Members in the Media
From: The Boston Globe

Dangers of loneliness

The Boston Globe:

By all rights, Betty Lewis should be a lonely woman.

Now nearly 90, her daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren — whom she’s never met — all live in California. Her friends have died or moved to faraway nursing homes. Health problems mean she can’t get outside without help, and her vision troubles make reading a challenge.

A growing body of evidence suggests that there could be health consequences for someone like Lewis if she dwelled on the negatives.

Chronic loneliness, it seems, is partly a matter of social isolation and partly a state of mind. Both can potentially drive ill health.

Lonely people over 65 run the same risk for early death as those who smoke or are at least 100 pounds overweight, according to a study published last month in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Read the whole story: The Boston Globe

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