assignment 16-david butler

 How social isolation and loneliness affects society: The annotated bibliography

By: David Butler

1.  One Other source

Dolva, Karen. “All the Lonely People | Karen Dolva | TEDx Arendal.” YouTube, TEDxArendal, 17          Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Gil9l8yIE. 

This video demonstrates just how impactful isolation and loneliness can be on society as an individual and a whole. The video is a very credible source because it is a branch the ted talks called “TEDx Arendal”. Ted talk heavily interviews and is very selective about who is invited on to be a guest speaker, this means that Karen Dolva is a credible and reliable source. She had a very convincing argument based in logic and reason so as not to leave anything up for debate. She brought up many facts that were well reasoned and demonstrated how much the feeling of loneliness affects us. She made arguments about how it not only affects mental health, but also physical health. This was eye opening and could be used to strengthen and diversify the argument. She related how it affects us physically to numbers and made for a solid convincing argument. 

“that feeling lonely results in a 29% increased risk of heart disease. Feeling lonely also increases the risk of having a stroke by 32%. You might not believe it, but when it comes to heart disease, loneliness is a bigger killer than obesity.” 

This is such a big fact that you could use it as your opening statement, which i likely would in one way or another. She also brings up other facts of how loneliness affects our health care systems and taxes. She says how expensive certain diseases are and how loneliness increase the chances of contracting them. 

“And to give you a specific example of how loneliness is expensive, we can stay on dementia because 66% of all the money we spend on mental healthcare is spent on people suffering from dementia. And loneliness doubles your risk of developing it.”

She later talks about all the money that is spent on these lonely dementia or other health care patients is then just paid by the tax payers. Overall, the presentation had some very strong points and has some points I would have otherwise overlooked. This can help me to form my thesis statement with the points used here.

2. 

1st pure internet source

Sebenius, Isaac. “Anxiety and Depression Are Following a Remarkably Similar Curve to Covid-19 Cases.” Vox, Vox, 15 Dec. 2020, www.vox.com/22174464/covid-cases-anxiety-depression-mental-health. 

This is a reputable internet publishing source as well as the author Isaac Sebenius who 

“is a graduate student in the advanced computer science program at the University of Cambridge, where he researches mental illness by combining machine learning with biological data.”

This article focuses on how along with all the physical ways COVID-19 has affected us, it has also affected us mentally. In fact, the amount that our mental health on average has deteriorated is substantial. They even have graphs and statistics to prove this fact and show just how much it has affected us. The isolation has made for much higher numbers in depression, anxiety, and many more. This gives us a current and relatable example of how isolation can affect our society and what it can do to our mental health.

“Even at its lowest point this summer (early May), the rate of Americans reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression hovered around 34 percent, roughly three times higher than the average of 11 percent reported in a parallel study between January and June 2019.”

The article even went on to talk about how the isolation and correlated mental health symptoms can be shown to be a major drain on the economy. If i had a part of my thesis about how isolation and loneliness can drain the economy then not only could i have this but i could have the video source as evidence. Overall, this could give me a lot of concrete evidence and make it easier for others to put my argument into perspective if I had something like how COVID is currently affecting us with loneliness and isolation.

3.

2nd pure internet source

Harrington, Karra, and Martin J. Sliwinski. “The Loneliness of Social Isolation Can Affect Your Brain and Raise Dementia Risk in Older Adults.” The Conversation, The Conversation, 2 Dec. 2020, 8:19 pm, theconversation.com/the-loneliness-of-social-isolation-can-affect-your-brain-and-raise-dementia-risk-in-older-adults-141752. 

This source is great because both of the authors are doctors and professors so they are trained in the areas addressed in the article so we can consider it accurate. This article starts right off the bat by saying that loneliness is similar and just as detrimental to us as physical pain. It can also cause just as much harm and even lead to higher percentages of diseases. This can further back my points from the other sources about how much loneliness and isolation can truly affect society. It then goes on to say that we perform worse in school and on tests, and we also are more likely to develop dementia when we are lonely “due to increased psychological distress, such as repetitive negative thinking”. 

“Older adults who are socially isolated or feel lonely also tend to perform worse on tests of thinking abilities, especially when required to process information rapidly. “

It also explains a unclear question, how do these feelings get translated into disease? Now there are a number of factors contributing to this. A few are just the stress, anxiety, depression that come with loneliness. However, from those three also comes bad habits such as drinking, smoking, drugs, self harm, infrequent exercise and more. This helps me to explain this in my argument and can be used to strengthen my reasoning. Overall, this was a well reasoned and logical article that helps to describe the mental, physical, and societal effects of loneliness.

4.

1st book or traditional periodical source

Murthy, Vivek. “Loneliness Was a Public Health Crisis Long Before Social Distancing. Here’s How We Can Solve It.” TIME, 26 Mar. 2020. 

This is a very credible source because it is both published from TIME magazine and the author is the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, if anyone is qualified to talk about this topic, it would be he. First he discussed how he found that loneliness ran through many different forms of ailments and wasn't even really addressed. It can tear lives apart and even lessen functionality in society. This can help me to describe the complexities of loneliness and how it isn't really addressed. He then goes on to talk about how we are now disconnected due to covid but that isn't the root of our problem, it started far before. We are in a age of disconnect where we can isolate ourselves from those who don't hold out interests.

“The result is a spiral of disconnection that’s contributing to the unraveling of civil society today.”

He brings up points like how negative our current media is and it feeds us a feeling of disconnect and fear. This brings about a sense that we aren't safe and 

“It erodes our sense that we all belong here.

This anxiety may not initially feel like the loneliness we associate with isolation.”

Then he ends it bt saying that the cure to this fear, this loneliness is human connection. Wherever you can get it, community participation, friend groups, church, sports, you name it. This can be especially useful for my argument if i decided to list solutions to the problem and I could use this as one if not the solution.

5.

2nd book or traditional periodical source

Worland, Justin. “Why Loneliness May Be the Next Big Public-Health Issue.” TIME Magazine, 18 Mar. 2015. 

This is a credible source because it is by TIME magazine who is highly selective of the articles the publish. The author is also credible because “Washington D.C.-based senior correspondent for TIME covering climate change and the intersection of policy, politics and society”. This immediately makes this article something i could use as strong evidence to support my argument. They start the article off with jarring facts like

“living alone were found to be even more devastating to a person’s health than feeling lonely, respectively increasing mortality risk by 29% and 32%.”

This makes it a strong argument that is backed by facts that outline just how much loneliness can affect the body. Worland then points out an interesting fact that wasn't touched on in any of my other sources. The devastating effects of loneliness aren't restricted only those who are unhappy, it can also affect those who are isolated and happy. This means that social isolation in general is the cause of these health issues. This brings light to a overlooked part of my argument and i can use it to strengthen my argument by covering more bases. Overall, this is an important souce for my argument because it helps me round out all the overlooked kinks in my argument and further strengthen it.