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submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

America has a new epidemic. It can’t be treated using traditional therapies even though it has debilitating and even deadly consequences.

The problem seeping in at the corners of our communities is loneliness and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is hoping to generate awareness and offer remedies before it claims more lives.

“Most of us probably think of loneliness as just a bad feeling,” he told USA TODAY. “It turns out that loneliness has far greater implications for our health when we struggle with a sense of social disconnection, being lonely or isolated.”

Loneliness is detrimental to mental and physical health, experts say, leading to an increased risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke and premature death. As researchers track record levels of self-reported loneliness, public health leaders are banding together to develop a public health framework to address the epidemic.

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[-] breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca 22 points 10 months ago

Everyone should be assigned a new middle name based on a random object and number. Then everyone with the same middle name should be considered cousins. I'll be Dr. Wilbur Daffodil-11, for example. All the Daffodil-11s will be an extended family -- I'll have family everywhere I go. Drop a pin on a map and you'll find family members to meet or catch up with! Lonesome no more!

[-] lolcatnip@reddthat.com 31 points 10 months ago

I don't even want to keep up with my real cousins.

[-] breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Ah, the loneliness of the apple fallen too far from the tree is perhaps the greatest loneliness of all. A family unmoored from the millstone of genetics might just be the solution you need! Don't let your blood ties get you down, my friend. Recording and producing legend Quincy Jones? COUSIN (and you can call him "Q"!). Secretary of a society for the preservation of local birds, Maggie Mumphries (who I just made up)? PRIMOS. Renowned author and pediatrician Mark Vonnegut? Cut off your sleeves and crack open a Corona like Dom Turetto cuz you're FAMILY.

#LonesomeNoMore2024

[-] Yamainwitch@lemmy.world 11 points 10 months ago

I feel this on such a deep level you don't even know. Yamainwitch is always here for you my darlings! Cousins? Hell yeah! Siblings? Why not! For all my fellow unwanteds, I want you, I see you and I love you!!

[-] Kase@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

I love your energy

[-] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 months ago

If everybody is family like that, wouldn't it just lose it's entire meaning and family would stop being something to consider?

[-] S_204@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago

There are cultures around the world that work like this. I'm quite confident that I can knock on the door containing the symbol of my people anywhere in the world I can find it and with a few simple words be invited in for a meal and a visit.

You just gotta know the vampire code secret words.

[-] sneezycat@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago

That's fine and dandy until cousin Joe Daffodil-11 stabs you at the Wendy's parking lot.

this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
319 points (97.1% liked)

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