https://www.insider.com/harvard-dr-robert-waldinger-how-to-strengthen-any-relationship-2023-1?inline-endstory-related-recommendations=
And what happens when you have NOBODY, not even ONE close relationship?
This article says relationships are what makes ppl happy. Yes, that is common sense. But depressed ppl generally have problems MAKING friends to begin with. Are ppl depressed BC they can’t make deep connections with others, or BC they are depressed they can’t make connections with others? It’s a chicken and egg scenario.
It’s a vicious cycle- those of us who are depressed are generally very lonely, but bc we are depressed, ppl don’t want to be near us, so we become lonely…which makes us more depressed….
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From the article (I’m not making this shit up)
“Over decades of painstakingly detailed data collection and analysis gathered year after year, Waldinger and his colleagues have arrived at one sharp, simple, scientific conclusion….”
[epic drumroll……….]
“Good relationships keep us happier”
Stick around for a few more decades of painstaking research and these Harvard yahoos might reveal their next discovery: dying is bad for your health.
You’re right, all these studies stop short of causality. They make a correlation, but that tells us nothing by itself. “There is a correlation between chickens and eggs”
I can’t speak for anyone else though I suspect my situation isn’t unusual. I don’t have any relationships because I haven’t met anyone I click with. And there’s no point in forcing a relationship with people who don’t get each other. Then we as humans would be no different from online social media accounts that rack up millions of friends without a single meaningful interaction.
I guess I’m just saying I only make friends with people I feel some sort of connection with. And when you live in an armpit of a town where the only social activity is drinking beer and shooting stuff, sometimes it’s better if you keep to yourself. So, I guess in my case, I can say my depression is caused by the lack of connections. Not that I can do anything about that either way.