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A new study this week coming out of Australia shows being lonely can lead to health risks and even an early death.
The study was conducted by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) with 1,600 participants. Buzzfeed also reports the following findings:
- 50% of the population feels lonely at least one day a week
- 27.6% feels lonely at least three days a week
- 1 in 4 experience high levels of social interaction anxiety
- 55% of Australians feel they lack companionship at least sometimes
The study points out that not everyone who is alone is lonely and in contrast those surrounded by other people are not immune to feeling alone.
The President of APS Ros Knight told BuzzFeed:
"Because if you've got no-one to talk to, debrief how awful life is sometimes, then you start to wear that stress and that costs you in terms of your physical health."
Although many health professionals will focus on smoking and obesity when looking at a person's overall health, loneliness is often overlooked.
Knight added:
"We need to consider approaches to loneliness as part of our health and mental health strategy."
People are having some big feels about this information.
It might be time to join a lonely eaters club.
H/T: Buzzfeed, The Guardian