Isolation has quietly become one of the most serious threats to young adults today. In this episode, I’m joined by author and speaker Elaine Uskoski to talk about how loneliness and social disconnection are impacting kids today.

The U.S. Surgeon General recently declared loneliness a public health crisis, warning that social isolation can raise the risk of depression, addiction, heart disease, dementia, and even premature death. But for many young adults, spending hours alone in their room - gaming, streaming, or scrolling -  has replaced real-life connection and the impact runs deeper than you know.

Elaine’s recent blog post, “How Isolation Can Breed Gaming Addiction: The Rat Park Experiment,” brings this into sharp focus, and in Episode 22, I also talked about the powerful Rat Park study, which showed that social connection and environmental stimulation are essential to our well-being.  Both speak to the same truth: when a young person lacks real connection, they’ll search for it elsewhere,  and too often, that ‘elsewhere’ becomes a dark place of addiction and depression. 

If you know a young adult who’s withdrawn, disengaged, struggling to connect, and spending too much time alone in their room, online gaming, scrolling social media or watching videos this episode will be a wake-up call.

How to reach Elaine:

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://eyespyhealth.ca/

Elaine's Blog Post:

https://eyespyhealth.ca/how-isolation-can-breed-gaming-addiction-the-rat-park-experiment-t/

Elaine's Book (mentioned in the episode):

Cyber Sober: A Caregiver’s Guide to Video Gaming Addiction - https://eyespyhealth.ca/cyber-sober/

Thank you for listening!

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