319
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.

(page 2) 29 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's why I'm glad I have friends I talk to every day, even if just online, and online communities I participate in, like through Lemmy or through Discord. It does help to stay connected to others.

[-] LemmyHead@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

You do get quality experiences from that? I feel most online communication platforms nowadays are basically "post and don't look back" or "comment once and bye". Before we had more dominantly forums where topics were discussed over a long period and even between the same people, and you'd easily recognize and connect with people. Lemmy (and reddit) also falls in the first category: you hardly make any connections and topics get abandoned after they disappeared from the front page.

[-] ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I've had some in-depth conversations through Lemmy and Discord, and even group voice chat gaming with friends through Discord. I can get meaningful communication experiences through these platforms IMO, yeah.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I'm not dead yet

[-] Hyperreality@kbin.social 1 points 10 months ago
[-] Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 10 months ago

I think the problem is literal mobility and social mobility. The friction between me and having a social experience ia huge. I have to drive, pay money to be in a private business space, and it all has to be easy enough to make happen that I can do it alone. We mostly have businesses and activities that suit multiple people going together.

So I imagine if there were more parks, more kinds of public activities, there was transit where Im surrounded by people going to the same place who I can ask for advice - that would be a huge improvement.

[-] dukatos@lemm.ee 1 points 10 months ago
[-] schwim@reddthat.com 1 points 10 months ago

I prefer an early death to hanging out with you filthy animals.

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 24 Dec 2023
319 points (97.1% liked)

News

23296 readers
2319 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS