? The pack still needs to get into my skinny jeans.

Heck yeah, they go together like kissing and cousins!

 

[Zorba]

"Working from home" doesn't automatically translate to loneliness. I'm an introvert, I very much treasure my time spent alone, but I also go out at least once a week and play with other musicians (people I actually like and share common interests with, versus being in an office where our common interest was "we work at the same place" mostly), in addition to participating in other community activities.

Yeah, I'm much more social with work from home. I also actually hang out with some of my coworkers away from work now too. Don't waste my social energy in the office or my patience commuting.

I think a huge problem is we are massively converting things that used to be community experiences into individual experiences. Just take TV as an example, 20 years ago a huge chunk of the country watched Friends and/or Seinfeld at the same time and talked about it the next day. Now who even knows what shows are popular and they are watched completely individually.

Music is similar, we aren't all exposed to the same handful of radio stations or music videos, instead we all listen to our mix. It breaks down that cultural tie we used to have, and also makes so no new music can break through.

 

[Pens1566]

I'm full time WFH since March of 2020. Our company isn't going back as our productivity actually went up by a large chunk.

What was eliminated (besides commute) was dealing with all the in person distractions from people I'd rather ignore. Still interact with those I like at least as much I did prior. It's just not necessarily in person now. I've not heard from anyone that wants to go back to the old way. At least not from our office.

 

[borosp1]

I'm full time WFH since March of 2020. Our company isn't going back as our productivity actually went up by a large chunk.

What was eliminated (besides commute) was dealing with all the in person distractions from people I'd rather ignore. Still interact with those I like at least as much I did prior. It's just not necessarily in person now. I've not heard from anyone that wants to go back to the old way. At least not from our office.

its not the work from home is the issue as your work relationships are not real. 99% of the office relationships are transactional (what can you do for me / what can I do for you). The issue lies if you actually have a real relationships with people outside the work environment. A lot of peoples identity is tied to their job and once that job goes away voluntarily or not they don't know what to do with themselves. A lot of people in this modern time we live in the computer age where their online persona is their main life without actual real relationships which causes a lot of mental /physical long term health damage.

 

[Pens1566]

its not the work from home is the issue as your work relationships are not real. 99% of the office relationships are transactional (what can you do for me / what can I do for you). The issue lies if you actually have a real relationships with people outside the work environment. A lot of peoples identity is tied to their job and once that job goes away voluntarily or not they don't know what to do with themselves. A lot of people in this modern time we live in the computer age where their online persona is their main life without actual real relationships which causes a lot of mental /physical long term health damage.

Well, I guess it's a "them" problem then ...

 

[ch33zw1z]

Universal basic income, focus on community. My .02

 

[Perknose]

I've no doubt whatsoever that extreme isolation from others affects a person's mental health which can affect a person's physical health, but my quibble with these findings is that folks (elderly and such) who end up in this position are also likely to be in less good health to begin with.

Such folks are also likely to be disproportionately poorer, with worse diets and other health impairing lifestyle habits (exercise, alcohol, drugs, etc.)

In short, while I instinctively agree that we are not built to live absent all friends and family (extreme isolation) -- "no man is an island" -- the variable of isolation (lonlieness) has not been separated from all the other factors that pertain for many such people here.