Isolation, Part 1 of 2: Problems

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Loneliness can be a greater health risk than heavy smoking and obesity
 Length:  6 Minutes

See Also:

• Companionship Through First Fully Functional Female Robot, 8 Minutes
• Health Risks of Loneliness [Mayo Clinic] 01:28 
•  Surgeon General discusses health risks of loneliness and steps to help connect with others  08:10 
• Loneliness, A Growing Health Crisis in America,  06:11 

Consider

Friends are the family you choose.
Jess C. Scott

Succeed and Soar‘s Thrive! presents practices that can improve health and wellbeing. This post explores causes and cures for a new American epidemic, loneliness.      

The  Center for Disease Control [CDC] defines social isolation as situations where someone is either not connected to and/or supported by others. Loneliness is “feeling alone or disconnected” and “reflects the difference between a person’s actual and desired level of connection.” The CDC further states that social isolation and loneliness can increase risks for:

• Heart disease and stroke 
• Type 2 diabetes
• Depression, anxiety and dementia  
• Suicide, self-harm and earlier death 

A 2018 Cigna Health Care survey found that loneliness had reached an all-time high. Forty percent of participants said they either sometimes or always felt their relationships were not meaningful and that they felt isolated. Five years later, U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy reported that loneliness was a major public health risk  CDC reasons for these situations include:

• Technology’s isolation of people
• Too little time with family
• Overwork and fatigue
• Mental health issues
• An individualistic society
• Lack of religious or spiritual life

 Other at-risk groups include:

• Low-income adults
• Young adults
• Older adults
• Adults living alone
• Immigrants
• People who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual

Here are CDC suggestions for creating social connections that can reduce stress, allow better sleep and improve life’s healthiness and length:

Nurture varied relationships by

• Opening time for others.
• Creating a broader support network
• Joining groups with shared interests

Give and take by

• Helping others
• Expressing gratitude

Strengthen social connections

• Focus on building high-quality, strong, meaningful social connections.
• Find ways to be responsive, supportive and grateful to others.
• Take steps to address conflict or negative feelings when they arise.

Address barriers

• Take care of your health so you can readily connect socially and have fun.
• Don’t let screen time distract you from connecting with people in person.
  • Find ways to share the things you’re already doing, such as exercising or cooking with others.

 Parents can promote their children’s social connections by,

• Modeling healthy social interactions  
• Creating ways to meet different types of people
• Developing safe and stable relationships with adults [family, friends, neighbors, and teachers]
• Discussing negative influences like cyberbullying, peer pressure and rejection
• Watching for altered sleep patterns, changed energy levels and withdrawal from friends and family

Another resource is Dale Carnegie’s classic book How to Win Friends and Influence People. It includes these “Ways to Make People Like You,”

1. Become genuinely interested in other people and smile 
2. Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language 
3. Encourage others to talk about themselves 
4. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests 
5. Make the other person feel important, sincerely.
6. Here’s more tips, a free summary.    

Succeed and Soar!

Sandra Gould Ford
Presenting arts experiences to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thinking and inspire.

Research Resources:

• The Dangers of Isolation 
• Health Effects of Social Isolation 
• Helping Youth Struggling with Social Isolation 
• How to Win Friends and Influence People, The Best Summary  
• Improving Social Connectedness 
• Risks of Social Isolation 
• Strategies for Preventing Isolation in Older Adults 
• What is Causing Our Loneliness Epidemic? 

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