November 08, 2019

Loneliness. It’s a feeling all humans have experienced at one time or another.  I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently about this feeling, and how destructive it can be on our health if left unchecked. According to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and others, loneliness has been estimated to shorten a person’s life by 15 years, equivalent in impact to being obese or smoking 15 cigarettes per day. 

The effects of loneliness and social isolation on health are so dire (a possible increase in risk of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, type 2 diabetes, dementia and even suicide attempts), that it has reached the level of a worldwide epidemic.  The United Kingdom even has a “Minister of Loneliness”!

Now, you and I both know that people can be socially isolated and not feel lonely; they just prefer to be alone more often. Likewise, people can feel lonely even when surrounded by lots of people, especially if the interactions are not emotionally rewarding.

Still, we need others, and others need us. As Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, says, “Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need—crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment. Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

The latest figures I’ve seen are that up to 40% of Americans over the age of 45 suffer from chronic loneliness.

Countering the negative effects of loneliness is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and we need to look at different strategies.  Here at the Center, we offer different ways of being with others:

Our Friday movie matinees are open to all community members and are free.  People can come alone or with a friend or two, and at 1 p.m. each week, our Center presents a screening of a movie classic, one recently-nominated for an Academy Award, or one suggested by a guest. For those who are eager to discuss movies, the Center has a group called “Screening Mimis” that meets regularly to view and discuss movies.

If movies don’t interest you, we have 18 other organized groups including a Scrabble club, two book clubs, a Latin club, and a highly competitive billiard club, to name just a few. We host communal lunch every day, which is a wonderful way to make friends and break bread with other people. We coordinate day trips to interesting locales all over Southern California, so you can visit new places and share these experiences with others.

I invite you to come over and see what we have to offer. I guarantee you’ll find something that piques your interest.  It’ll be good for you, in so many ways!