A mountain of research has linked loneliness to an increased risk of dementia, depression, anxiety, heart disease, stroke and early death. The Board of Supervisors of San Mateo county, which includes part of Silicon Valley, passed a resolution on Tuesday that declared loneliness a public health crisis and pledged to explore measures that promote social connection in the community.

Relative to white people, Black people face a higher risk of premature death linked to social isolation. Older adults have a higher risk of loneliness in general, since they are more likely to live alone or have chronic illnesses that limit their mobility or leave them homebound.

      • Feydaikin@beehaw.org
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        10 months ago

        I think you’d be closer to the truth if you had said ‘Onlyfans’.

        A surprising amount of people turn to prostitutes just to alleviate loneliness. To have someone show a bit of interest in them for a while.

        • jarfil@beehaw.org
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          10 months ago

          Well, I do know of someone who used to complain about Firefox using up all of their RAM… when running just 6 of their favorite Chaturbate feeds at once for over an hour… seems to be some sort of memory leak in Firefox, but yeah.

          I’ve heard the thing about prostitutes many times, and been curious about checking it out by myself, but paying always seemed like a turn off. Maybe I’m just not wealthy enough, or not desperate enough, or whatever.

          • Feydaikin@beehaw.org
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            10 months ago

            Paying definitely is a turn off.

            But when I hear about all the catfishing going on in the dating scene, suddenly prostitution comes of as the more honest solution.

            But each to their own. Personally, I don’t do either. I’ve grown content with my lot in life.