“We’re seeing more anxiety and depression in young people, with many of them reporting feelings of loneliness,” says Dr. Carolyn Boulos, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Sunnybrook and assistant professor at University of Toronto.

Shyness as a child can become social anxiety as an adolescent or adult

Children may worry about making friends at a new school, or teenagers may worry about being judged by their peers. As we get older, this may result in social anxiety, making it difficult to practice social skills and causing us to feel more isolated.

FOMO is real

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is alive and well.

“A young person who is feeling lonely may see their friends post about the fun and interesting things they’re doing on social media, making the feeling of loneliness intensify,” says Dr. Boulos.

Parents can be lonely, too

Young people who report feelings of loneliness may lack the ability to develop intimacy in relationships, particularly if their parents have had similar upbringing. Lacking these tools may make it difficult to know how to navigate and build social relationships.

“Parents can be lonely too,” says Dr. Boulos. “Perhaps their relationship has ended, or they are feeling misunderstood by their partners or children. Parents should model healthy behaviours within their relationships, as their children are likely to copy what they see.”

Social media is a blessing and a curse

Social media may connect us, but are these connections meaningful? Apps and texting can be useful tools to supplement communication, but it shouldn’t become the primary way that we connect with one another.

“Someone who doesn’t feel comfortable socializing in person may find others online to connect with, but these are not physical friends. The opportunity to learn and practice social cues is lacking.” says Dr. Boulos.

So, what can we do to combat feelings of loneliness? Dr. Boulos has a few tips:

1) Make a date – with your child, parents, family or friends

Not all dates need to be romantic. Take time to reconnect with people who are important in your life.

“It’s important to show kindness and respect to each other, and that starts with taking time to talk and listen to one another without distractions,” says Dr. Boulos.

Doing something together could be as simple as going for a walk, going bowling, grabbing a coffee or participating in shared interests.

2) Set aside some time with others, without the screens

With all the time we spend on our phones and in front of screens, Dr. Boulos is noticing that more patients have a harder time making eye contact.

“Young people are losing the ability to identify social cues because they’re constantly in front of a screen. Parents are using technology more too, meaning that overall, there is far less casual conversation going on, whether it’s in the car or at the dinner table,” she says.

Make time away from the screens to reconnect, have a conversation, share a meal – all of these things will help to keep feelings of loneliness at bay, and build intimacy and understanding in relationships.

3) Physical touch is important

As our communications are becoming more often electronic, it’s important as social beings that we retain human contact – this helps us remain connected to others and to not feel lonely.

“Chemically, a lot of important things happen in our bodies when we touch, even if it’s just a quick hug,” says Dr. Boulos. “Touch can provide a sense of intimacy, security and happiness, as well as decrease stress and improve our overall health.”

More on the topic:

Infographic: How loneliness affects our health

It is important to know that you are not alone. If you or someone you know is suffering, help is available. Find resources and information at sunnybrook.ca/gethelp

The post 3 tips to avoid loneliness at any age appeared first on Your Health Matters.

Although the cause of Carrie Fisher’s death was reportedly a massive heart attack, one could say that she actually died of bipolar disorder. It is well known that heart disease is society’s leading killer. In contrast, it is largely unrecognized that people with bipolar disorder are at particularly high risk of heart disease. Shining a light on the heart-bipolar connection serves a number of important parallel purposes, including the promotion of assertive approaches to optimizing heart health, reducing the ongoing stigma toward bipolar disorder and other forms of mental illness, and encouraging further research efforts on this topic.

Carrie Fisher was not only a luminary artist, she was also a luminary advocate for mental health, focusing especially on bipolar disorder, a condition from which she suffered. Because of Ms. Fisher’s profession and talents, hers is an epic and singular story that has and will continue to touch the world for many years. But hers is also a typical story, albeit tragically so, of a young woman who experienced the onset of bipolar disorder early in life, who survived decades of the effects of bipolar disorder on her mind and brain, and who, it could be said, was ultimately felled by the impact of bipolar disorder on her heart.

Based on the most recent data from the United States general population, not only are people with bipolar disorder more likely to have heart disease, they also experience heart disease up to 17 years earlier, on average, than people who do not suffer from mood disorders. A sixty year-old woman with bipolar disorder may have the heart of a mentally healthy woman in her late seventies. The extent to which bipolar disorder increases and accelerates the risk of heart disease exceeds what can be explained by smoking, drug and alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle, nutrition, physical side effects of psychiatric medications, and even traditional heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure and obesity. All of these factors are particularly common among people with bipolar disorder, but they are only part of the story.

Almost certainly, the distress caused by the symptoms of bipolar disorder, alongside the stress caused by the impact of those symptoms on people’s lives, contributes in part to elevated heart disease risk. There are a number of biological processes that could form the heart-bipolar bridge, including elevated levels of inflammatory markers, which have been shown to coincide with the episodes of mania and depression that define bipolar disorder and which increase the risk of heart disease.

Studies have also found evidence of poor blood vessel health among people with bipolar disorder, in the brain as well as the body. The scientific literature on this topic is so compelling, and yet so under-recognized, that a recent scientific statement from the American Heart Association positioned bipolar disorder (as well as major depressive disorder) among youth as a risk factor for early heart disease.

It is worth noting that among teenagers, bipolar disorder is twice as common among girls than boys. It is also worth noting that the extent of increased risk of heart disease attributable to bipolar disorder is even greater for females than it is for males. In losing Carrie Fisher, the world has lost a warrior princess who gifted us with valiant efforts both on and off the screen. As we each consider the ways in which we will honor her memory, let us consider all of the young warrior princesses (and princes) with bipolar disorder for whom the prospects of a long and healthy life rest on early and assertive approaches to heart health.

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They are the glorified jobs you see endlessly profiled on cop and drama shows. The first responders to a scene faced with the gruesome task of documenting a life shattering tragedy into evidence bags. It’s one thing to watch these television portraits while unwinding at the end of a long work day. It’s quite another to live the reality. But that’s something Sergeant Tim Burrows and Constable Hugh Smith do everyday. Overseeing media communications, they are responsible for attending any major collision that Traffic Service is involved in. Fatalities are not uncommon. Talk about a tough job.

“The ones we are on are usually as people would say, spectacular,” says Smith. “It’s the carnage involved, how violent the collision really is. What gets to the officers when we’re investigating is, this was so preventable. Why are we here at 3 in the morning, and someone has passed away? Then you find it was due to either some kind of impairment, or distracted driving. By the time they look up, it’s all over for somebody.”

Smith and Burrows have, collectively, 44 years experience, and have banned the word “accident” from their nomenclature, preferring terms like “incident” or “collision”. So here’s what they can definitively say: every collision is both life altering (if not life threatening) and preventable, and anyone who sees what they do will never be the same.

Enter Sunnybrook’s P.A.R.T.Y program. Short for “Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth”, it’s the medical version of scared straight. Twice a week, a group of high school students come close to stepping in the shoes of Smith, Burrows and other first responders. They view graphic videos of real incidents, tour the trauma and critical care units, and meet with patients whose lives have been irreparably altered as a result of poor decisions-like drinking or driving or not wearing a seatbelt. In short, these teens smash into the worst-case scenario head on.

P.A.R.T.Y. is a particular source of pride for Sunnybrook. Born here, it’s now been adopted and copied locally and internationally. And now, important 10-year data on the program finally quantifies what those involved have long-suspected: it really works. The new study, published in the Journal of Trauma, finds teens who attended P.A.R.T.Y. had fewer injuries, driving offenses and collisions, not to mention a reduction in serious and catastrophic injuries.

Burrows and I met last week for a drive around the west end of the city. He told me the biggest challenge with any safety measure is changing behavior, something P.A.R.T.Y. does with a bang. “If you can start that at the youth, that’s where you’re going to get the win because it keeps on growing.” He also defends the graphic nature of the program. Unlike the shows and video games kids are bombarded with, P.A.R.T.Y. is clear in its message that real life has no reset button.

Smith agrees, saying that each student will leave enriched in some way from the P.A.R.T.Y. experience. “Maybe not the whole program, but they’re going to take something that relates to them. Hopefully that little message, as we say, spreads to 2 friends and so on.”

Here’s to that. Learn more about the P.A.R.T.Y. Program

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