'Traditional analyses of
loneliness focus mainly on how often people feel lonely, but this obscures and underestimates experiences that might be infrequent but intense, or that last very long,' said Professor Barreto.
It can quite often lead to depression and it's well documented that
loneliness has a direct link to dementia.
"Let's Talk
Loneliness' will encourage us all to engage with this issue, speak up without stigma, spot the signs of
loneliness and help build more meaningful connections so people feel less isolated."
The organisation's vision is to create a society where
loneliness is recognised openly as something likely to affect us all.
Loneliness now is being recognized as a serious health concern.
The researchers explained
loneliness as an emotional state of perceived isolation.
Loneliness impairs health by raising levels of stress hormones which play a part in destructive inflammation that affects the whole body and brain.
My colleague recently wrote an article about women who send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day and of a male friend of hers who once accepted money to be someone's date just for that "day of love".But
loneliness does not afflict only women.
So TV and a free bus pass - essentials to a pensioner in combating
loneliness - may become things of the past.
Laurie Theeke, PhD, RN, a leading researcher on
loneliness, added, "There is a stigma with
loneliness that begins as early as preschool.
Loneliness is linked to the decrease of a neurosteroid called pregnenolone, which improves stress-related disorders and calms the hyper-vigilance in the brain caused by social threats.