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- Loneliness is becoming a public hazard not only in the US, UK, and Canada, but around the world as well
- Studies show that the more awareness is needed to help lessen the effects of the epidemic of loneliness, isolation, and depression
When talking to people about heartbreak or the desire to have a partner, it is often said that “People don’t need a man/woman to survive” or “Being single won’t hurt you”. Well, it turns out that that’s not exactly true.
Given that you have your family and friends to keep you from being lonely, they might not be with you all the time. There are also people who are interested to get married or have a family, which makes the lifestyle of a single man/woman much harder for them to endure in the long run.
Loneliness is becoming a public hazard that research from the New York Post has even went as far as the thought of “being single could kill you faster than obesity”.
Researches from the United States examined 218 students that are familiar with the feeling of loneliness and isolation. It was found out by The Huffington Post that lonely individuals raised a person’s death by 50%, compared to obesity which only has 30%.
According to Lead author and professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, being connected to others socially is wildly considered as a fundamental human need that is crucial to both their well-being and survival. One example is that infants who lack human contact may fail to thrive and often die. With that said, social isolation and solitary confinement were made as a punishment, and a large portion of the United State’s population experiences it regularly.
The Campaign to End Loneliness from the United Kindom states that the country’s loneliness epidemic costs somewhere in the range of $26 million per year that is used for helping with the health outcomes and sick days that come with loneliness and mental health.
The 2017 Census also states that loneliness is also becoming an epidemic for Canadians as well as more people are living alone with no parents or children.
Dr. Dhruv Khullar, a physician and researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York stated that there are significant signs that socially isolated people can experience, namely disrupted sleep, abnormal immune responses, as well as accelerated cognitive decline. Data collected from the Harvard Aging Brain Study also said that loneliness could also be a preclinical sign of Alzheimer’s disease.
As of loneliness and isolation are quickly becoming a global epidemic, awareness is needed more than ever. Remember that one of the worst things you can do for someone that is lonely, isolated and depressed, is nothing.
