Telling yourself you need time alone is fine, but experiencing constant aloneness has become a national concern we must address.
A serious problem, loneliness can have a negative effect on a country’s overall health, including its physical and emotional well-being. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy asserts that loneliness poses a serious risk to one’s health and may even be fatal. According to some countries, up to one in three older individuals experience social isolation and loneliness.
The former Surgeon General Murthy didn’t realize how much co-worker interactions meant to him or how neglectful he had been in maintaining them until he left the job. It was then that he realized how he permitted his work, and his belief that he always had to be at it, to prevent work friendships; he saw how he forgot the bonds at work that are invisible but intensely important to him and us.
As Dr. Murthy wrote in a NY Times article, “…we have to take steps in our personal lives to rebuild our connection to one another — and small steps can make a big difference. This is medicine hiding in plain sight: Evidence shows that connection is linked to better heart health, brain health, and immunity.”
Physical and mental health are both negatively impacted by loneliness in a wide range of ways, including an increased risk of sleep issues, depression, dementia, heart issues, and other issues. Other detrimental effects include drug and alcohol abuse, altered brain function, the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, antisocial behavior, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, decreased memory and learning, elevated stress levels, poor decision-making, and an increased risk of early death by 30%, which is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
The pandemic has made loneliness a bigger problem, isolating elderly people who formerly lived alone even more and isolating those who reside in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. According to studies, social isolation, and loneliness raise the chance of developing conditions like heart disease, depression, and cognitive decline.
Fortunately, if we choose, there are a number of approaches to overcoming loneliness. Reaching out to friends and relatives, engaging in social activities, volunteering, joining an organization or club, getting a pet, and looking for professional assistance, such as therapy or counseling, are a few of these. Fighting loneliness and its detrimental consequences for both physical and mental health requires developing and sustaining strong social ties.
Loneliness is a serious problem that can have a considerable effect on a nation’s overall health, including both physical and emotional well-being. The resources are there, and friendships are waiting, too, if we avail ourselves of the opportunity to open up our lives and allow others in. It may seem like a selfish thing to do, but everyone benefits here, so it is not selfish.
The choices are ours to make, whether we wish to languish in loneliness or remain a healthy, vibrant nation with our citizens enjoying each and every year of life with which they are blessed.