ISOLATION

It’s being talked about all over the place: technology has us addicted to screens and gadgets. We spend as much, if not more, time with them than with people.

Social media, with its ability to draw us into its whirl of cyber energy, can have a strangely hypnotic effect. Maybe you’ve felt it. You’re on some site or other, it’s 3:00 a.m., and you know you need to get to bed, but you can’t.

Is it the charm of a fantasy world? Is it the power of anonymity, setting us free to say whatever we like, without having to pay the price?

Whatever it is, it’s creating a nation of loners. People who’ve concluded that it’s possible to be ‘friends’ with someone they’ve never met. People who allow their marriages to be damaged by an online flirtation or ‘affair’.

You know the problem. We’re not meant to be loners. We’re social creatures, and most of us need to be with people in order to feel good. In fact isolation has been linked to poor health. Here’s an article that you might find interesting, on that topic from Business Insider Magazine:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-social-isolation-affects-your-health-2016-1

Anyone can be drawn into the cycle of isolation. Those of us who are working long hours find it hard to make friends and to have a social life. At the end of the workday, we’re tired and just want to chill out. The natural solution? A video screen. The cyber world that asks nothing of us, and can distract us so we can settle down from the tensions of the day. For those who aren’t working, the temptation can be as great. Don’t you wonder how many guys are living in mom’s basement at the age of 37, playing video games all day long?

We see that isolating oneself is a bad habit. Have you gotten into the habit? Are you lacking a social life? Have you noticed that you prefer to spend time with a screen than with a person? Given that you have the honesty and courage to admit it’s a problem, maybe it’s time to do something about it. This is not a difficult fix.

If you’re ready and willing to address it, so am I. Please e mail or call me at 219 309 3928. I would be honored to be of service.