“Americans were already lonely. Then Covid-19 hit.” Public health officials warn about a rising epidemic of loneliness, with rates of loneliness doubling over the past 50 years. Loneliness is deadlier than obesity, equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Lonely people have a 50 percent increased risk of early death.
From an evolutionary perspective: “Loneliness is the social equivalent of physical pain, hunger, and thirst; the pain of social disconnection and the hunger and thirst for social connection...” The report of clinicians and the hard research will have us re-thinking loneliness. This class will review the serious implications of the research and consider avenues of recovery.