HEALTH

Rising State of Loneliness Causing Public Health Concern

How Prolonged Isolation Hampers Our Physical Health

By Lindiwe Vilakazi WI Health Reporter

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic created a completely new normal for life as we know it, exacerbating a host of mental health, behavioral and financial hardships that have changed our sense of normality from day-today. But one of the most silent side-effects from an extended period of quarantining ourselves to abide by public health guidelines is the rapid uptick in loneliness experienced by Americans still struggling to rebuild a sense of social connectivity in their lives.

Recently, Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy detailed concern behind a rare advisory to address loneliness and social disconnect within the United States, suggesting the need for a framework to rebuild social connection and community in what is now becoming a “lonely nation.”

“Loneliness and isolation hurt whole communities. Social disconnection is associated with reduced productivity in the workplace, worse performance in school, and diminished civic engagement,” Murthy wrote in an opinion essay for the New York Times. “As it has built for decades, the epidemic of loneliness and isolation has fueled other problems that are killing us and threaten to rip our country apart.”

According to the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, social disconnection significantly increases the risk of anxiety and depression, including the increased risk of heart disease by 29%, stroke by 32%, and even dementia by an astounding 50% increase.

Locally, District physicians have also witnessed the growing trend gradually harming the physical and mental health of many Washingtonians. Dr. Reginald Robinson, a cardiologist with MedStar Health Cardiology Associates, and Board President of the Eastern States of the American Heart Association, discussed the insidious domino effect that prolonged feelings of loneliness can cause on the body and mind.

“Stress and anxiety certainly can affect your sleep/wake cycle, [and] can affect your heart rate. People come in with triggers like palpitations or skipped [heart] beats, and stress and anxiety can cause that. So, you have a lot more people that were coming in for palpitations or chest pain, whether it was [the] heart versus acid reflux, it can increase your risk of acid build up among organized groups where people can not only maintain a level of exercise to encourage better health, but immerse themselves into social groups of people who are enjoying the same activities and building some sense of community within these spaces.

“I used to do Muay Thai, which is Taiwanese kickboxing, martial arts, and Brazilian jiu jitsu, and those are things you do with other people. You don’t have to get in there and compete, but they have a lot of young women and men in these classes. You have people that do kickboxing classes, or boxing classes [as well]. That’s a great way of not only getting physically fit but also learning a defense mechanism,” said Robinson. “I noticed that they opened up a new pickleball court with roller skating in downtown D.C. So getting into something like that.

While Robinson said pickleball is generally associated with seniors, he believes “they are trying to make it en vogue for younger people as well.” in the stomach and cause “heartburn” [which] feels like you are having a heart attack. So it can precipitate those things; palpitations, blood pressure, and chest pain,” Robinson explained.

When observing the consequences of grief, this type of stress can produce what is called takotsubo’s cardiomyopathy or “broken-heart syndrome.”

Some women, particularly those in their 30s or 40s, after undergoing a stressful event, can experience a full heart attack but with the arteries physically appearing clean, differing from the usual state of one’s blocked arteries amid the typical heart attack. Theories behind this suggest the fight or flight response, or the adrenaline surge that causes the arteries to spasm and create a heart attack without traditionally showing rupturing of the arteries.

Patients who have suffered takotsubo’s cardiomyopathy tend to have a better recovery, but the stress that causes the “broken heart syndrome” still remains a very serious ordeal.

HOW TO COMBAT THE DAUNTING FEELING OF LONELINESS:

Dr. Robinson highly encourages physical activity, particularly

“They have tournaments all over the place,” Robsinson added.

The Office of the U.S. Surgeon General suggest, “The Six Pillars to Advance Social Connection” with the following directives to:

Strengthen Social Infrastructure in Local Communities, which would establish “community connection programs,” along with investing in local institutions that can help to bring people together.

Enact Pro-Connection Public Policies, which will establish cross-departmental leadership across all levels of government, while adopting a “Connection-in-All-Policies” approach.

Mobilize the Health Sector, which will train health care providers and expand public health surveillance and interventions.

Reform Digital Environments to establish and implement safety standards.

Deepen Our Knowledge by accelerating research funding and increasing public awareness.

Build a Culture of Connection by cultivating values of kindness, respect, service and commitment to one another, in conjunction with expanding the conversation on social connection across workplaces, schools and communities.

WI @LV_Writes_

Three Highlights from ACM’s New “To Live and Breathe” Exhibit

By Kayla Benjamin WI Climate & Environment Reporter

It might seem counterintuitive to learn about toxic pollution and racism in a room decked out in bright colors and stuffed with family-friendly interactive activities. But the Anacostia Community Museum’s new exhibit about women of color in D.C.’s environmental justice movement strikes a crucial balance, approaching its subject matter with both deep seriousness and true optimism.

“I didn't want people to leave this exhibit feeling simply depressed,” Rachel Seidman, the exhibit’s curator, said. “It's focused on the activism and on the people who are trying to make a difference.”

The exhibit, titled “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.,” opened May 19 and will remain on view through Jan. 7.

It centers the stories and voices of DMV-based women of color who fought for equitable access to clean air, soil and water, historically and in the present.

The Informer toured the museum with Seidman to get the scoop on a few can’t-miss items, ideas and stories waiting for visitors. Check out three of the highlights.

STITCHING TOGETHER A MOVEMENT: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE QUILTS

One of the first items visitors encounter upon entering the exhibit is a small quilt covered in handwritten Sharpie. More than 70 squares hold a name of someone who died due to environmental hazards in their Louisiana communities. Advocates unveiled it in 2002 at the second People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in D.C.

“This quilt became, to me, a metaphor for the movement: all this individual pain coming together and being recognized as bigger than just one family or one person's problem,” Seidman said.

The exhibit currently includes two different activist quilts, with a third slated to arrive soon. Visitors can also make their own quilt square at a station filled with felt sheets, scissors, stickers and markers. A nearby wall of velcro strips displays the creations.

HISTORY AND VICTORY IN IVY CITY: THE STORY OF THE CRUMMELL SCHOOL

The main room of “To Live and Breathe” is organized around one of the environmental justice movement’s central tenets: that “the environment” encompasses not just idyllic natural landscapes but also everywhere that people spend their time. Inspired by a 1991 quote from activist Dana Alston, the exhibit is organized into four sections: where we live, where we work, where we play and where we pray.

The green “where we play” area features the story of Ivy City’s Crummell School, where activists recently won a decades-long fight to create a community center in a neighborhood with almost no access to recreation spaces. The former Black schoolhouse, long used as a venue for community gatherings and celebrations, became abandoned in 1977 following desegregation. The city later fenced off the neglected building.

Empower DC activists like Parisa Norouzi and Sebrena Rhodes, alongside other Ivy City neighbors and advocates, spent years documenting the school’s legacy and protesting the District’s attempts to sell the site for development.

“As a historian, I really want people to understand how these issues have deep, deep roots in our city and in our country,” Seidman said. “If you don’t understand the role that the school used to play in the community, you don’t understand what a detriment that is to people's sense of pride, to their sense of being respected in a city.”

In a major win for the neighborhood advocates, the Bowser administration agreed in 2021 to allocate $20 million toward transforming the site into a recreation center.

OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE: HANDS-ON INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES

There’s plenty to look at in the exhibit: quotes from influential women in D.C.’s environmental justice movement line the walls, along with photos of their speakers. Videos and a collection of physical objects donated by the activists help tell the stories, too.

But the exhibit also hosts a lot of things to do as well. In addition to creating a felt quilt square, arts and crafts fans can make their own buttons at a station toward the end of the exhibit. At another spot, visitors can take a Buzzfeed-like quiz to find out their “activist animal,” and snag a sticker to match.

Other stops along the way are designed to spark conversation. One asks visitors to choose the most important items a park should have. Another—created to look like a dining room table, complete with a fridge to hang notes on—offers prompts for discussion about environmental justice solutions in D.C.

“This is the action, not just the awareness,” said Andrea Jones, the museum’s associate director of education, to a team of museum staff members sitting around the interactive table. The team, called the Activators, creates and executes creative education and community outreach initiatives year-round.

In the corner representing “where we pray,” a calming space painted in deep purples, sits a wall waiting to fill up with names.

“No exhibit is ever complete— you can't possibly tell all the stories,” Seidman said. “So help us complete it. If there's someone that you think should be honored for their environmental justice work or whose life was cut short from environmental toxins, you can write their name and why you think they should be honored and add them to the wall.” WI