How Many People Do You Speak to Everyday Determines How Lonely You Feel?

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Professor cassiopo started studying loneliness more than 30 years ago now. He found it's not how many people you speak to every day that determines whethe you're lonely. What heals loneliness is relationships where you are giving to someone and they are giving to you. It's also why often people feel very lonely when a relationship breaks down, even while the person is still there. Once you understand this, opens up a very different set of solutions to this problem.

Author and journalist Johann Hari talks about his book, Lost Connections: Why You Are Depressed and How to Find Hope, with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Hari, who has suffered with depression as a teenager and an adult, offers a sweeping critique of the medical establishment's understanding of depression and the frequent reliance on pharmaceutical treatments. Hari argues that it is our lost connections with each other, with our work, and with ourselves that explains the rise in depression in recent times.