August 3, 2023 • 8 mins
There are reports that now loneliness is a national health crisis. Who better to fix it than the government?
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Loneliness emerging as a national health crisis.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We need to address prevention and the root cause of
the pain and trauma that a lot of people are
feeling like loneliness and isolation.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Doctors say chronic loneliness poses the same physical health risks
as smoking cigarettes.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Isolation has been shown to increase the risk for premature
death by twenty six.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Percent, loneliness leading to a spike in diabetes, stroke, heart disease, dementia,
to say nothing of emotional well being.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Do they connect the dots Maybe in the upcoming clips
we're going to play. I mean, why does being lonely
make it more likely you get diabetes?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I think you'd probably sit around and eat.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
That was my guess. I just wondered if they point
that out.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
No, they don't get there specifically, So that's obviously a
harrowing introduction to the topic. I find it interesting that
if I got myself two or three good friends, I
could start smoking and break even health wise. Oh that's
not a bad plan. It's a very bad place.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Go on friend finder, get yourself a pack of Marboroughs
and break even for the day.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Wow. A little more on the topic, and then there's
a twist eighty one Michael.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
When the federal government locked down our children and adults
as well, it led to an explosion of mental health problems.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Doctors say COVID exacerbated loneliness, but loneliness was on the
rise before the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
But it also shows that simply getting back to normal
is not going to be enough.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
So, yeah, the COVID was a factor, but not everything.
It's interesting in my own life, and we've talked about
this topic, the lack of connectedness that comes from feeling
connected online. It's candy instead of you know, meat and vegetables. Yesterday,
(01:55):
I was hanging out and because of the nature of
our schedules, which is kind of weird, it's not as
easy to hang out with people, especially during the week
that people with an average schedule have. I'm not complaining,
we have a wonderful job, blubbah, but so I was
feeling kind of down about it because I hadn't seen
(02:16):
my friends for a while, and you know, they're working
when I'm off and blah blah blah. And so I started,
instead of doing something about it, I started scrolling through Twitter,
and it gave me just enough of a feeling if
something good is happening. I didn't get off my ass,
and finally I said to myself, this is terrible. Go
ride your bike. So I got on my bike. I
went for a good ride. I ran into a neighbor
(02:36):
blah blah, and it was just it was absolutely that phenomenon.
I was getting just enough sugar not to be hungry
enough to get up and get some real food. And
I think that's a huge factor, not for everybody, but
for a lot of folks. Phony connectedness online, Yeah, there's that.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
And then this of it, which I think we've all experienced.
I've told this story. When I was in the hospital
got my gallbladder out, a couple of my best friends
just happened to be in town. I was getting my
gull buttterer out. Anyway, they visited me in the hospital,
and we all recognized that this was way better us
(03:18):
talking to each other than our texting had been for
the previous years. Yeah, and we decided we're going to
talk on the phone more often. Talking on the phone
is completely different than texting with your friends. Yeah, and
we all it's just so easy to feel like, well,
I stay in touch with whoever the same way I
(03:39):
always did. But if you're texting, it ain't the same.
I'm not exactly sure why it's not the same hearing
their voice or all the nuances of nonverbal I don't
know what, but there's there's something that's completely different.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well, and if you could weigh the exchange of ideas
and feelings, a text is like four ounces in a
fifteen minute convers like forty pounds. So anyway, it's true though. Yeah,
And another aspect of this, maybe is that everybody's so
angry and charged up politically. There's like half the population
(04:16):
doesn't want anything to do with you. I wonder if
there's in your political works.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I wonder if there's any way we could all get
to the point that we convince ourselves that if somebody
asks you, do you stay in touch with so and
so if you haven't talked to them on the phone
or seen him in person, the answer is no, I
don't care how much you're texting.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
That's troubling. I think there are a lot of us,
I'm including the good folks in the audience who have
a bit of a sick feeling in their stomach right now, Yeah,
including my kids.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Right there's a good example.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The last long conversation I had with my son, I'm
not sure when it was. You know, well, we text
a lot about music and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
But my turn to feel bad I have that I
do that with my parents, where like specifically with my mom,
we text now and then, so I have the feeling
that I stay in contact with my mom but not
calling as often, which is a as I've just pointed
out as a completely different thing. Yeah, so we get
the perception that we're staying in touch. We're not. You're
(05:14):
not you're not well.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well nest twitters, I'm going to end all of our
guilt by giving you the twist that I promised.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Next clip Michael Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy authored a
bill to combat loneliness and boost social connections.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I actually think that it's decisions by government that have
left a lot of people feeling very disconnected.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Murphy wants a federal office to study loneliness. He says
loneliness increases as church attendants waims and social media usage grows.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Our decision to leave social media unregulated, to leave kids unprotected,
has really been a disaster.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
That's right. Loneliness is a problem for the federal government
to solve in and it'll cost you tens of millions
of dollars.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
That might be the greatest divide between people of the
left and people of the right. I immediately recoil from
the idea that the government's gonna fix a social problem.
The government can't fix social problems. They are they either
inventor or cite a real problem. Then they say, therefore,
(06:25):
we need lots more tax money and we will spread
it around to our cronies. He says, with a straight face,
We're going to create a department that studies loneliness.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yep, hilarious.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
And after spending gazillions of dollars over many years, and
then if you don't get any results, as Tim Sanderfer
always points out, that only means you need more money.
You need more money for the department. Oh my god,
that is how rich is that? How do you come
to the belief that the government is in charge of
fixing societal problems?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I know, I know that is the That is perhaps
the great divide in America. Never mind our versus the
Trump versus. I hate Trump. It's I think the federal
government should solve all of our problems. Man, there's nothing
your town should do unless you and your neighbors and
your church and your civic organizations can't do it. There's
nothing your county should do unless your town can't do it.
(07:21):
There's nothing your state should be doing unless a county
can't do it on its own, et cetera, et cetera.
But now we have a federal government who's gonna spend
god knows how much money in quote unquote curing loneliness
by putting out public service announcements or stuff like that.
How about how about it's the federal government acting as
if it's the USA today publishing an article about, Hey,
(07:44):
call your friend instead of.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Texting them, And it's not even should the government. It
should be more of a can the government? The government
can't do those things. Should give me an example where
the government's fixed big societal ills.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Hm, they're few and far between.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's something. Wow, that was depressing. I was
going more for anger.
Loneliness emerging as a national health crisis.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
We need to address prevention and the root cause of
the pain and trauma that a lot of people are
feeling like loneliness and isolation.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Doctors say chronic loneliness poses the same physical health risks
as smoking cigarettes.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Every day.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Isolation has been shown to increase the risk for premature
death by twenty six.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
Percent, loneliness leading to a spike in diabetes, stroke, heart disease, dementia,
to say nothing of emotional well being.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Do they connect the dots Maybe in the upcoming clips
we're going to play. I mean, why does being lonely
make it more likely you get diabetes?
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I think you'd probably sit around and eat.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
That was my guess. I just wondered if they point
that out.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
No, they don't get there specifically, So that's obviously a
harrowing introduction to the topic. I find it interesting that
if I got myself two or three good friends, I
could start smoking and break even health wise. Oh that's
not a bad plan. It's a very bad place.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Go on friend finder, get yourself a pack of Marboroughs
and break even for the day.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Wow. A little more on the topic, and then there's
a twist eighty one Michael.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
When the federal government locked down our children and adults
as well, it led to an explosion of mental health problems.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Doctors say COVID exacerbated loneliness, but loneliness was on the
rise before the pandemic.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
But it also shows that simply getting back to normal
is not going to be enough.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
So, yeah, the COVID was a factor, but not everything.
It's interesting in my own life, and we've talked about
this topic, the lack of connectedness that comes from feeling
connected online. It's candy instead of you know, meat and vegetables. Yesterday,
(01:55):
I was hanging out and because of the nature of
our schedules, which is kind of weird, it's not as
easy to hang out with people, especially during the week
that people with an average schedule have. I'm not complaining,
we have a wonderful job, blubbah, but so I was
feeling kind of down about it because I hadn't seen
(02:16):
my friends for a while, and you know, they're working
when I'm off and blah blah blah. And so I started,
instead of doing something about it, I started scrolling through Twitter,
and it gave me just enough of a feeling if
something good is happening. I didn't get off my ass,
and finally I said to myself, this is terrible. Go
ride your bike. So I got on my bike. I
went for a good ride. I ran into a neighbor
(02:36):
blah blah, and it was just it was absolutely that phenomenon.
I was getting just enough sugar not to be hungry
enough to get up and get some real food. And
I think that's a huge factor, not for everybody, but
for a lot of folks. Phony connectedness online, Yeah, there's that.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
And then this of it, which I think we've all experienced.
I've told this story. When I was in the hospital
got my gallbladder out, a couple of my best friends
just happened to be in town. I was getting my
gull buttterer out. Anyway, they visited me in the hospital,
and we all recognized that this was way better us
(03:18):
talking to each other than our texting had been for
the previous years. Yeah, and we decided we're going to
talk on the phone more often. Talking on the phone
is completely different than texting with your friends. Yeah, and
we all it's just so easy to feel like, well,
I stay in touch with whoever the same way I
(03:39):
always did. But if you're texting, it ain't the same.
I'm not exactly sure why it's not the same hearing
their voice or all the nuances of nonverbal I don't
know what, but there's there's something that's completely different.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Well, and if you could weigh the exchange of ideas
and feelings, a text is like four ounces in a
fifteen minute convers like forty pounds. So anyway, it's true though. Yeah,
And another aspect of this, maybe is that everybody's so
angry and charged up politically. There's like half the population
(04:16):
doesn't want anything to do with you. I wonder if
there's in your political works.
Speaker 4 (04:20):
I wonder if there's any way we could all get
to the point that we convince ourselves that if somebody
asks you, do you stay in touch with so and
so if you haven't talked to them on the phone
or seen him in person, the answer is no, I
don't care how much you're texting.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
That's troubling. I think there are a lot of us,
I'm including the good folks in the audience who have
a bit of a sick feeling in their stomach right now, Yeah,
including my kids.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
Right there's a good example.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
The last long conversation I had with my son, I'm
not sure when it was. You know, well, we text
a lot about music and stuff like that.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
But my turn to feel bad I have that I
do that with my parents, where like specifically with my mom,
we text now and then, so I have the feeling
that I stay in contact with my mom but not
calling as often, which is a as I've just pointed
out as a completely different thing. Yeah, so we get
the perception that we're staying in touch. We're not. You're
(05:14):
not you're not well.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Well nest twitters, I'm going to end all of our
guilt by giving you the twist that I promised.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
Next clip Michael Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy authored a
bill to combat loneliness and boost social connections.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I actually think that it's decisions by government that have
left a lot of people feeling very disconnected.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Murphy wants a federal office to study loneliness. He says
loneliness increases as church attendants waims and social media usage grows.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Our decision to leave social media unregulated, to leave kids unprotected,
has really been a disaster.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
That's right. Loneliness is a problem for the federal government
to solve in and it'll cost you tens of millions
of dollars.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
That might be the greatest divide between people of the
left and people of the right. I immediately recoil from
the idea that the government's gonna fix a social problem.
The government can't fix social problems. They are they either
inventor or cite a real problem. Then they say, therefore,
(06:25):
we need lots more tax money and we will spread
it around to our cronies. He says, with a straight face,
We're going to create a department that studies loneliness.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
Yep, hilarious.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
And after spending gazillions of dollars over many years, and
then if you don't get any results, as Tim Sanderfer
always points out, that only means you need more money.
You need more money for the department. Oh my god,
that is how rich is that? How do you come
to the belief that the government is in charge of
fixing societal problems?
Speaker 3 (06:58):
I know, I know that is the That is perhaps
the great divide in America. Never mind our versus the
Trump versus. I hate Trump. It's I think the federal
government should solve all of our problems. Man, there's nothing
your town should do unless you and your neighbors and
your church and your civic organizations can't do it. There's
nothing your county should do unless your town can't do it.
(07:21):
There's nothing your state should be doing unless a county
can't do it on its own, et cetera, et cetera.
But now we have a federal government who's gonna spend
god knows how much money in quote unquote curing loneliness
by putting out public service announcements or stuff like that.
How about how about it's the federal government acting as
if it's the USA today publishing an article about, Hey,
(07:44):
call your friend instead of.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Texting them, And it's not even should the government. It
should be more of a can the government? The government
can't do those things. Should give me an example where
the government's fixed big societal ills.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Hm, they're few and far between.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, yeah, that's something. Wow, that was depressing. I was
going more for anger.
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