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Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

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Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#111
post #23

[flagged]

To some of us weirdos, it actually matters whether things we repeatedly stand up and declare or sing about are true, and whether the stories we draw meaning from are factually correct, and whether values we repeatedly and publicly affiliate ourselves with are good. And, among this admittedly weird fragment of the population, those of us who think the things churchgoers affirm and derive meaning from and value are tru…

Have you ever given a Christmas gift to someone? Or do you abstain because it requires a belief in flying reindeer?

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#112

Mindfullness as a treatment for loneliness is strange to me. This doesn't actually help with the problem of being alone, it could just make someone be more OK with it. As someone who spends a lot of time alone, one of my big fears is having a medical emergency, even just choking on food, and dying from something that would be easily avoided had another person been in the house. I've gone and looked up how to give mys…

I think probably the idea is that Mindfulness helps you make peace with yourself and trouble-shoot your personality, both of which could make it easier to make connections with other people.

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#113

How much is related to people suffering a medical emergency and nobody being around to help? vs. How much is the actual emotional impact of loneliness?

I saw an analysis that demonstrated this clearly by replacing loneliness with population density. Effectively you could see the same mortality effect for people who live out in the sticks.

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#114
post #72
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dismissive but practical take is "well yeah there's nobody in the room to call an ambulance when you have the heart attack you'll most likely have", which mindfulness classes and support groups don't help with. There's practical benefits to having people around.

There was a funny statistical artifact I read once (well, for some value of 'funny') that home was a terrible place to have a heart attack, because people are willing to 'just lie down and see how I feel' rather than in a restaurant or movie theater where an ambulance will be called.

Then what about work from home? Does it increase mortality?

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#115

[flagged]

church only provides meaning if you actually _believe_ the stuff the priest lectures about for 30 minutes at mass. Otherwise you get to play make-believe for 1 hour each week.

For me, church increases my blood pressure. I was forced to attend church as a child and didn’t believe any of the stuff by the time i was an older teen. Going to church feels patronizing to me, since i don’t believe any of it. And i’m bitter that i was “forced” into it by my parents. They never at ANY point asked me if I want to continue going, and I know for certain that even if i spoke up they would have ignored me. Ugh.

Anyway i’ve had good luck making friends at my local Y, through friends of friends, and occasionally work.

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#116

[flagged]

I'm an atheist, but I do wish I could go to church, or at least something like that. I've tried going to other non-religious clubs but it's not really the same. A pottery class just doesn't give that same feeling of "belonging". The trouble is it just seems a bit too serious every time I've been. I don't believe any of it, and I can't believe anyone with intelligence could believe it either. But unlike, say, WWE-styl…

I think the issue you're having is that taking it way too seriously is exactly what creates the feeling of belonging. There's a number of forums or clubs where one might discuss morality, myth, creation stories etc more like wrestling - fantasy roleplaying groups and fantasy writing circles often do include those themes for instance. But it's harder to feel true belonging through discussing whether your bard is an asshole for sleeping with a gold-hoarding dragon if you're 100% aware that neither bards or dragons exist.

Is there anything you do take super seriously? The environment, your job, parenting, a specific hobby or something? Something you think other people are missing out on by not experiencing? Looks like a club based on that would work better for you.

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#117

Mortality risk is already 100% isn’t it? We’re going to die, guaranteed, so what’s another 23% increase on 100%? I think a good study would be the effects of likes, upvotes and karma on overall lifespan. I’d bet that people who gain more upvotes and positive engagement in general probably live much longer than people who are chronically downvoted or ignored.

That is a very clever null hypothesis to check whether disliked people tilt the balance, or whether lack of human interactions do. The ones who should do this study would be the CIA. They could remotely kill people by giving them negative social feedback all the time. It would also give weight to online harassment complaints.

Strategically weaponized cyberbullying on a person whose mental state has been compromised by social media can be a creative way to kill them off if they are driven to suicide. Might be the plot of a thriller at least.

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#118

Mindfullness as a treatment for loneliness is strange to me. This doesn't actually help with the problem of being alone, it could just make someone be more OK with it. As someone who spends a lot of time alone, one of my big fears is having a medical emergency, even just choking on food, and dying from something that would be easily avoided had another person been in the house. I've gone and looked up how to give mys…

"Mindfullness" only works for people who are already happy

Re: Meta-analysis of 2.2M people: Loneliness increases mortality risk by 32%

#119
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To some of us weirdos, it actually matters whether things we repeatedly stand up and declare or sing about are true, and whether the stories we draw meaning from are factually correct, and whether values we repeatedly and publicly affiliate ourselves with are good. And, among this admittedly weird fragment of the population, those of us who think the things churchgoers affirm and derive meaning from and value are tru…

Have you ever given a Christmas gift to someone? Or do you abstain because it requires a belief in flying reindeer?

I’m not the person you replied to. I was raised catholic, but these days I don’t believe in god and think the church is a waste of time.

But i DO still celebrate christmas. Not for ME, but as an excuse to connect with family and friends. In other words, i don’t go to church and subject myself to nodding to 60 minutes of nonsense (to me). Instead I join for christmas lunch / dinner. The socializing part. The good part. If my family was not catholic then i’d just throw a nice new year’s party instead. Again - just to get everyone together.

I have a friend that celebrates Hanukkah and i’ve occasionally joined their family to celebrate as well.

What does belief in a religion have to do with participating in social events that happen to be rooted in religion?

Maybe i don’t “get it”?

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