"A new study finds that oxytocin, the 'cuddle hormone,' can reduce acute feelings of loneliness and enhance bonding in group therapy settings for individuals experiencing chronic loneliness.
While not a cure-all, oxytocin shows promise as a supportive tool during therapy, potentially helping patients better navigate the initial challenges of addressing their loneliness."
I contributed to a report for the WHO Behaviour and Cultural Insights Hub, so that's pretty cool. It's about how history (all sorts of times, contexts and considerations) can inform how we think about and address loneliness today, and is a super interesting read: https://bci-hub.org/documents/history-loneliness-what-we-know-so-far#history#loneliness
I find it interesting that some people think loneliness is a personal condition rather than a societal one. I never saw that argument generally made, but maybe people blame themselves for their own sense of loneliness?
"So much of contemporary discussion about the impact of social and technological changes on people’s psychology – from the influence of social media on the wellbeing of the young to the effect of hyper-individualism on our sense of self – fetishises the psychology at the expense of social analysis. We look for loneliness inside our heads when its source lies all around us, in the destruction of collective life, the erosion of communal bonds, the ruin of civil society, the squeezing of public spaces. We could do with obsessing less about personality types than about the obsession with the psychological at the expense of the social."
Excellent article on loneliness, not just on the support and social aspect, but the problems with not feeling you have any control.
“Loneliness has always been explained as a deficit in the satisfaction of one’s communion or relational needs,” Ybarra says. “But in addition to communion needs, individuals also need agency, personal control and choice, and not meeting this need should also affect experienced loneliness.”
I'm trying to sign up for men's #cooking#lessons here in #Japan to placate my busy #Japanese wife. While she was away, I made this cheese omelette; beginner's luck! A #community center has me on a waiting list, or I could spill for more upscale lessons. It is astonishing and unJapanese that single-person #households are approaching 40%. #Single#men of all ages have a poor #diet, which exacerbates the #lifespan gap with #women. #Loneliness is also a #health hazard. Many men are #widowed, never #married, or their #wives#divorce them, often after the children become independent and the husband is useless around the house after a busy career. Single men, or married men interested in cooking or helping their wives, possibly fearing their wives' pent-up anger, can find #companionship as well as #survival#skills in cooking lessons. Men's classes start from zero; women #cook and #socialize.
A mountain of research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke and early death. The Board of Supervisors of San Mateo county, which includes part of Silicon Valley, passed a resolution on Tuesday that declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to explore...
Lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%.
“Social connection is beneficial for individual health and also improves the resilience of our communities. Evidence shows that increased connection can help reduce the risk of serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, dementia, and depression.”
I am a Pebble (2020) [7 min] by Mélanie Berteraut Platon, Yasmine Bresson, Léo Coulombier, Nicolas Grondin, Maxime Le Chapelain and Louise Massé | #France
I run physical events in #Toronto. To create a low barrier (ie, cheap or free) event, I have to do free labour. The hardest part is finding space to meet. Even some condo party rooms have gone up to $100/hr, with a $200 deposit.
We need to talk about housing AND living. Where can you have a friendly conversation in the winter without spending money?
The city does not create accessible spaces for community building. This has a human cost.
Not into this holiday because it's not your faith or you are alone? Please share ideas of things we can do to make it a better day and something we can improve on next year, if not today..
Other ideas/feedback needed, please!
Here we go..
.. Virtual truth or dare games (apply ethics, practice safety without identifying where you live, etc) ie: audio clip singing posts, audio clip of asking neighbour for a cup of sugar, do a moon walk, call and old acquaintance/describe the outcome, etc
.. Photo challenges
.. Unique dinner pics
.. Prepare & share scavenger hunt ideas
.. Find, do and share something artistic
.. Share a gratitude list
.. Make/share a goal or bucket list
.. Make & share a vision board
.. Do a Tye-dye challenge
.. Host a zoom party with strangers--use new/emails for privacy
.. Make kindness rocks, photograph where you left them
.. Do a sidewalk chalk challenge
.. Discuss/promote ur favourite artists, musicians, writers, poets, books, etc
.. Have an upcycle challenge and share pics
.. Create an online discussion game: rewrite movie quotes,
.. Share a personal life hack ie I use a pen's pocket clip to old nails in awkward spaces (also safer lol)
.. Discuss time capsule items and bury them at a local beach in a metal container.. Fun for ppl with metal detectors to find yrs later
.. Make a virtual wish tree (thread?)
.. Volunteer challenge
.. Create a movie watching group, use a countdown to all stream at the same time.. Discuss in a zoom mtg, concurrently?
.. Discuss ideas to help someone in your neighbourhood and report back with accomplishments
.. Use secure privacy apps like signal or threema to form friendship groups
Are you #alone on Christmas? Do you feel #lonely and need some people to #chat? Subscribe to the hashtag # JoinIn (I made a space to avoid spamming it).
It is for connecting people who want to chat with anybody or want to share something these days. Often you find people with an open ear but also people who need some consolation or just distraction.
I liked the part where the narrator distinguishes between loneliness - an unpleasant feeling of not being emotionally understood, or socially connected to - and being physically alone (not being around other people).
Solitude is not necessarily a bad thing, while on the flip-side, you can feel lonely even though you are around other people.
Compassion - karuna - has built into it a deep sense of acceptance and understanding directed towards the recipient, despite their flaws and foibles. It's possible to direct compassion towards oneself, and have a deep, heavenly peacefulness, whereby this need for being understood is quenched with that acceptance and understanding.
Compassion towards oneself is a powerful antidote to #loneliness. Don't wait for others to be compassionate and empathetic towards you, should you not have enough of those people in your life. Fulfill your own need to be understood, by knowing and accepting yourself, all snug and cozy and warm in the glow of Brahmaviharic-grade compassion. It's tremendously therapeutic.
Silicon Valley county becomes first in U.S. to declare loneliness a health emergency (www.nbcnews.com)
A mountain of research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke and early death. The Board of Supervisors of San Mateo county, which includes part of Silicon Valley, passed a resolution on Tuesday that declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to explore...