Worldcrunch
Researchers say “sickness behavior” mimics mild depression as immune cytokines signal the brain to conserve energy, making people listless and withdrawn. Yet it differs from true depression and varies widely depending on mindset, stress and loneliness.
Research has shown how isolation or loneliness can cause mental and physical ailments. Being alone is an objective state but feeling lonely is a fuzzier predicament. One recurring trait among lonesome people is a sense that nobody really cares about them anymore.
The 21st century has completely transformed how we deal with emotions, says sociologist Eva Illouz. In a conversation with Die Zeit, she talks about love, emojis, and exploitation.
For centuries, sensory isolation has been used as a tool to achieve deep meditative states. With noise and light pollution growing around us, seeking profound silence and darkness may be the ultimate balm for modern times.
Lebanese writer Tarek Ismail, who fled his village in southern Lebanon in September, reflects on his new life as a displaced person: “I am now facing a fate that is not in my hands.”
Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person who has just passed away at age 117, once talked about the importance of socializing in old age. Even if the aging and elderly tend to wind up confined to family circles, studies have shown the often untapped benefits of friendship in our later years.
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro joins a long line of dictators whose fall from grace is marked by a period of incessant corruption, isolation, and a disconnection from reality.
Former inmates of the Miraflores Women’s Penitentiary Center — where former Interim President Jeanine Anez is now serving her sentence — share their stories of solidarity and support among the women there, but they also call for changes within the prison system and society.
Our battle to keep local stores open, despite the evolution of our consumption habits, may just be the expression of nostalgia of a rural dream that is gone. Or is it really?
While Vladimir Putin wages his holy war against the West, Russian officials and their families are often seeking better lives there. Will these double lives be the downfall of the aging dictator’s fixation?
By abstaining from a UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Washington has not only angered Benjamin Netanyahu — it has potentially altered the dynamics of the whole Israel-Hamas war.
On paper, the river-rich Karnali province is perfect for hydropower. In reality, the disaster-prone and far-flung region struggles to turn on the lights.
Children and teenagers whose parents are in prison report depression, anxiety and a drop in school performance. New laws meant to protect them are not properly applied.
Nepal outlawed forced isolation for menstruating women nearly two decades ago. But the practice continues, threatening the ability of many women to lead a normal life.
Growing old in Mexico brings uncertainty, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. However, being LGBTQ+ brings additional challenges, which the pandemic accentuated.
Like from a Pushkin tale, Soviet embargo, or even a COVID lockdown, Russia is at home when it is proudly or despondently cut off from the external world. And after a post-Soviet pause of opening up, here we are again, says Russian writer Yury Saprykin.
PARIS — After first reckoning with the physical toll of COVID-19, the world also began to register the risk of rising rates of depression and isolation as the first wave of the virus forced hundreds of millions of people to stay confined at home for months at a time last spring. But now the second […]
Do we need to see influencers in their designer pajamas?
Instead of actually forging relationships, or continuing those they have already, Japanese people are hiring actors to play the roles of loved ones.
ROME – It was a disquieting statement from the former butler of Pope Benedict XVI, as he took the stand in a Vatican court hearing his case. Paolo Gabriele, who lived for six years in the papal apartment, explained the motives that had led him to photocopy the Pope’s private papers: “Over time, I developed […]