By.Reksmae Yi
April/6/2024In the last 8 years, many nations have declared a loneliness epidemic with citizens feeling lonelier than ever before. A 2017 study from the Korean Society of Nursing Science found a significant correlation between attachment anxiety, loneliness, depression, and smartphone addiction. could this boon secretly be a curse?
Experts believe that loneliness can be as deadly as 15 cigarettes a day it also kills the neurons in your brain is linked to heart disease, diabetes, substance abuse, and even early death. On top of all that, experts have also found that it affects people regardless of gender, age, race, or social skills. Many people are lonely and it’s going to be very painful to try and fight back
“Loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling—it harms both individual and societal health… the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools, workplaces, and civic organizations, where performance, productivity, and engagement are diminished,” said Dr.Vivek H. Murthy
We typically don’t imagine students or young folks as lonely, the young are thought to be free and happy to party without the weight of adult responsibilities on their backs but based on recent data that may not be true.In America, 61% of Gen Z’ers feel lonely.
On October 2020 Harvard interviewed 950 Americans to research how the pandemic affected people’s connection with 61% of Gen Z reporting feeling lonely.
“Even with the prolonged isolation of the early pandemic years now over, young people are still struggling to make connections,” said Bindu Basinath a writer for THECUT a New York magazine.
There are many reasons why the youth are more lonely now than ever but based on recent studies a large reason is smartphone addiction and social media. Both of these are things that make one susceptible to isolation, depression, body dysmorphia, and more.
The overuse of social media can actually rewire a young child or teen’s brain to constantly seek out immediate gratification, leading to obsessive, compulsive, and addictive behaviors,” says DeAngelis, a doctor of Jefferson Health). “This is what can make mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and body dysmorphia worse.”
In 2023 WHO looked at their data and discovered around 280 million people world wide report being depressed around 5.1% are above age of 60 and 4.5% are the worlds adults.
Even the students of today feel that social media can have a negative effect on someone and urge them to spend less time on it or outright delete it. They would be right about that as based on recent studies it is found that social media is designed to cause dopamine surges making you want to come back over and over it’s the same kind of surge one gets during gambling or drug use.
“Delete TikTok,...you're isolating yourself for as much as you think that you're connected to others online you're really not. Which you can't really fake being in person with somebody and talking to them.” said Tyler Baughman.
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