Loneliness Is a Public Health Emergency. Here ’s What Helps, According to Experts

When the pandemic first began, many experts feared that even people who managed to avoid the virus would suffer from unprecedented levels of loneliness. What would happen when millions of people were told to stay at home and distance themselves from friends and loved ones? Two years of research later, experts have found that the pandemic did make Americans slightly more lonely—but loneliness levels were already dire enough to pose a threat to mental and physical health. Here’s what you need to know about loneliness and how to address it in your own life. Who got lonelier during the pandemic? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Across the U.S. and European populations, the differences in loneliness before and after the pandemic are small. One meta-analysis published this year by the American Psychological Association analyzed 34 studies conducted before and during the pandemic that were focused on loneliness, an emotional state distinct from anxiety or depression that signals when social needs aren’t being met. Researchers found about a 5% increase in loneliness during the pandemic. The increases are “so tiny, and they actually don’t mean anything clinically at all,” says Pamela Qualter, a professor at the University of Manchester in the U.K. who studies loneliness (but who was not involved in the research). “Given that we were all at home for big lengths of time, I think it showed how people are really resilient. They worke...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news