Posted on 05/01/2018 8:08:20 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Young people are significantly more likely than the elderly to be lonely and in poor health, according to a new survey conducted by health insurer Cigna.
The survey finds loneliness is widespread in the U.S. with nearly half of respondents reporting feeling alone or left out at least some of the time.
The evaluation of loneliness was measured by a score of 43 or higher on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a 20-item questionnaire developed to assess subjective feelings of loneliness, as well as social isolation.
The survey of more than 20,000 U.S. adults ages 18 years and older revealed:
• Nearly half of Americans report sometimes or always feeling alone (46 percent) or left out (47 percent). • One in four Americans (27 percent) rarely or never feel as though there are people who really understand them. • Two in five Americans sometimes or always feel that their relationships are not meaningful (43 percent) and that they are isolated from others (43 percent). • One in five people report they rarely or never feel close to people (20 percent) or feel like there are people they can talk to (18 percent). • Americans who live with others are less likely to be lonely (average loneliness score of 43.5) compared to those who live alone (46.4). However, this does not apply to single parents/guardians (average loneliness score of 48.2) – even though they live with children, they are more likely to be lonely. • Only around half of Americans (53 percent) have meaningful in-person social interactions, such as having an extended conversation with a friend or spending quality time with family, on a daily basis. • Generation Z (adults ages 18-22) is the loneliest generation and claims to be in worse health than older generations. • Social media use alone is not a predictor of loneliness; respondents defined as very heavy users of social media have a loneliness score (43.5) that is not markedly different from the score of those who never use social media (41.7).
I do not believe that young people are more likely (as a percentage) to be in poor health than the elderly are.
In my apts are a lot of young people and the only ones that are “boyfriend and girlfriend” are all over 40.
I don’t participate in social media. I’m nearing 40, and I work in the tech industry. I’ve gotta say that when Hurricane Irma blew through Florida last year, the week we were without power was the most peaceful, calming period I’ve experienced in years. Sitting out on the porch in the shade was meditative, and not picking up my phone every 15 minutes was like going back to a simpler time.
My bet is that social media and the Internet have made our lives harder, not easier.
sometimes or always feeling alone
Remember, the left doesn’t want children to have “best friends” any more. I’m sure their perfect utopia would be to have the state as everyone’s best bud.
If they don’t have 4K followers, they are total losers and outcasts.
Neither do I.
Most phone numbers are blocked and caller ID usually gives a heads up on the rest of the scammers.
Life is good.
Maybe the cell phones are “mini teleprompters”...it gives the kids something to talk about on the chance they do communicate with a live person, in person.
Me too....I did NOT get the phone gene....My husband thinks I should answer calls....I rarely do, only if I know who it is, or if it will allow me to block them later....LOL...I LOVE quiet. Especially the quiet by a river in the woods...or in our garden.
The obvious solution is to send two or three young people to live with one old person.
I’ll start by taking in three or four twenty-something females.
(When to) use or not use the smart phone; that is the question. As for me if I’m sitting alone in a restaurant waiting for the food the phone keeps my mind occupied. Working in the garden or doing outdoor activities the phone gets parked. Laying in bed before sleep I need to put the phone to bed first but I dont always do that— my weakness area with it.
Now in my 60’s, I’m in more relationships than I was in my 20-30’s.
Unless millennials start taking personal control over their lives, it is not going to go well for them.
Plus, 50 years later, they’re at the fag end of the Sexual Revolution. Remember? The Revolution which was supposed to make everybody happy?
I am middle agedand very lonely. I am a Christian, white and a conservative living in Southern California, easy to be lonely.
“The obvious solution is to send two or three young people to live with one old person.”
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NO THANKS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I remember feeling lonely during my college years, even a few years after that. I had close friends and was active socially.
God created families and the young adult years are spent apart from that. Perhaps families, more than friends, give a true and deep sense of belonging.
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