Description
Objectives:
1. Become aware of the prevalence of loneliness.
2. Understand the psychological and physiological effects of loneliness.
3. Recognize personal and social factors that contribute to loneliness.
4. Identify strategies for combating loneliness on a personal level.
5. Understand the role of community and societal interventions in tackling loneliness.
Description:
Loneliness has been defined as the gap between the level of connectedness that you want and what you have. While measures of loneliness ticked upward during the pandemic, social scientists observe that a high residual “epidemic of loneliness” remains, and affects every age cohort from teens through to the aged. While many think loneliness is a subjective feeling, the human brain, having evolved to seek safety in numbers, registers loneliness as a threat. The centres that monitor for danger, including the amygdala, go into overdrive, triggering a release of “fight or flight” stress hormones. This lays the foundation for the outcomes of loneliness which include higher morbidity, mortality, and excess deaths. Join us and Dr. John Ogrodniczuk PhD, a practising psychologist with a special interest in loneliness, for this important discussion, including strategies and interventions to counter loneliness.
Who Should Attend?:
• Nurses and Mental Health Nurses in All Settings
• Public Health, Community Health and Long Term Care Nurses & Allied Staff
• Staff in Adolescent Settings and Pediatric Settings
• Social Workers, Psychologists & Therapists in Health & Mental Health settings
• Primary Care Physicians & Nurses
• Mental Health Nurses in Correctional & Forensic Settings
• Staff in Harm Reduction Settings
Dr. John Ogrodniczuk, PhD
Dr. John Ogrodniczuk is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the UBC Psychotherapy Program, one of the largest medically-based psychotherapy training programs in North America. His research program focuses on a variety of psychotherapies and patient populations, with a particular focus on personality disorders and men’s mental health. He is Past-President of the North American chapter of the International Society for Psychotherapy Research, and Founder of HeadsUpGuys, the world’s leading men’s mental health resource. Dr. Ogrodniczuk also maintains a private psychotherapy practice.
