Loneliness in CPHS
During the first week of October, three psychology classes at CPHS surveyed students to find out how lonely the students in our school are with the help of Mr. Adler, one of the psychology teachers.
The survey was based on the UCLA Loneliness Scale, which has been used as a common tool to measure loneliness since 1978. 104 English-speaking upperclassmen from 1st, 2nd, and 5th period psychology classes took this survey anonymously on Google Forms. The survey included 20 statements such as, “I have nobody to talk to” and “I feel left out”. The students who took it had to answer how often they identified with each statement.
The results were incredibly surprising. 50 students showed a normal degree of loneliness, 36 students showed a more frequent degree, and 18 students showed a severe degree of loneliness. This suggests that more than half of the people who took the survey have a dangerous isolation problem. 60% of the students said that they lack companionship and 74.5% said they often felt left out at school. Many students who took the survey are active participants on sports teams and clubs at CPHS, yet still experience frequent loneliness. Three out of four participating upperclassmen in our school feel lonely even when they’re not alone. Loneliness often goes hand in hand with health consequences that can cause physical health problems including diabetes and heart disease. Loneliness also has negative impacts on your overall well-being, leading to depression and, in some cases, substance abuse.
According to a report written in 2013, “Loneliness may be pathognomonic of depression in old age. It is reported to be more dangerous than smoking; high degree of loneliness precipitates suicidal ideation and para-suicide, Alzheimer's disease, and other dementia and adversely affects the immune and cardio-vascular system.” However, loneliness is a widespread problem, and not only present among CPHS students.
It has become quite a common issue in the last decade with the advances in technology; neighbors replaced with Facebook friends and social anxiety replaced with Instagram anxiety. According to Johann Hari, a New York Times Best-Selling author, “Loneliness isn’t the physical absence of other people, it’s the sense that you’re not sharing anything that matters with anyone else. If you have lots of people around you—perhaps even a husband or wife, or a family, or a busy workplace—but you don’t share anything that matters with them, then you’ll still be lonely.” The only permanent way to cure loneliness is to disconnect from social media and reconnect with the people around us.
From CPHS Administration:
If students are experiencing depression or abusing substances or concerned about a peer, please be aware of the school’s counseling services available to the student body, guidance counselors, student assistance counselors, and counseling services through JFSC are available to all students. Additionally, a number of hotlines are available for someone in immediate crisis.
Mobile Screening. (201) 915-2210:
Bergen County (all areas) (201) 262-HELP, 262-4357
Bergen Regional Hospital, Hotline, Psychiatric Emergency
Relationship/domestic Violence
(201) 487-8484 (Bergen County) 24/7
Source: