2023-11-16 22:29:00
The director of Public Health of the United States reported that that country faces a “loneliness epidemic” and assured that this scourge is more dangerous than obesity, physical inactivity and even smoking 15 cigarettes a day. In that sense, he pointed out that technology has exacerbated the problem and warned that this increases the chances of suffering from depression, anxiety and dementia.
This was expressed by Dr. Vivek Murthy, who this week at a United Nations (UN) commission on social connectionwhich aims to address global isolation and the higher rates of stroke, anxiety, dementia, depression and suicide it causes.
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Loneliness levels have been rising for years, but quickly worsened amid the so-called “pandemic lockdowns,” recorded since early 2020 with the outbreak of the coronavirus.
According to the official, the problem goes beyond what is happening in the United States and pointed out that around a quarter of older people around the world are socially isolated, as well as among the 5 and 15% of adolescentsaccording to an investigation that was nevertheless defined as “a probable undercount.”
Dr Murthy, who will co-chair the 11-member World Health Organization (WHO) panel, said the lockdown had “deep social and health consequences“, including a 30% greater chance of heart disease.
“We have an obligation to make the same investments to rebuild the social fabric of society that we have made to address other global health problems, such as tobacco use, obesity and the addiction crisis,” said the professional. In May, Dr. Murthy urged Americans to connect more with friends, family and colleagues, and to spend less time “online,” glued to computer screens and cell phones.
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“Being socially disconnected is so bad for you how to smoke 15 cigarettes a day“he had explained in his notice. Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by almost 30%, and those with poor social relationships also have a higher risk of stroke and heart disease.
Isolation also increases a person’s likelihood of experiencing depression, anxiety, and dementia.
The problem of loneliness
A recent study found that people who use social media “for two hours or more a day have more than double the odds of feeling socially isolated” than those who are on these applications “for less than 30 minutes a day.
In the case of the United States, its inhabitants “have become less involved with places of worship, community groups and even with their own family, and have consistently reported increasing feelings of loneliness” over the past two decades. The number of single households in this country has also doubled in the last 60 years.
Additionally, he adds that socially connected people live longer, since loneliness can cause chronic stress, which causes inflammation that damages tissues and blood vessels.
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