“The Forgotten Epidemic: Loneliness in America”

2023-05-20 04:00:00

One scourge does not wait for the other, it seems to me, for a few years. Here in the United States, we kill each other, we contaminate each other, we poison each other’s lives. More slyly, we let ourselves down and isolate ourselves to the point of making ourselves sick. Warning to lonely hearts!

Scientists warned us that it was only a matter of time before a global public health crisis hit us. Still, the virulence of the COVID-19 pandemic has left us stunned: over 1.33 million deaths in the United States; nearly 18,000 in Quebec; seven million worldwide.

The consequences have not finished being felt. Entire sectors of the economy have been disrupted and are still struggling to restart. By putting all the pupils and students together, these are years of schooling that have been squandered with the closure of schools. However, we have moved on, let’s face it, to something else.

The Americans are also elsewhere. Asked last week regarding the biggest threats to public health, barely 3% of them placed COVID-19 among the priorities. Armed violence has instead moved to the top of their concerns.

A RECORD THAT SHAMES

Montreal experienced its eighth and ninth homicides this week since the beginning of the year, distressing figures. For half the population, the city of Washington is sadly down to 85 murders. Yesterday at 139^e day of the year, 227 mass shootings had been recorded across the United States. We are approaching two a day, a distressing record.

Another lamentable toll is that of victims of drug and medicine overdoses: nearly 110,000 dead, just for 2022.

Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid often mixed with stimulants and other drugs, acts like a real reaper. Three out of four overdose deaths are due to synthetic opioids.

DON’T LET ME DIE ALONE!

Earlier this month, the top public health official in the United States, the “Surgeon General” as he is known, sounded the alarm regarding another health risk to his countrymen: loneliness. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that nearly half of Americans feel lonely or isolated.

With physical consequences as real as thirst and hunger: 29% increased risk of heart disease, 32% increased risk of stroke and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia in the elderly.

Concretely, according to the D^r Vivek H. Murthy, living in loneliness is as deadly a health hazard as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. No doubt in his eyes, this is the newest public health epidemic. The Beatles asked in Eleanor Rigby 57 years ago (already!): “All the lonely people, where do they all come from? (All the lonely people, where do they come from?) In fact, they come from everywhere and seem to be more and more numerous around us every day.

The Greatest Threats to Public Health in the United States

• Gun violence: 26 %
• Opioids/Fentanyl: 25 %
• Obesity : 20 %
• Cancer : 8 %
• Smoking: 3 %
• Road accidents : 3 %
• COVID-19 : 3 %
• Alcoholism: 3 %

Loneliness, a real epidemic

• 29 % : Increased risk of premature mortality due to social isolation.
• 32 % : Increased risk of stroke due to poor social relationships and loneliness.
• 50 % : The increased risk of developing dementia in older people living in chronic loneliness.
• 70 % : The drop in time spent with friends by young people aged 15 to 24 since the start of the pandemic.

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#epidemic #dying #loneliness