{"id":113339,"date":"2022-08-18T22:26:06","date_gmt":"2022-08-19T02:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=113339"},"modified":"2022-08-18T22:26:06","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T02:26:06","slug":"loneliness-can-threaten-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=113339","title":{"rendered":"Loneliness Can Threaten Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Capital Blue Cross \u2013 \u00a0THINK<\/a>\u00a0(Trusted Health Information, News, and Knowledge) is a community publication of Capital Blue Cross. Our mission is to provide education, resources, and news on the latest health and insurance issues.<\/b><\/p>\n

Isolation, which spiked during the pandemic, has impacts beyond mental wellness. It can cause as much physical harm as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and more than a third of Americans suffer from it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if loneliness had never been on health researchers\u2019 radar before COVID-19.<\/p>\n

A 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation report found that nearly 60 million Americans \u2013 or 22% \u2013 often or always felt lonely or isolated. The problem is particularly poignant in adults over 60, 43% of whom reported feeling lonely.<\/p>\n

And in 2019, just prior to the pandemic\u2019s outbreak in America, the Health Resources & Services Administration cited a staggering warning that social isolation can cause as much harm as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.<\/p>\n

Loneliness spiked to crisis status during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from Harvard University\u2019s Making Caring Common Project, which found more than a third of all Americans \u2013 36% \u2013 feel \u201cserious loneliness.\u201d That includes 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with younger children.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe pandemic escalated (isolation) to an epidemic that carries long-term consequences that could potentially damage, or even cost, countless\u00a0lives.”<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u2014 Karie Batzler, Capital Blue Cross director of behavioral health<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cEmotional and physical isolation were already underreported problems prior to the pandemic,\u201d \u201cBut the pandemic escalated them to an epidemic that carries long-term consequences that could potentially damage, or even cost, countless lives. It\u2019s imperative, collectively as communities, that we work together to lessen loneliness, especially for those most susceptible to it, such as seniors and young adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issue has health implications that go beyond mental wellness. Several analyses have reported that loneliness carries a higher mortality risk than obesity.<\/p>\n

Lessening the Loneliness<\/b><\/p>\n

The good news is we can all help fight our feelings of isolation by:<\/p>\n