Loneliness, The New Smoking with The Same Negative Health Consequences with Terry and Roy

Reading an article the other day that said loneliness is the new smoking! Research from the HRSA, Health Resource and Services Administration went on to say that it is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This is very timely information. Seniors have always struggled with loneliness and now with the pandemic, it is exponentially worse. Visit a senior today and every chance you get.

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Full Transcript Below

Loneliness, The New Smoking with The Same Negative Health Consequences

Sat, 5/22 6:06PM • 19:58

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, loneliness, seniors, older, wellness, health, talk, neighbors, life, lonely, guests, smoking, thinking, episode, emotional, physical health, pandemic, nice, podcast, pain

SPEAKERS

Terry, Roy Barker

Roy Barker  00:03

Hello, and welcome to another episode of educational. I'm your host, Roy,

Terry  00:07

I'm Terry.

Roy Barker  00:08

So this is our journey through not only through our aging process, but mainly through, you know, our parents are getting a little older, needing a little bit more help and attention, kind of why we started this just to try to put as not only to you know, talk about our experiences and what we're learning, but also, to put it out there for everybody, and, and have guests as well, we have some professionals in the field that Come on, from time to time, that, you know, hopefully, they're providing some good information for you. And today, we today we want to talk a little bit about loneliness. The I was, I was listening to a podcast this morning. And the it was actually a marketing podcast, but he was talking about, you know, building connections, and we, they were talking about isolation. And it was interesting that he made a comment that they have said that isolation is as hard on people as smoking. And up to they say, being having, you know, severe loneliness actually can be like, smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And when I heard that, I just kind of mean, it made me stop for a minute, think about that, and think, wow, you know, how bad is that not only, you know, for seniors, because seniors typically are isolated, whether whether they are in a community, you know, an institutional setting, or if they are, you know, in their home a lot of times, yeah,

Terry  01:46

they, you know, they find themselves alone, unexpectedly, possibly, because of the death of a spouse or a partner, separated from their family, their, their kids have grown, their grandkids are getting older and busy, and maybe they've lost, lost some of their mobility. And there's just so many different things that can come up. And we don't even think about, you know, we're just so busy and, and pulled into our own lives that we just need to remember to try to reach out to our parents or our you know, are older friends, and just make sure you know, just make sure they're okay, just reach out to them and make sure they're all right.

Roy Barker  02:30

Yeah. The so once I heard that it made me, you know, kind of made me stop for a minute, because not only just seniors, but you know, after all this COVID. And people not want to get close that. I just basically just did some quick research. But I found another study that said that loneliness and social isolation, account for a 29% increase in the risk of heart attack, and a 32% increase in the risk of stroke. Wow. Yeah. I mean, that's crazy, that I guess I, you know, I've been fortunate enough in my life that I've always been surrounded by hopes, ranking other countries. You know, I've always been surrounded by people in my life. And I guess I've just never been that severe, you know, had that severe of loneliness that, you know, it can actually be a health risk for people

Terry  03:32

well, and evil, even. Even if you're surrounded by people. That doesn't necessarily mean that you're not Oh, no. But yeah, a high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, depression, all timers, other cognitive disorders, many everything comes out to your health. I mean, it all comes back to your health.

Roy Barker  03:58

I was trying to read my writing here. I wish I had written.

Terry  04:01

Oh, now you know how I feel. No, mine's bad, too. I write for myself. Not anybody. Oh, my look

Roy Barker  04:08

down because I can't even read it here. But I was one of the it was the H RS A, which is the Health Resource and servicing administration. It's it's a governmental agency, but they, they're, they have an article that was just calling loneliness and epidemic and this was, I think, written in 2018 or 19. So it was you know, pre pandemic, but they were saying that it 43% of feet of seniors feel lonely. And 45% increase risk of and Yeah, that'd be nice. Find out that word was

Terry  04:54

I see.

Roy Barker  04:55

That's a risk of something.

Terry  04:58

I was gonna say I saw I saw, okay, so social isolation and loneliness did not always go together. And this is on the National Institute on Aging website and they say, you know, 28% of older adults in the US are 13 point 8 million people live alone on this, but I mentioned that I, that just caught my eye a little while ago,

Roy Barker  05:24

yeah, I'm gonna just while we're doing this, I'm just going to pop up this h, h, r s, a site, h bar, a while I'm doing that, we'll kind of keep moving on here. The automatic, they were saying that, also that, you know, talking kind of going into smoking theme that if you are lonely, it makes it even harder to quit smoking. And then the other thing that was interesting is they, and I didn't read the study. So I'm going this the second hand information, but the the, they said they did a study where they hook you up with electrodes, and then they were just saying that loneliness lit up the same spot as actual physical pain, you know, like, somebody hit me in the gut or something. And it just went on to say that the pain medicine that you may take for, you know, the the knee problem or, you know, whatever, whatever health issue, that it had the same effect on people that were lonely as to so you know, I guess it's, it's not just maybe a feeling or emotional it, I mean, it really, it's something that can be measured just like a physical pain.

Terry  07:00

Well, and I wonder if not that I'm questioning that about the medication, but I wonder if it's because, you know, sometimes sometimes as pain meds or narcotics, and it makes them makes you kind of groggy and forget things. So, I wonder if that has a little to do with, you know, yeah, probably just,

Roy Barker  07:20

you know, it's like, it's like the, you know, the pain that you feel physically it just thinking those medications just kind of deliver you, you know, they block that pain sensor and just kind of deliver heat away from that, right. So the other edge is found it here said the what the other part at 43% of seniors feel lonely on a regular basis, and 45% increased risk of mortality, and seniors who report feeling lonely 45% increased risk and mortality. That is crazy.

Terry  07:54

Oh, my gosh, 45%. That's crazy. Yeah. I don't even know how to begin to come

Roy Barker  08:06

at it. You know, that was one reason why we wanted to do a little, you know, mini episode over this, because it was just, it was such a shocker. it and it was it's just really hard to believe. I mean, I'm not saying I don't believe that there's enough evidence out there that it's the truth. It's just that it's so far out of my realm of belief or my realm of experience, that it's it was just like, wow, when, because that's actually what spurred me to do the research on this was because I wanted to see if they count was down the truth, or if he is making this up? And, you know, obviously, he's right on it. So. And it's funny, because, you know, I don't know, if we don't recognize it in ourselves. But you know, we were talking earlier about, there was a study years ago that when, when the researchers asked the individual to describe themself, they always were very healthy. Nothing wrong with them. I mean, like to the point of about 70 75%. But yet, when they were asked about their friends, their neighbors, those people, like maybe 25% of the time, were healthy and in good shape. And so it's just another way that we self identify. And you know, that was always a big thing in senior living whenever we would, you know, whenever people would go in and tour communities. One of the biggest things that people would say is, wow, I'm not as sick as all these people. These I don't look like these people.

Terry  09:52

Yeah, and, I mean, I guess I guess it's easier to be on the outside looking in and See, you know, picking out, although, you know, I'm my worst critic, you know, so I can I can make myself have any kind of ailment not that I'm a hypochondriac or anything, but I do think I mean, I feel like I'm in pretty good health. I have some aches and pains from, from, you know, yeah. Getting older.

Roy Barker  10:23

Yeah. And it's just hard to, you know, and I think it's a very much older age, but I think it's hard to self identify that, you know, these are my people that I'm, you know, I don't move around as much as good as I used to. And

Terry  10:39

so and so has a walker now. No,

10:41

yeah. Oh,

Terry  10:42

I know, what I was gonna say is that I, I remember seeing seeing a story about or a meme or something about, you know, it's like, like, go into your high school reunion looking around thinking, holy cow, who are all these older people, older looking people, like, man, I don't think I look that bad. And then they're looking at you thinking the same thing? You know? Yeah. That just hit me funny.

Roy Barker  11:09

Yeah. And there's some of us that some of us have aged better than others. And, you know, we I guess it's been it's been a while since we went to, to mine not well, you know, it's been a year. year, maybe. Yeah, I guess it was a year or two. Anyway, you know, there were some people there that looked the same and hadn't you know, they had aged very well. And then there were some that you were like, Holy smokes, you know what happened to those

Terry  11:35

teachers. Although that would be fun. Yeah. So Oh, speaking of Sorry, I digress. I know you're getting older. Your birthday is coming up. Oh, yeah. Sorry. It's a big one do. Alright, I'm out. And yeah. Just because

Roy Barker  11:58

somebody told me the other day, I look younger, in person than I did in my picture. So I was I'll take that as a small victory. I'm happy with

Terry  12:07

that is

Roy Barker  12:09

gonna get me a choker like Stevie Ray Vaughan, nice to have and I'm really lucky with a

12:14

teenager do

Terry  12:15

leather strap? some spikes on it?

12:21

That'll do it.

Roy Barker  12:23

Well, that's, that was really all I had. And I think it corresponds with this being isn't this older Americans month? Is it was it the whole month? Okay. Yeah. So this is older Americans month, and, you know, kind of it, it was more off the cuff last week with our, with the title. And something we said is, you know, celebrate with the senior whenever possible. And anyway, I think this just reaffirms that message that, you know, we really need to think about, think about our friends and relatives, and it could even be a neighbor. You know, I think we talked a little bit about the recognize, and if somebody Moser yard takes care of it, and all of a sudden they haven't just go knock on the door and ask, you know,

Terry  13:12

are you thinking about it right away? You know, yeah, I don't know what that.

Roy Barker  13:16

Yeah, we have reason if somebody was jumping on the front door next door next door. And, you know, they were complaining in this, another lady spoke up and just said, you know, that happened to one of my neighbors last year, she keeps her yard immaculate, he got looking terrible, and, you know, come to find out she was nursing her husband through cancer treatments, or, you know, something like that they were in and up, got somebody to mow the yard, you know, so it really worked out good. But instead of, I guess, being grumpy and complaining, maybe we should try to find out what's going on and see if there's a way that we can be a part of that solution. So many people so many out there. And I think sometimes, even though they may put up a good front, there's still things that they need at their home. So anyway, just just check on your neighbors, check on your friends, check on your family.

Terry  14:10

And let people let people tell you let them tell you some stories. I mean, I love hearing stories of yesteryear, you know, let them tell you a little bit about their life and their experience.

Roy Barker  14:23

One other thing before we get out of here, I did want to just go over these six dimensions of wellness because I think it's appropriate and you know, kind of this message. So the six are occupational, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual. And if you want to learn more about this, it was developed by Dr. Bill Hitler. And he is the co founder of the national wellness Institute. So I you know, advise, you know, I encourage everyone to go over there, check out this one. website and just look at these six dimensions, and see how they all interact. Because it's it's very important. You know, I think they all play off of each other. If, if our physical health or physical dimension is suffering, then of course, we may be emotional about that, because we can't do what we used to do. If that social aspect of where we can't get out and socialize, it may affect, you know, emotional and physical. So anyway,

Terry  15:33

which has been a huge deal, because of the pandemic, you know, everybody's had to step way back from that social aspect of it. So everybody's suffering from that one, I think, although some people have seemed to thrive in it. And you know, I mean, we've had a good experience.

Roy Barker  15:52

Yes, yeah, we, you know, we talk about that all the time that we almost have survivor's guilt. Because we have, you know, basically, we've thrived through this. It's been nice to slow down, we're at home more with each other, doing things around here. And, you know, it really hasn't dampened our life. We can still get out and go eat about if we want to, but it's just not. I don't know, I just feel like we have slowed way down and you know, used to we just seem to be running all the time.

Terry  16:22

Oh, my gosh, I feel tired just thinking about it. always tired.

Roy Barker  16:28

So, yeah. Anyway, just like we said, check on, check on your neighbors, check on your friends, check on your family take a minute. The other thing I think that you could do that would pay dividends is if you could teach your, your the the senior in your life to FaceTime.

Terry  16:46

Oh my gosh, a technological

Roy Barker  16:49

Yeah, it would be just a really boon for them to be able to actually see you instead of just talking to you on the phone. So it's, it can be frustrating teaching somebody some new technology, but we've got so much now we've got you know, zoom, the face, FaceTime, you know, there's all kinds of

Terry  17:09

house party,

Roy Barker  17:10

yeah, house party, there's all kinds of different platforms that you can get on where you can see the visual and also to for not being able to get to people's houses, you you might can get some insight into, you know, are they still taking care of themself hygienically clean clothes, maybe you see mail piled up on the table or something, you know, dishes piled up, you know, you may get some insights into what's really going on.

Terry  17:39

Yeah, especially if you can't, you know, if you can't be there physically. So I mean, this is a quick way to do that until you can get there, you know?

Roy Barker  17:47

Yeah, exactly. All right. Well, unless you've got anything else, we'll wrap that up.

Terry  17:54

That's it.

Roy Barker  17:55

All right. Well, that's gonna do it for another episode of educational, we do appreciate all of our listeners, we appreciate all of our guests that we've had so far, and we're appreciative for our future guests, we got some great lineup. So we're excited about that. Also, if you have a topic that you want us to talk about, just send us a note, email, social media, we'll be glad to, you know, either covered ourselves do a little research or we can get a professional in that field to come on as well. If you have a

Terry  18:27

certain guest that you want us to talk to. Yeah, that'd be great. I, national global awareness day, or global wellness day. Yeah, that's where it is on June 12. June 12. Second

Roy Barker  18:38

Saturday in June, yep. All right, y'all keep that in mind. wellness is important. I mean, it's, you know, it's, it's important to help us eat rod, it's important to our physical health. And, you know, we just have to think about all these different things and see what we can do. If you're in a bad situation. Let's see what we can do to change that. There's, you know, sometimes unfortunately, it's hard. But in some other circumstances, maybe a few tweaks might make you really improve on the wellness scale.

Terry  19:11

Yeah, give us a holler. I mean, yeah, if you are in a bad way, give us a call or don't post something and post a message to us a comment, whatever.

Roy Barker  19:20

Yeah, we're always here. I

Terry  19:22

don't I don't want people to suffer. No, I don't.

Roy Barker  19:26

Alright, guys, well, that. That's gonna do it. for another episode of educational you can find us at www.ageucational.com we're on all the major social media platforms as well as all of the podcast platforms. interview will go up. We do put videos up when the episodes go live on YouTube as well. So check us out and let us know how we can help. Until next time, take care of yourself and take care of your family.

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