Shining a Light on Loneliness

How Meaningful Connections Contribute to Improved Health and Longer Lives In the past 50 years, research into loneliness and social isolation has skyrocketed. Breakthroughs in genetics and immunology allow researchers to measure, with great precision, the impact of loneliness on long-term physical and psychological health. It’s become a known, universal…

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Antidote for Lonely People: Community Connections

All the Lonely People More than a half century ago, the Beatles released a haunting song, “Eleanor Rigby.” Released in 1966, the song evokes our continuing modern predicament — we live surrounded by people yet report feeling lonelier than ever. Social isolation might seem like an individual dilemma, but the…

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Loneliness in the Time of COVID-19

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, between 30 and 40 percent of older adults were already experiencing consequences of isolation and loneliness. It will be months, maybe years, before we understand the full effects of physical distancing on the general population. Mental health experts are already weighing the potential mental and emotional…

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