Loneliness can be detrimental to your health and
research shows that it can be as bad for one’s health as a long-term
illness such as diabetes....
Some researchers have equated loneliness to smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being alcoholic. It is as harmful as not engaging in physical exercise and twice as bad as being obese.
Though
some people tend to associate loneliness with older people, studies
show that the disease does not discriminate. It affects both the young
and the old.
Worse still, is the fact that people that are lonely are more likely to die prematurely than people with a good social network.
“Social
isolation and loneliness are akin to a chronic long-term condition in
terms of the impact they have on our patients’ health and wellbeing,”
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard told a general practitioners meeting in Britain.
“Loneliness and social isolation are not the exclusive preserve of the
elderly. They are not something that can be treated with pharmaceuticals
or that can be referred for hospital treatment,” she was addressing the
Royal College of General Practitioners during its annual conference.
How to handle it
You
can handle loneliness by seeking to identify its cause(s) and
addressing them. By handling the challenge, which could be as a result
of broken relationships or internal wrangles within an individual, the
next step is to establish good connections with other people.
These could be like-minded friends or family members. Sometimes, it could be seeking help from trained health practitioners.
Also,
engage in new activities like exercising, joining a book club, or a
group to learn a new skill or language. By keeping yourself busy, you
engage your mind, and most importantly acquire new friends.
But
the most important relationship you should fix first is with yourself.
And this may mean correcting ways of thinking to be more positive and
practice self appreciation. Be happier with self and treat yourself
better. You deserve it!
As for health practitioners, what these patients “really need is someone to listen to them and to find purpose in life,” says Dr. Helen.
As
an individual, be the change you want to see in the world. Next time
you are seated/standing next to someone, be the first to know how they
are. It might be the only conversation they have had all day!
No comments: