[ttjjtt]

So to all the articles and papers that will come up if you search for terms like “health outcomes social isolation”… do I understand right that you dismiss that all as fake?

[sBqQu3U0wH]

Not really, but I think that it's a problem that is caused by belief that it's a problem. Therefore, such people tend to think that something is wrong with them, and that as a result causes stress, anxiety and whatnot, which in return causes health problems. In other words, people BELIEVE they NEED friends / social life / whatever to live "normally", and see it as a problem if they have none of that, with which I disagree, and that is why I don't see it as a real issue that requires fixing.

[ttjjtt]

Thanks for explaining, I am considering this. But I’m still very far from convinced. There are specific benefits to strong trusting long term intimate social relationships that I don’t see as replaceable and I see them as vital to positive well-being. I think one can get along okay without them but they’d be damaging their outcomes, measured by higher stress, lower positive emotional states, and higher risk of mental health disease. I think the latter, the risk of spiralling into unhealthy beliefs and behaviours without social fabric to co-regulate those things, that is particularly concerning and something I personally gave seen happen to loved ones and acquaintances, as have probably most people.

In any case, good luck out there & thanks

edit: I’m talking about close friends and family. I think acquaintances offer very little in comparison. I feel I could also live without them. Except once in a while they turn into a close friend, and I suppose I wouldn’t have close friends, or perhaps even my own family, without them.