Apr 3, 2020
In the time of COVID-19 and social
distancing, it’s important to know how we can maintain our mental
health. Kasley
Killam, joins me for a conversation about loneliness,
and isolation during this trying time and how we can protect our
mental health even when we may not be able to connect physically
with others.
Kasley is a Masters of Public Health
Candidate at the Harvard School of Public Health. She is also a World Economic
Forum Global Shaper and a social health advocate as well as a
Contributing Writer at Scientific American (and has been for 5
years).
In March, 2020 she published an
article in Scientific American titled, “How
to Prevent Loneliness in a Time of Social
Distancing.” In this
conversation we cover her suggestions on this topic, and we dig
into what isolation is, how it’s different than loneliness and why
both impact us as humans so much.
Connect with
Kasley: Her Website, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram,
Some of Kasley’s recent
writing:
How to Prevent Loneliness in a Time of Social
Distancing
A Hug a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
The Need for Human Connection in Digital Mental Health
Care
HERE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS
WE TALKED ABOUT:
- What is
loneliness? What
is Isolation? Kasley describes the
difference between loneliness and isolation as well as physical
impacts that a lack of social interaction can have on the human
body.
Social Isolation –
Is about being physically isolated. It’s objective. It could be because you live
alone, or you have physical limitations or you lack transportation,
etc.
Loneliness –
Feeling connected to other people. It’s subjective. Do you feel like you have
people you can reach out to and connect with?
- Chronic loneliness and social
isolation can impact your health in a number of ways including
these examples.
Here are some examples of how isolation can negatively
impact our health:
a. More
likely to catch a cold
b. More likely to experience depression
c. Increased risk of heart
disease/stroke
d. Shortened life span
e. Decreased immunity
f. Increased
inflammation
g. Decreased happiness,
joy, sense of purpose
- Loneliness is on the rise,
but is certainly not a “new thing.” Kasley referenced a
Cigna survey launched in January 2020 where they polled 10,000
American adults.
They found that across all age groups that 61% of people are
lonely, compared to 54% the year prior. This is particularly common
among Gen Z who reported 79% feeling lonely. This has been an issue long
before this pandemic.
Link here to Loneliness Survey conducted by
Cigna.
-
Why are we so lonely?
Common reasons:
a. People are increasingly
living alone
b. Technology - easy to blame
and the evidence is
mixed
c. Less participation in social
clubs and community
organizations
d. People have less time to
invest in relationships
as they are working more
e. Social anxiety
-
How can we fight against isolation during this time of social
distancing?
Kasley tells us that one universal that we are all going through is
that we are having to adapt and figure out how to function and
flourish during this time.
There are a number of things we can and should be doing
including:
a. Reflect on
what social well-being looks like for
you. This is
different for everyone. This can
include contemplating questions such as "how
much time do I want to spend interacting with
other people?" and "how do I spend quality time
with
others?"
b. Make a list of the
people you want to keep in
touch with and
focus on the relationships we
want to
prioritize in our lives. We need to figure
out how we
want to engage with those people.
c. Connect at least once a
day with people on our
list, or more, if we can.
- We also talked about
how technology plays a role in both creating
isolation,
and how technology can be a
tool to provide connectivity at the same time.
When discussing how to use technology in a healthy way Kasley
explained that technology is often to blame for isolation, and it’s
true, because many of us have unhealthy habits with social media
and technology.
Kasley recommends that we use this time to figure out how we can
use technology in ways that support your social well-being.
- We also talked about
how introverts and extroverts handle isolation and loneliness
differently
as well as what healthy can look like for different types of
personalities both during this time and later when we return to our
old way of life.
- We also talked about
what socially healthy use of technology and social media can look
like
now and in the future.
Kasley gives us tips on how to define what healthy looks like for
ourselves and how we can manage our engagement with our devices and
social media.
- Finally, Kasley gave us an overview of what a
Masters of Public Health program is about, why she chose to get
into the psychology space and what she plans to do once she obtains
her Masters.
Connect with the Stigma
Podcast in the following ways: Website,
Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, Email
Connect with host Stephen
Hays here: Stephen Hays Personal
Website, Twitter,
LinkedIn, What If Ventures (Mental Health Venture
Fund)