the first ambassador of solitude has been appointed

New York State has just named its first loneliness ambassador. The governor of New York, Cathy Hochul chose the very media-friendly Ruth Westheimer.

Sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, 95, made regular appearances on television and radio in the 1980s and 1990s. She has published 37 books and lives in Washington Heights, north of Manhattan. Her personal story is incredible as she lost her family during the Holocaust and left Nazi Germany as a child through Palestine which was run by the British at the time. It was she who suggested to the governor the idea of ​​creating a position of ambassador for loneliness. “Alleluia”, she wrote in a press release when her appointment was announced, emphasizing that she was deeply honored and that she promised to help New Yorkers feel less alone day and night. It’s a subject that has interested him for several years. In 2019, she said that younger generations asked her more questions about loneliness than about sex.

Shining a light on the mental health taboo

In this specific case, the term ambassador is above all an honorary function. A platform for Dr. Ruth Westheimer, so that she can give advice, so that she can encourage people to talk about their loneliness, and try to de-dramatize the situation of those who suffer from it. New York State says it wants to create age-neutral communities and a system, “robust in the face of mental illness”as New York sought to combat the loneliness epidemic. “A little help from the Ambassador is what a doctor would recommend”, said Cathy Hochul. The director of the state’s Office of the Elderly has a similar phrase, “there is no better than Ruth Westheimerhe said, to help highlight the issue of social isolation, which is ultimately little talked about, but which is a priority public health challenge.”

A study estimates that people suffering from loneliness have a 32% higher risk of dying young. Loneliness can lead to depression, dementia or even cardiovascular disease. However, according to the National Academy of Sciences and Medicine, in the United States, a third of adults over the age of 45 say they are victims of loneliness. In addition, a quarter of adults aged 65 or more are considered socially isolated, that is to say, they do not interact enough with other human beings because they do not have many friends or because he doesn’t see his family much for example. It was Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a sort of first doctor of the country, who spoke a few months ago about isolation and loneliness as “of a national epidemic”.