孤独是种疾病

前段时间阅读了前任美国公共卫生事务所发商人的 Dr VIVEK H. MURTHY 在哈佛商业评论发表了一篇文章。其中的内容发人心醒，是普遍人忽略了又正在慢性蔓言的一种“疾病”。现今科技发达，加上讯息流通方便，令不少人注意到疾病的危害与防范。而这种“疾病”便是孤独感。

在 Dr VIVEK H. MURTHY的文章说道，

“在我照顾病人的时候，我所见到的最常见的病状不是心脏病或糖尿病，这是寂寞。每隔几周来我们医院寻求缓解疼痛的老人也在寻找人际关系：他很寂寞。中年女子与晚期艾滋病病作斗争，没有人打电话来问候她关心她，她也是孤独的。我发现孤独往往藏在临床疾病背后，造成疾病，使病人难以应付和治愈。

这可能不会让你感到惊讶。有机会，你或你认识的人一直在孤独中挣扎。这可能是一个严重的问题。孤独感和弱的社交联系与寿命减少相关，与每天吸烟15支相似，甚至与肥胖相关。但是我们并没有把像遏制烟草使用或肥胖症的注意力集中在加强人与人之间的联系上。孤独也与心血管疾病，痴呆，抑郁和焦虑的风险更高有关。在工作中，孤独会降低任务绩效，限制创造力，损害推理和决策等执行功能的其他方面。对于我们的健康和工作，我们必须快速解决孤独感。”

（Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy,served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States, from 2014 to 2017

原文：

（During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness. The elderly man who came to our hospital every few weeks seeking relief from chronic pain was also looking for human connection: He was lonely. The middle-aged woman battling advanced HIV who had no one to call to inform that she was sick: She was lonely too. I found that loneliness was often in the background of clinical illness, contributing to disease and making it harder for patients to cope and heal.

This may not surprise you. Chances are, you or someone you know has been struggling with loneliness. And that can be a serious problem. Loneliness and weak social connections are associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity. But we haven’t focused nearly as much effort on strengthening connections between people as we have on curbing tobacco use or obesity. Loneliness is also associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and anxiety. At work, loneliness reduces task performance, limits creativity, and impairs other aspects of executive function such as reasoning and decision making. For our health and our work, it is imperative that we address the loneliness epidemic quickly.）

喜歡可閱讀原文：https://hbr.org/cover-story/2017/09/work-and-the-loneliness-epidemic

孤独成疾，许多人不以为意，但这种隐藏的疾病却确实存在，影响着你与我。虽然文章是针对美国，但其实在中国，很多人都是孤独的。因为现今很多人都会选择离乡别井，到其他地方工作。地理流通方便了，家人也未必选择住在一起。现今人人都有一台智能电话，打破沟通限制的手机不正正在打破人与人之间的关系？由以往相约一起逛街的好友变成各自各网上购物。由以往去旅行变成一起留在家中拍片，直播。现今人与人之间的关系全靠网络去维系，可以说只如薄纸。

同时，很多人会想在年轻时努力工作，想贮钱待以后可以生活安定。但实情是，许多人到了结婚年龄找不到对象，更甚是在工作上连朋友也没几个。这样的人愈来愈多，没有社交，没有能聊天的对象，只有工作。回头一看，除了钱以外，还有什么？人本是群居的生物，因为群居对抗食肉外敌与众合智慧生存才能够繁衍到今时今日。只可惜人们开始自我隔离，导致社会分化严重。孤独成疾，其实你与我都有责任，多些关爱与踏出第一步，其实并不可怕，相反的很容易，而且效果更可能是你意料之外。

欢迎打赏点赞，我坚信文字是最有感染力的。