Loneliness endangers the body as well: how to stay connected with elderly loved ones
While isolation may protect older people in the coronavirus pandemic, it is exposing them to another, less understood challenge: loneliness
“Loneliness is not only a grave threat to individual welfare and public health but one of the most under-appreciated risk factors for premature mortality,” says bioethicist and physician Jacob Appel. Along with smoking and obesity, loneliness ranks among what Appel calls the “triad of potentially preventable causes of early death”.
Around the world, the coronavirus has predominantly claimed the lives of those over 60, which is why strict isolation of elders has become a feature of American efforts to contain the pandemic. Although those younger than 55 represent 38% of ICU cases in the US, the elderly make up a vast majority of coronavirus deaths, particularly those over 85 or those with underlying conditions (which applies to about four out of five elders). While physical isolation may protect our seniors from the highly contagious virus ravaging the world, it is exposing them to another, less understood challenge. “Forced isolation in challenging times can be expected to increase distress,” Appel says. “Loneliness also causes depression, anxiety, demoralization and despair. Increasingly we understand that loneliness endangers the body as well.”
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2UvAN48
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