The scope and effects of loneliness are unquestionably devastating. Half a million British people over 60 only talk to another person once a week or less. People who self-report as lonely are more likely to experience dementia, heart disease, and depression. When it comes to life expectancy, the long-term health effects of loneliness are equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
The toll taken by loneliness is immense, but still a sense of stigma inhibits many lonely people from reaching out for help. According to research by Britain’s Campaign to End Loneliness, a majority (56 percent) of British adults say that admitting loneliness is difficult. And when lonely people seek to reach out, suitable networks aren’t necessarily available, inadvertently causing pressure on the health system. In one of the most poignant findings by the campaign, more than three quarters of British general practitioners said they saw one to five patients a day who had made an appointment (free at point of contact in the U.K.) mainly because they were lonely. [...]
Stronger political advocacy on loneliness could, for example, affect thinking on public transit. If a bus line is re-routed or canceled, authorities could be encouraged to consider the effect that might have in raising social isolation for people who live along the route—an effect that could potentially raise their costs elsewhere.
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