Study: Loneliness, Social Isolation Greater Health Problem in US Than Obesity
Loneliness is a psychological problem masquerading as a social one.<p>Look, there are people all around us. Neighborhood streets have, what, 50 people on them? People congregate at churches, bars, coffee shops, even Wal-Marts.<p>Loneliness is a self-inflicted problem. I&#x27;m not saying that to belittle it, I&#x27;m saying it because the reasons most people give for being lonely have nothing to do with the actual reasons.<p>Real, authentic human connections banish loneliness with a ruthless effectiveness. And you can make one with anyone. But we never want to make an authentic human connection with just anyone. We place conditions on the people we&#x27;re willing to get close to. And paint ourselves into a very lonely corner by doing it.<p>I used to get lonely a lot in my mid-twenties. I had a bar I went to, a coffee shop I frequented, and good friends at both of them. But I was still lonely. It took a lot of self-inquiry, but eventually I realized that I didn&#x27;t have a loneliness problem, I had a <i>status</i> problem that was presenting as loneliness. I wasn&#x27;t seeing my life as having turned out the way I wanted it to, so I was beating myself up over it.<p>Psychological problems respond really well to talk therapy. Unfortunately that&#x27;s not a very good solution. We don&#x27;t have the resources to give everybody with the problem therapy. Instead I think we need to adopt a similar approach that&#x27;s being used for suicide prevention. Train &quot;gatekeepers&quot; to identify at-risk individuals and get them the help they need, and increase awareness in the general public.<p>I wish we could do more. But without massive a public investment in psychological health, personalized treatment will remain a luxury solution for those who can afford it.<p>There&#x27;s also the problem that, even if the infrastructure were there, that doesn&#x27;t mean people will take advantage of it. Loneliness is tied very closely to the pride part of the brain, nobody wants to admit they have a problem and seek out help for it.