A mountain of research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke and early death.

A mountain of research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke and early death.

Loneliness is officially a health emergency in California’s San Mateo County, which is located in the San Francisco Bay Area and includes part of Silicon Valley.

The county’s Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday that declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to explore measures that promote social connection in the community.

It’s the first county in the U.S. to make such a declaration.

  • @BurningnnTreeEnglish
    8•9 months ago

    I don’t understand why everyone is saying that loneliness is an epidemic and yet nobody is trying to develop solutions for it.

    If it were up to me, I would give funding to social psychologists to have them develop social programs to reduce loneliness. I’m talking about programs that actually get strangers together physically, on a regular basis, to help them form real friendships and communities. (Like Meetup.com, but more structured and more effective.) There are lots of different ways this could be approached, and I wish researchers would start running some experiments to see what works.

    • 【J】【u】【s】【t】【Z】
      1•9 months ago

      Saw this the other day, blue state delivering. Ned Lamont turning the force and attention of Connecticut public health agencies toward meaningfully addressing this problem. Seems like a lot of smart people are invested in this in CT as a holistic approach.

      https://portal.ct.gov/DPH/Newsroom/Press-Releases---2024/Social-connection

      “As a nation and a state, we are seeing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation. The health impacts of this epidemic are very real – they are so significant and so widespread that the U.S. Surgeon General has put social isolation and loneliness on the same level as public health crises like tobacco addiction, AIDS, drunk driving, obesity, and gun violence.” said Lt. Governor Bysiewicz. “We’ve seen recent efforts emerging to address this crisis, and today marks an important next step in exploring how we, as a state, can best address this issue.”

      Inspired by the work of U.S. Senator Chris Murphy and a recent advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General, the Social Connection Campaign will:

      Facilitate collaboration on an inter-agency basis to identify opportunities to foster greater social connection.

      Raise awareness of existing and new efforts by State Agencies that improve social connection.

      Work with partners beyond state government (federal, municipal, nonprofit, private, grassroots orgs and the public) to identify gaps, opportunities, and ideas related to improving social connection.

      “The Connecticut Department of Public Health is proud to be a part of the Social Connection Campaign and its mission of addressing the concerns of loneliness and isolation,” said Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “There are several public health issues that are exacerbated by isolation. Some of these include chronic diseases, suicide and gun violence, children and adults with special health care needs, pregnant women who do not have access to proper pre-natal care, and the lack of proper eating habits and physical activity.”

      …

      I think one problem is it’s so hard to trust strangers nowadays, hard to get to know who people really are.