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namely to learn. Human communities, simultaneously feel increasingly lonely.
families, schools, workplaces need to create
an environment that ensures the openness
that epistemic trust affords. Of course,
the experience of adversity is bound
to undermine epistemic trust and may
even be a helpful adaptation to a hostile
environment (Fonagy et al., 2021).
Unfavourable Outcomes Associated with
Loneliness:
A number of unfavorable outcomes have
been linked to loneliness. In addition to
its association with depressive symptoms
and other forms of mental illness,
loneliness is a risk factor for heart disease,
Type 2 diabetes, and arthritis, among
other diseases. Lonely people are also
twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s
disease, research suggests. The state of
chronic loneliness may trigger adverse
physiological responses such as the
increased production of stress hormones,
hinder sleep, and result in weakened
immunity.
While a person cannot die simply from
feeling too lonely, findings that lonely
people have higher rates of mortality and
certain diseases supports the idea that,
over time, chronic loneliness can play a
role in increasing the risk of dying.
The great irony is that as we become
increasingly “connected”- on social
media, video calling, and messaging - we
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #64 | OCTOBER 2024
And even though we may use technology
to feel more connected, it may be exactly
what’s leading us to feel lonely.
Does Anyone Care About Me?
A paper by Edward Lemay, Jennifer
Cutri, and Nadya Teneva published in
the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology in 2024 suggests an important
way that loneliness can become a chronic
condition. As you might expect, people
feel lonely when they believe that other
people are not supporting them and also
when they believe that other people do
not really like them or think that they are
good people. These authors suggest that
feelings of loneliness decrease people’s
sense that they are being cared for and
whether other people have a good opinion
of them. That feeling of a lack of care and
regard by others then amplifies the feeling
of loneliness in a vicious cycle.
To amplify this further, when we feel
loneliness for long enough, we start to
believe no one wants to be with us. We
start to believe we will always be alone.
The loneliness grows into hopelessness.
It is time to reevaluate the situation. You
need to redefine your old concepts and
stop assuming that being alone is the
same as being lonely.
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