Posted on 08/12/2019 3:19:24 PM PDT by rickmichaels
The volunteers at the University of Chicago’s Brain Dynamics Laboratory, all otherwise young and healthy, were tied together by really only one thing: nearly off-the-chart scores on the most widely used scale measuring loneliness.
Asked how often they felt they had no one they could turn to, how often they felt their relationships seemed superficial and forced, how often they felt alone, left out, isolated or no longer closer to anyone, the answer, almost always, was “always.”
The volunteers agreed to be randomly dosed over eight weeks with either pregnenolone, a hormone naturally produced by the body’s adrenal gland, or a placebo. Two hours after swallowing the assigned tablet, the university’s researchers captured and recorded their brain activity while the participants looked at pictures of emotional faces or neutral scenes.
Studies in animals suggest that a single injection of pregnenolone can reduce or “normalize” an exaggerated threat response in socially isolated lab mice, similar to the kind of hyper vigilance lonely people feel that makes them poor at reading other people’s intentions and feelings.
The researchers have every hope the drug will work in lonely human brains, too, although they insist the goal is not an attempt to cure loneliness with a pill.
Lead researcher and neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo has likened using a drug to rubbing frost from a windshield. Loneliness increases both a desire to connect with others, and a gut instinct for self-preservation (“if I let you get close to me, you’ll only hurt me, too”). People become more wary, cautious and self-centred. The idea is to help people see things as they are, “rather than being afraid of everyone,” Cacioppo said in an interview with Smithsonian.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...
A pill is not the solution.
There are already too many pills purporting to help people’s mental states.
The need to work on a pill for a disease worse than loneliness. Get the pill to combat liberalism, progresivism, communism; It’s a deadly disease, worse than any other affliction in human history.
“In the year 3535
Ain’t gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lies
Everything you think, do, and say
Is in the pill you took today”
(1969 song, Zager and Evans, “In the Year 2525”)
We used to call these people losers.
That’s it, we need a pill to solve loneliness. Let’s not address the low trust, postmodern hellscape ruins of what was our society that is causing these feelings.
Prayer might work as well.
Besides, chocolate already does the trick. Or so they say
Easier to get their noses out of their phones.
A recent study said millinnials, the wealthiest young people of all time, weren’t dating because it costs too much... sigh.
“... low trust, postmodern hellscape ruins ...”
but at least we have lots of cheap consumer products and entertainment! sarcasm.
But seriously, I’m not sure how we even address the situation at this point. It probably has to fail in some fashion in order to get better.
“New, from DemCo: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime!
“We’ve all been there, something bad happens and mean Republicans, pro-lifers, the NRA gun nuts or homophobic haters point out that it was perpetrated by minorities, homosexuals, transgender persons, or one of those wonderful Muslims.
“What is a progressive to do?
“Why, with new I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime you can push their tiresome, boring rants far, far away!
“Just apply I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime to your rectum like so and it’s patented politically correct recipe strongly attracts the skin of you scalp ...” (Voice now muffled) “... and now you’ll have no problem realizing who is really responsible for whatever goes wrong!”
(fast speaking voice)
“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime has no known side effects that you cannot blame on the bad people. If you start to feel uncomfortable simply apply more I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime and discomfort will fade. Reports of users disappearing up their own asses are muckraking rumors spread by crypto-fascists, who are you going to believe anyway?”
(muffled announcer voice again)
“I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hate Crime, available on school campuses and from druggist nation wide!”
It has to eventually. This system can’t sustain itself at this point. Nobody wants to live a life where you spend all your free time cooped up at home consuming media online and having plastic junk shipped to your residence because you don’t feel safe to go out in public. I can’t say I have solutions either, but we can all agree that this is not what society is supposed to be like.
Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call “loneliness”
But it’s better than drinking alone.
-Billy Joel
Aren’t there still hookers?
A truly great song and still gives me the chills today like it did the first time I heard it.
Incredible. Go get a job, or volunteer at a church or something.
Right on the money.
A good pizza or grilled burgers w steak fries.
I drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
I drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
You know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself
Every morning just before breakfast
I don’t want no coffee or tea
Just me and good buddy Wiser
That’s all I ever need
‘Cause I drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself
The other night I laid sleeping
And I woke from a terrible dream
So I caught up my pal Jack Daniel’s
And his partner Jimmy Beam
And we drank alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself
The other day I got invited to a party
But I stayed home instead
Just me and my pal Johnnie Walker
And his brothers Black and Red
And we drank alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself
My whole family done give up on me
And it makes me feel oh so bad
The only one who will hang out with me
Is my dear Old Grand-Dad
And we drink alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I drink alone
I prefer to be by myself
George Thorogood
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