Why is loneliness as dangerous as smoking?
The Daily Article
The Denison Forum
4.9 • 576 Ratings
🗓️ 3 May 2023
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
According to a new report from the US Surgeon General’s office, lacking social connections “can increase the risk of premature death to levels comparable to smoking daily.” Technology is making this problem worse: people who use social media for two hours or more daily are more than twice as likely to report feeling isolated than those who are on such apps for less than thirty minutes a day. So let’s consider this antidote to our loneliness: let’s spend some time each day thinking less about ourselves and more time thinking about creation and the Creator.
Author: Jim Denison, PhD
Narrator: Chris Elkins
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Dr. Lane Ogden’s “What does the Bible say about mental health”
Read The Daily Article: https://www.denisonforum.org/daily-article/loneliness-dangerous-smoking/
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's Wednesday, May the 3rd, 2023, and this is the Daily Article podcast. |
| 0:08.2 | I'm Chris Elkins, narrating today's article written by Denison Forum, co-founder and CEO, Dr. Jim Denison. |
| 0:16.7 | According to a new report from the U.S. Surgeon General's Office, lacking social connections, quote, |
| 0:22.6 | can increase the risk of premature death to levels comparable to smoking daily. |
| 0:28.2 | End quote. |
| 0:29.1 | Loneliness increases the risk of premature death by nearly 30% and elevates our risk of stroke, heart disease, depression, anxiety, and dementia. |
| 0:38.9 | Technology is making the problem worse. |
| 0:41.4 | People who use social media for two hours or more daily are more than twice as likely to report feeling isolated |
| 0:48.9 | than those who are on such apps for less than 30 minutes a day. |
| 0:53.0 | May is Mental Health Awareness Month. |
| 0:55.8 | For an excellent resource, please see Dr. Lane Ogden's What Does the Bible Say About |
| 1:00.5 | Mental Health on the Denison Forum website. |
| 1:03.6 | A link to the article is in today's episode notes. |
| 1:07.0 | As a result of Mental Health Awareness Month, we'll see a plethora of information like the |
| 1:12.3 | Surgeon General's report in the coming days. In the midst of all the bad news, however, |
| 1:17.5 | here's some good news. According to the Wall Street Journal, America is seeing a, quote, |
| 1:23.7 | surprising surge of faith among young people. A recent survey found that about one-third of 18 to 25-year-olds |
| 1:31.3 | say they believe in the existence of a higher power. This is more than the percentage who doubt |
| 1:36.6 | such an existence and is up from about one-fourth in 2021. The journal explains, young adults, |
| 1:43.7 | theologians, and church leaders attribute the increase |
| 1:47.0 | in part to the need for people to believe in something beyond themselves after three years |
| 1:53.3 | of loss. |
... |
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