You Are (Not) Alone

Loneliness is low-key the root of so many of the mental health and social welfare issues today, yet nobody seems to know how to talk about or solve it.

 
Loneliness is a tough topic to tackle. It’s so widespread, yet we still know little about how or why it happens.

 
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH LONELINESS?

First, here are a couple of things that we know that are probably true:

• Loneliness is widespread in the western world.In numerous surveys in the US and Europe, anywhere from 30% to 60% of the population self-reports feeling lonely and/or says that they have no meaningful in-person interactions on a daily basis.What’s more surprising is that younger people often report experiencing more loneliness than older people.
• Loneliness is bad for you.Here’s a famous stat that gets bandied about claiming that loneliness shortens your lifespan as much as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. I always think it’s pretty ridiculous how they calculate these factoids, but the point remains: loneliness is unhealthy, both physically and mentally.It raises the risk of anxiety and depression. It also harms your physical health. Studies find that people who are lonely experience more heart disease, high blood pressure, and weaker immune systems.

 
Συνέχεια εδώ: markmanson.net