Driving around his neighborhood Kearney, Missouri is both recreational and torture for Kathie Hodgson. She likes to see other people and; reminds me of how it was the COVID-19 But Hodgson life, a teacher of 41 years, living alone after a recent divorce, he says see happy families in their gardens to play or walk their dogs in a lonely spiral you dive Send deeply. “You know how much I appreciate my independence in the past year, I finally propose is that I want to cuddle on the couch at night with someone,” says Hodgson. The irony says Hodgson, who was greeted with enthusiasm alone in front of the living, she enjoys crown pandemic “me time” and see the newly acquired skills, the date and friends whenever they wanted, not long ago, She lived with her children (which has grown and expanded recently) and partners (who recently divorced). But now that it is limited almost 24 hours a day in their apartment, they feel the emptiness of their acute home. “Some days I smile and feel good,” said Hodgson. “And other days I have more curl too much, I will be able to take mentally into a ball and I wonder if this continues? I can only healthily for months his life last year?” Even before the pandemic, public health experts COVID-19 were concerned about an epidemic of loneliness in the United States has exacerbated the problem of the crown, with most face-to-face socialization for people who suffer orders still Lockdown open-ended limited time with members of their families. For the 35.7 million Americans who live alone, this means that no significant social contact, perhaps for months. Experts are concerned about the impact on the mental health of such widespread insulation reason, especially because there with long-term consequences is not agreed point of no return to the acute loneliness transitions into a chronic problem. A group of doctors at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, has warned in an April 22 commentary in the Annals of Internal Medicine is published that physical removal and the combined stress by the pandemic with the increase in sales of firearms, already in the United States they have a suicide crisis could get worse for more than a decade of weathering. paves the way for future socially connected the other hand are optimistic that some advocates of mental health COVID-19 finally the mainstream recognition is the loneliness that perhaps deserved. For this common experience that loneliness is surprisingly slippery define clinically. Loneliness is not in the DSM-5, the official diagnostic manual of mental illness, but it goes hand in hand with many conditions. E ‘often thrown together with social isolation in a pot, but the two concepts are different. Social isolation is an objective indicator of how contact someone has with other people during the loneliness “personal feelings of isolation,” says Dr. Carla Perissinotto, a geriatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, studied loneliness. Being alone does not necessarily mean she solitary, even the people around you do not mean, says Perissonotto. Loneliness is a feeling that only the person really lived can identify. It can also be difficult to distinguish whether loneliness is a symptom or a cause of a serious health problem: someone withdraw socially because they are depressed, or become depressed because only? In any case studies, chronic loneliness show clear connections to a host of health problems, including dementia, depression, anxiety, self-harm, heart disease and drug abuse. People without social support are less likely to fully recover from a serious illness than people with a strong network, studies show. The consequences on the health of loneliness are often compared to the effects of smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and a lot more often. While recent data show only 14% of American adults and about 5% of high school students smoke cigarettes, a January report by health insurer Cigna suggested about 60% of American adults felt a certain loneliness, even before of COVID-19 -Colpire pandemic. Since lockdowns and stay-at-home orders instated, they were about one-third of American adults report feeling more alone than usual, according to an April survey by the Social SocialPro consulting firm. Another poll, in April, the financial research group Value Penguin, put the number even higher, at 47%. If the stereotype of a single person is a frail, elderly people living alone, the pandemic Crown has exposed the truth, it was all the time: anyone, anywhere, of any age can experience solitude. SocialPro survey of 1,228 people aged between 18 and 75 lives mainly in English-speaking countries has found that at least 20% of respondents in each age group only surveyed more than usual due to the crown. Millennials were the most likely to feel lonely before age COVID-19, research shows, and this is no different than it is now; 34% of Millennials in the survey said they were “always or often” more just because of the pandemic. Sex was not a predictor, either: about 25% of women and 30% of men said they felt they CORONA-related loneliness. Neither life necessarily dictate sentiment. Caitrin Gladow, 41, has spent the last two months at home in New Orleans with her husband and three children, but she says she no longer felt alone. He says he has zero emotional energy for self-care, as they lose the people who juggle work, home schooling and parenting regular while dealing with “crippling” stress and anxiety and sadness in their communities crown . In addition, it says it is overwhelmed accused of feeling when so many people are worse off. “Even screaming in a house full of children, whom I love more than anything else, I find that I feel particularly vulnerable,” says Gladow. He feels “to be the glue of the family, and I try not to disappoint them, but in the process bröckele”. An unspoken pressure and, of course, remain older adults with a high risk of loneliness. Because of their vulnerability to serious COVID-19 infections, the elderly are probably more cut off from life outside they are. NORC at the University of Chicago third of adults 70 and older only found the pandemic Crown has made about than usual. In other words, loneliness is everywhere, especially now. “This is a big problem, but it’s pushed some kind of edge,” said Perissinotto. “Now everyone is forced to look in a different way. We can not continue to ignore this.” The technology has emerged as an imperfect solution. video chat platforms like zoom increasing in popularity, and almost every social media network is to remain himself as a so with friends virtually billing concurrently. Instagram March introduced a new feature that makes the bond during COVID-insulating posts 19 friends together over video chat, in particular for the promotion. Telecommunications companies like Samsung have donated intelligent devices help people stay connected in quarantine. There is also trying to make groups of the most significant digital communications community. Some existed before COVID-19, but extended to meet growing demand, as you will be authentic, a Philadelphia-area social group that pairs up members for the weekly video chat and communication exercises. He saw a marked upward trend in the use of its online programs, says a company representative. And in Maryland, the State Department of Aging program has adapted to automated daily for fashion elderly welfare checks that logs every elderly person receiving a personal phone call once a week, at least by a volunteer. “You know that someone is there for them should they need it, and that just makes you feel good,” said Rona department secretary Kramer. Other groups have emerged as a direct response to the crisis. A group of Cornell students built to match the user quarantine platform mate with similar interests for virtual calls, and so far attracted 8,000 people in 64 countries, aged 18 to 80. But research suggests not all equally benefited from digital interactions Several studies have found that older tools such as video chat and instant messages adults feel less alone can help, especially when others physically isolated and socialize can not help it. But interestingly, the research shows that loneliness can be lowered for younger adults when they use social media to reduce her. In normal life, and because the infinite scroll through social media posts from other people feel left out young people do, or it may be because the person replaced precious moments; COVID under-19 Lockdown social media can serve as a physical absence simply a painful reminder of their loved ones. Penguin value the recent survey 10% of respondents said they felt more alone only on video chat. Jessica Pflugrath, a 27-year-old freelance writer and editor who lives in Brooklyn, New York alone has to rely on video chat to stay in touch with their friends in a relationship, but she says that bear the discomfort of a nagging feeling . not always translate the ebb and flow of a personal interview on video, and be not like the pressure of having “on” all the time; They are not so easily to digital communication, even the distraction. “There is a shortage exists with people generally feel,” he says. But with few other options available, people should probably make the most of virtual platforms, says Rudolph Tanzi, vice chairman of neurology and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Stress associated with loneliness can trigger inflammation in the body, he says, which in turn is connected to a variety of chronic diseases. In the current environment, social interaction to suppress the stress response as a physical behavior such as getting enough sleep is just as important, playing sports, practiced yoga or meditation, and following a balanced diet, she says. “We use die, soziale Distanzierung’Begriff, but the term is completely wrong,” says Tanzi. “They want the taking of physical distance.” This is not social interaction includes about some of these Internet platforms. “As for the emotional use of virtual communication, the setting can Taitz says Jenny, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles.” When we write out a text message Friend us, “he says,” we will be able not enjoy or enjoy the dose of the compound, which offer us. “studies have shown that they feel social claimed a measurable difference to make mental health, regardless of how much socialization they actually do. Christine-Marie Liwag Dixon, 30 , years of practice in relation had is practical. most families are in Dixon the Philippines, but she and her husband live in the suburbs of New York, family reunions later extended are rare. “ni me more than a dozen cousins , and we have been and all in the same room, “he says. For years, Dixon, from having to pick up on little gestures of love, such as a text or a picture of a very good meal. This could be enough s and framed properly, he says. “Even the small, sporadic memories like that remind us that no matter how far we are from each other, even if we do not regularly see … we still love each other, we are still connected and we are still a family . “But to really resistant to change, also it requires the health care system into account. A February report concluded by the National Academy of Sciences, technology and medicine that health professionals to be older to screen for loneliness, and give warning signs in patient records, just like any other condition. During COVID-19, which can be best practice for patients of all ages. The report’s authors also called on the government and the health insurance companies to fund research on loneliness causes, effects and remedies, and pushed for education campaigns on the extent of the problem among people of all ages. Can anything help? Mindfulness training and cognitive-behavioral therapy can provide valuable anti-alone tools for people, whether young or be old social support perceived by reformulating to the way a noticeable difference in feelings of loneliness, says Taitz. And these techniques can easily be mediated by a mental health professional of telemedicine platforms, he adds. At the very least, COVID-19 alone makes it easier to talk about it, people might encourage them to seek the battle with his help or get in touch with the connections they have said Perissinotto. There is a certain stigma attached to mental illness, but solitude to speak clearly uncomfortable about it. It may seem like a personal failure does not feel to admit the social network that you want, and there is a tendency for the other victims of the blame, says Perissinotto. In a 1992 study of personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, for example, participants evaluated a solitary person imagined to be less sympathetic, socially competent and attractive not only a human being. Experts hope that the fact that loneliness is now mainstream and easier than ever to finally talk about the change of perception. Claire Lejeune, a 24 year old photographer based in Los Angeles, says it is not a solitary person by nature; their job, after all, involves being around people, and she is active and social in their personal lives. But when two of his roommates, rather than his own apartment elsewhere homeless and the third usually began to keep yourself, he says that you actually came up alone for the first time when they think-and it can be a bit ‘ uncomfortable with this embodiment. “I am privileged and do not do as bad as some people are quarantined. I say I feel a little ‘hurt to remember that I’m lonely because it’s like,’ Oh, it was blowing, ‘” said Lejeune. But tweeting about their feelings when they decided, he says, has been hit with a wave of support from people going through the same thing. “There was definitely a sense of community in solitude,” said Lejeune. “Everyone can relate to it.” Image Copyright Annie Flanagan for TIME
COVID-19 makes America loneliness worst epidemic
