Original text
(1) A paradoxical fact has long been noticed: especially beautiful people are often lonely and unhappy. (2) The life of such famous beauties as Helen - Queen of Sparta - and Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana cannot be called happy. (3) The ancients explained this by the jealousy and envy of the gods. (4) Many peoples believed that, having generously gifted a person in one respect, fate would certainly deprive him of something else. (5) Hence the widespread belief that a beautiful woman cannot be smart, and a handsome man is delicate, unreliable and also, most likely, stupid.
(6) From a psychological point of view, there are some reasons for this. (7) Beautiful people, spoiled from childhood by everyone’s attention and accustomed to easily getting their way, often turn out to be completely incapable of subtly understanding and feeling another. (8) When they are young and irresistible, they get away with callousness, selfishness, arrogance, they easily win hearts and have many fans. (9) But few people have the strength and desire to tolerate such a person next to them all their lives. (10) However, an evil disposition and dislike for people are not always behind the inability of an outwardly attractive person to build strong relationships. (11) This may simply be a kind of “uncouthness”, underdevelopment of qualities that are so necessary in communication, such as tact, sensitivity, flexibility. (12) After all, we truly effectively learn only what we really need. (13) It is natural that a person who does not hope to establish contacts with others, relying only on his appearance, will be more diligent and more successful in mastering the subtle science of interpersonal relationships. (14) It is here that we should look for the reasons for the situation that has been played out many times in literature and cinema: a man who was once madly in love with a beautiful bitch leaves her for a plain-looking “gray mouse” who understands him, or a girl prefers to a smug handsome man who is not endowed with a bright appearance, but with spirituality someone close to her.
(15) What is beauty - a gift or a curse? (16) It depends both on the culture of society and on the person himself. (17) After all, it has long been noticed that some people become more beautiful over the years, while others lose their attractiveness. (18) The face is imprinted by life experience, the sum of all the feelings, thoughts and moral decisions of a person. (19) If they were bright and worthy, the face becomes prettier; if they were evil and petty, it’s the opposite. (20) Many people think that beauty is what they lack to be happy. (21) “Don’t be born beautiful, but be born happy,” argues popular wisdom. (22) But it seems that both are exaggerations and, in fact, the relationship between happiness and beauty cannot be determined unambiguously.
(L. Petranovskaya)
Composition
How does a person’s appearance influence the process of personality development? Is an outwardly attractive person always callous and selfish at heart? It is these questions that are the focus of attention of the educational psychologist L.V. Petranovskaya.
Revealing the problem, the author reflects on the factors that influence the formation of the character of beautiful people. Petranovskaya emphasizes that they are often unable to build strong relationships precisely because of the lack of tact and sensitivity, which they did not need in childhood. At the same time, people who are not endowed with external attractiveness have a greater incentive to develop the positive aspects of their character, so others are more willing to be drawn to them. To prove this, the author cites a situation that has been played out more than once in films and books: a “beautiful bitch” is abandoned for the sake of a kind and understanding “gray mouse.”
So, L.V. Petranovskaya comes to the following conclusion: perhaps beauty influences the formation of personality, but it is not the main factor. An attractive person can learn to be kind and considerate to others if he sets such a goal for himself.
I can't help but agree with the author's opinion. I also believe that a person’s spiritual qualities are determined not only by his appearance. Much depends on the upbringing that a person receives in society, as well as on his own desire to become kind and sympathetic.
Numerous examples from fiction can confirm my point of view. Let us remember Tatyana Larina, the heroine of “Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin. There was no secular affectation or feigned modesty in her. Unlike many secular beauties, Tatyana is attractive not because of her “external charm,” but because of her rich spiritual world. It is no coincidence that for many years, thanks to Pushkin’s talent, the image of this girl became the standard of beauty.
You can also cite the example of Matryona Grigorieva, the heroine of A. I. Solzhenitsyn’s story “Matryonin’s Dvor.” At first glance, this is an unattractive elderly woman. However, all her life she helped others, gave herself to others without reserve. It is no coincidence that the writer calls her a righteous person, that is, a person who brings goodness and truth to people. This is her spiritual beauty.
In conclusion, I want to say that beauty, of course, always attracts attention, but the bright and kind soul of a person is much more attractive to others, and it does not matter whether it is brightly packaged or not.
TASK C2.1
Write an essay based on the text you read.
Formulate And comment on one of the problems, supplied by the author of the text (avoid excessive quoting).
State the author's position. Write, Do you agree or disagree with his point of view. Explain Why. Justify your answer based primarily on reading experience, as well as on knowledge and life observations (the first two arguments are taken into account).
Volume of the essay - at least 150 words.
Work written without reference to the text read (not based on this text) is not graded.
If the essay is a retelling or completely rewritten of the original text without any comments, then such work is scored zero points.
Write an essay carefully, legible handwriting. TEXT
(1) A paradoxical fact has long been noticed: especially beautiful people are often lonely and unhappy. (2) The life of such famous beauties as Helen - Queen of Sparta - and Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana cannot be called happy. (3) The ancients explained this by the jealousy and envy of the gods. (4) Many peoples believed that having generously gifted a person in one respect, fate would certainly deprive him of something else. (5) Hence the widespread belief that a beautiful woman cannot be smart, and a handsome man is delicate, unreliable and also, most likely, stupid.
(6) From a psychological point of view, there are some reasons for this. (7) Beautiful people, spoiled from childhood by everyone’s attention and accustomed to easily getting their way, often turn out to be completely incapable of subtly understanding and feeling another. (8) When they are young and irresistible, they get away with callousness, selfishness, arrogance, they easily win hearts and have many fans. (9) But few people have the desire and strength to tolerate such a person next to them all their lives. (10) However, an evil disposition and dislike for people are not always behind the inability of an outwardly attractive person to build strong relationships. (eleven)It may simply be a kind of “uncouthness”, underdevelopment of qualities that are so necessary in communication, such as tact, flexibility and sensitivity. (12) After all, we truly effectively learn only what we really need. (13) It is natural that a person who does not hope to establish contacts with others, relying only on his appearance, will be more diligent and more successful in mastering the subtle science of interpersonal relationships. (14) It is here that one should look for the reasons for the situation that has been played out many times in literature and cinema: a man who was once madly in love with a beautiful bitch leaves her for a plain-looking but understanding “gray mouse”, or a girl prefers to a smug handsome man who is not endowed with a bright appearance, but with spirituality someone close to her.
(15) What is beauty - a gift or a curse? (16) This depends both on the culture of society and on the person himself. (17) After all,It has long been noticed that some people become more beautiful over the years, while others lose their attractiveness. (18) The face is imprinted by life experience, the sum of all the feelings, thoughts and moral decisions of a person. (19) If they were bright and worthy, the face becomes prettier; if they were evil and petty, it’s the opposite. (20) Many people think that beauty is what they lack to be happy. (21) “Don’t be born beautiful, but be born happy,” argues popular wisdom. (22) But it seems that both are exaggerations and in fact the relationship between happiness and beauty cannot be determined unambiguously.
(L. Petranovskaya)
Petranovskaya Lyudmila Vladimirovna- educational psychologist, laureate of the Presidential Prize in the field of education.
COMPOSITION
In the article proposed to me for a creative essay, L. Petranovskaya discusses the external and internal beauty of a person. "What is beauty - a gift or a curse?" - this is the main problem of her philosophical research.
At the very beginning, she cites the paradoxical facts that “especially beautiful people are often lonely and unhappy.” Marilyn Monroe, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, Princess Diana, Lyubov Orlova - famous world beauties - are proof of this. The author of the article partially agrees with the popular opinion that this is the envy and jealousy of the gods (as they thought in ancient times), and the equalization of man by nature itself according to the principle: there is beauty, no intelligence is needed, and vice versa.
Petranovskaya conducts an in-depth study of this problem as a specialist in the field of psychology and pedagogy. When does beauty become a curse and why? According to the author, beautiful people spoiled with attention from childhood “often turn out to be completely incapable of subtly understanding and feeling another,” which develops callousness, selfishness, and arrogance in them. Such people, as a rule, are uncommunicative, since they rely on their beauty for a long time and do not master the “subtle science of interpersonal relationships.” That is why in all genres of world art, in modern show-TV programs “Let Them Talk”, “Let’s Get Married” and many others, situations about beautiful women and handsome men are played out, from whom they leave for “gray mice” or unsightly in appearance, but mentally rich new lover.
I completely agree with the author that everything in a person should be beautiful: both face and soul. both thoughts and clothes. Angular, large-mouthed, far from beautiful in appearance, Natasha Rostova, beloved by L. Tolstoy, from the novel “War and Peace”. But how beautiful her soul is: kind, sympathetic, generous, selfless, truthful and, most importantly, natural in behavior and actions. The same wonderful people are all beloved by the author and readers: Pierre Bezukhov and Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, Captain Tushin and Count I.A. Rostov. But the “cold”, “marble” beauty Helen Kuragina and her brother, the handsome Anatol, are internally ugly: selfish, deceitful, calculating. Therefore, they perish: first spiritually, and then physically. And Natasha, Pierre, Princess Marya find real great love and happiness. And there are many such examples from the literature.
The folk wisdom expressed in the proverb is fair: “Don’t be born beautiful, but be born happy.” But beauty is given by nature, and spiritual beauty and spiritual wealth are acquired at the cost of enormous and hard work. “The soul must work day and night, day and night,” - this is the main condition for the true beauty of a person.
Text taken from the manual: Senina. "Preparation for the Unified State Exam-2012" publishing house "Legion" p. 256 c. 4
What is beauty? True, not always, people have different tastes, different ideas about “what is good and what is bad.” It is much easier for those who have a highly developed perceptive apparatus to understand the fascination of an artist with this or that nature and to share his feeling despite their own preferences than for those who rarely come into contact with art.
Composition
A kind of ideal of appearance that most young people look up to, a face that looks beautifully at us from the windows of magazine stalls, a body that is worshiped, which may even be loved - they exist in every generation. But books are never written about them, truly beautiful and soulful songs are very rarely dedicated to them, such personalities are almost never subjected to philosophical analysis - they are discussed mainly as a picture. Rarely does anyone deny such beauty from the cover of a magazine, but each such example usually very quickly loses its relevance and becomes, at best, a pale symbol of a bygone era. What is true, eternal beauty? Yu.M. answers this question to the reader in his text. Nagibin.
Considering the problem, the author very clearly formulates his own opinion, gradually discussing what makes up human beauty as a whole, and conveying to us the idea of why the question raised by the writer will never lose its relevance. Yu.M. Nagibin cites the example of the image of the painting “Mona Lisa” and draws our attention to the fact that despite the not entirely attractive external features, the girl depicted on the canvas will forever retain the debate of critics and connoisseurs about her beauty. Why? Only due to the fact that her entire image was and is nothing more than “the hot, pulsating, bottomless life of a single soul.” Thus, the writer talks about the exclusivity of the type of human beauty he is considering. Next, he cites the example of classics who, when describing eternal female images, never rushed into a detailed analysis of the appearance of their heroines. In his works L.N. Tolstoy, as well as A.S. Pushkin limited himself to only light strokes, strokes of the “charming author’s intonation,” but truly beautiful images were formed through our acquaintance with the history of the characters, with their actions and views on life, with their worldview and spiritual wealth.
Expressing his point of view, the author writes that “... soulless, external beauty is nothing, only beauty that glows from within is valuable...”. Thought Yu.M. Nagibin expresses that true beauty lies in a person’s character, in his spiritual fullness and moral purity. Only she, real, exceptional beauty, capable of leaving a trace of eternity, only she is capable of “illuminating the world with goodness.”
There is no doubt that the author's words about true beauty deserve approval. I also believe that a person’s appearance, whatever it may be, contrary to many statements, does not have any fundamental role, unlike beauty shining from within. True beauty lies in a person’s soul, in his inner harmony, in his actions; it is this that can save the world.
A good example that reveals the essence of this problem is Sonya Marmeladova, the heroine of the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". The author describes her “thin...pale face” as “rather irregular, somehow sharp”, claims that “she couldn’t even be called pretty” - and yet neither the writer nor the reader has any doubts: this girl has true, eternal beauty. The beauty of Sonya is in her spiritual purity, in her sincerity, in her dedication, in her modesty. Despite her difficult fate, Sonya retained in her heart love for her loved ones, love for people and faith in the best. With this spiritual radiance, as if like a ray of sunshine, the heroine saved the soul of Rodion Raskolnikov, instilling faith in his heart.
The problem of true beauty is raised by N. Zabolotsky in the poem “The Ugly Girl.” Describing the unprepossessing appearance of her heroine, her sharp and ugly facial features, the author focuses our attention on the spiritual, moral beauty of the little girl. This child knows how to sincerely rejoice for others and admire the “happiness of being,” ignoring all the negativity. There is no envy, no anger in her - nothing that pulls down and depresses many people, this child is happy simply because she has the opportunity to live. Her beauty cannot be doubted by those who do not take into account the attractive picture, but for everyone else the author still asks a rhetorical question:
“...And if this is so, then what is beauty
And why do people deify her?
She is a vessel in which there is emptiness,
Or a fire flickering in a vessel?..."
N.V. Gogol once said: “The spring of poetry is beauty.” But only true beauty can become the impetus for something as beautiful, as eternal as poetry. Ordinary, external beauty is not capable of becoming a symbol of something truly immortal.
The answers to tasks 1–24 are a word, phrase, number or sequence of words, numbers. Write the answer to the right of the assignment number without spaces, commas or other additional characters.
Read the text and complete tasks 1–3.
(1) Foreigners note that the mood of a Russian person talking to them can suddenly change from complacent to offended, and then suddenly his face will become friendly again. (2) This behavior is explained by the fact that a Russian person does not hide his true emotion behind a smile or a politely restrained mask, as is customary in Western communication. (3) ____ is simply an immediate emotional reaction to the content of a conversation.
1
Which of the following sentences correctly conveys the MAIN information contained in the text?
1. The direct emotional reaction of Russians to the content of a conversation is unusual for foreigners.
2. Foreigners note that a Russian person’s mood can suddenly change during a conversation.
3. A Russian person usually does not hide his true emotions behind a smile or a polite mask when communicating.
4. The direct expression of emotions in communication, characteristic of Russians, is not typical for foreigners.
5. In the Western style of communication, direct expression of emotions during a conversation is not accepted.
2
Which of the following words (combinations of words) should be in the gap in the third (3) sentence of the text? Write this word down.
1. Nevertheless
5. Thus,
3
Read a fragment of a dictionary entry that gives the meaning of the word REACTION. Determine in what sense this word is used in the third (3) sentence of the text. Write down the number corresponding to this value in the given fragment of the dictionary entry.
REACTION, and, g.
1. An action or state that occurs in response to a particular influence. The body's reaction is cold.
2. A sharp change in well-being, decline, weakness after exertion. Reaction after strong excitement.
3. Chem. An interaction between two or more substances leading to the formation of a new substance. Chemical reaction.
4. Phys., chem. An indicator of any processes or properties. Erythrocyte sedimentation reaction.
4
In one of the words below, an error was made in the placement of stress: the letter denoting the stressed vowel sound was highlighted incorrectly. Write this word down.
document
clogged
until late
crept up
5
6
In one of the words highlighted below, an error was made in the formation of the word form. Correct the mistake and write the word correctly.
hunting grounds
MISSING letters
GYPSIES songs
SABLE collar
contrary to FORECASTS
7
Establish a correspondence between the sentences and the grammatical errors made in them: for each position in the first column, select the corresponding position from the second column.
| OFFERS | GRAMMATICAL ERRORS |
| A) Twenty-one trading companies have already announced the expansion of their activities. | 1) incorrect use of the case form of a noun with a preposition |
| B) After mature reflection, I refused this generous offer. | 2) violation of the connection between subject and predicate |
| C) Mikhail Voloshin, who lived in Koktebel, described Feodosia in October 1920 in the poem “Slaughterhouse”. | 3) violation in the construction of a sentence with an inconsistent application |
| D) Lermontov writes that I look sadly at our generation. | 4) error in constructing a sentence with homogeneous members |
| D) Goncharov focuses on the fate of two friends: Oblomov and Stolz. | 5) incorrect construction of sentences with participial phrases |
| 6) violation of the construction of sentences with participial phrases | |
| 7) incorrect construction of sentences with indirect speech |
Write your answer in numbers without spaces or other symbols
8
Identify the word in which the unstressed alternating vowel of the root is missing. Write out this word by inserting the missing letter.
enchanted
sunbathe
shut up
close...drink
warm up
9
Identify the row in which the same letter is missing in both words in the prefix. Write out these words by inserting the missing letter.
h...spend the night, w...cook
pr...breezy, pr...given
and...cook, food...
pr...increase, pr...passion
p...road worker, not...sightly
10
dependent
stuck
Westernized
targeted... (weapon)
made (bed)
11
Write down the word in which the letter E is written in the blank.
double...double
quarrelsome
settlement
peck...to peck
12
Indicate all the numbers in whose place the letter I is written.
No matter how hard I (1) tried, I (2) could (3) confirm or (4) refute this information.
13
Determine the sentence in which both highlighted words are written CONTINUOUSLY. Open the brackets and write down these two words.
1. The forest (IN) CIRCLE (AS) AS WELL as quiet and frozen, waiting for something.
2. (THROUGH) THE AUTUMN FOREST A stranger girl was walking towards me.
3. I ALSO wanted to get home as quickly as possible, SO I quickened my pace.
4. (DURING) THE WEEK (DURING) THE MIDDLE OF our yard there was a hectic job of repairing the gate.
5. BECAUSE of how worried my father was, it became clear that he was just as concerned as I was with the fate of Galina Petrovna.
14
Indicate all the numbers in whose place NN is written.
The present (1) newspaper noted (2) that the speakers at the student conference were very well-read (3), and their arguments were substantiated (4) with indisputable evidence.
15
Place punctuation marks. Indicate the numbers of sentences in which you need to put ONE comma.
1. On this table one could see the notebooks of the mother-teacher and the documents of the father and two modest twelve-sheet notebooks of the son.
2. Reading revealed to him either the “nests of the nobility” with their warm and sublime life under the spacious sky, or the measured and lazy existence of old cities.
3. She either did not hear my words or did not pay attention to them.
4. Marina was always ready to listen to his endless tales and fables and unconditionally believed his every word.
5. On the square stood a fabulous ice tower with a carved porch and lace trim on the windows.
16
Sunlit (1) visible in the distance (2) the geometric lines of the streets (3) softened by the green outlines of the trees (4) and seething with everyday bustle.
17
Place punctuation marks: indicate all the numbers that should be replaced by commas in the sentences.
Ahead of the army (1) columns (2) which stretched (3) five miles (4) rode a great commander.
18
Place punctuation marks: indicate all the numbers that should be replaced by commas in the sentence.
Our scientists (1) as is known (2) are divided into categories - the greatest, great, famous, outstanding, large, famous, significant, experienced, qualified and (3) finally (4) the oldest.
19
Place punctuation marks: indicate all the numbers that should be replaced by commas in the sentence.
I was very happy (1) because (2) when I’m having fun (3) and my friends are walking next to me (4) I forget about everything and don’t think about (5) what will happen someday.
20
Edit the sentence: correct the lexical error by eliminating the extra word. Write this word down.
The flat body of stingrays is well adapted to life on the bottom of the sea, where they either lie, tracking down prey (mostly sedentary mollusks and crayfish), or even half-bury themselves in the sand.
Read the text and complete tasks 21-26.
(1) A paradoxical fact has long been noticed: especially beautiful people are often lonely and unhappy. (2) The life of such famous beauties as Helen - Queen of Sparta - and Cleopatra, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana cannot be called happy. (3) The ancients explained this by the jealousy and envy of the gods. (4) Many peoples believed that, having generously gifted a person in one respect, fate would certainly deprive him of something else. (5) Hence the widespread belief that a beautiful woman cannot be smart, and a handsome man is delicate, unreliable and also, most likely, stupid.
(6) From a psychological point of view, there are some reasons for this. (7) Beautiful people, spoiled from childhood by everyone’s attention and accustomed to easily getting their way, often turn out to be completely incapable of subtly understanding and feeling another. (8) When they are young and irresistible, they get away with callousness, selfishness, arrogance, they easily win hearts and have many fans. (9) But few people have the strength and desire to tolerate such a person next to them all their lives. (10) However, an evil disposition and dislike for people are not always behind the inability of an outwardly attractive person to build strong relationships. (11) This may simply be a kind of “uncouthness”, underdevelopment of qualities that are so necessary in communication, such as tact, sensitivity, flexibility. (12) After all, we truly effectively learn only what we really need. (13) It is natural that a person who does not hope to establish contacts with others, relying only on his appearance, will be more diligent and more successful in mastering the subtle science of interpersonal relationships. (14) It is here that we should look for the reasons for the situation that has been played out many times in literature and cinema: a man who was once madly in love with a beautiful bitch leaves her for a plain-looking “gray mouse” who understands him, or a girl prefers to a smug handsome man who is not endowed with a bright appearance, but with spirituality someone close to her.
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We all sometimes need solitude to collect our thoughts and take a break from others. However, prolonged loneliness is not only unpleasant - it is dangerous to health. Sarah Shourd, a girl who spent more than a year in solitary confinement, shared her frightening experience in an interview and described how isolation affected her psyche.
Scientists around the world have been studying loneliness for many years. It affects everyone differently, but there are common problems for most people who have been forced to spend long periods of time in isolation.
website will share with you the opinion of scientists: why it is still dangerous to be alone and what to do to avoid it.
11. Harm to physical health
Scientists have long found out that long-term isolation harms human health not only at the mental level, but also physically. In particular, lonely people tend to have low immunity, high blood pressure, and an increased chance of developing Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia.
Scientists associate this effect of isolation with our distant ancestors, for whom separation from the general group posed a serious danger. And, although the dangers of the Stone Age are behind us, our body still reacts poorly to loneliness.
10. Mental instability
Participants in the same experiment observed various kinds of hallucinations: from luminous points in space to squirrels marching with bags on their shoulders. Mostly the hallucinations were visual, but there were auditory and even tactile hallucinations, for example, one of the experiment participants claimed that he had been shot from a gun.
The reasons for this are not fully understood, but scientists have a theory. The brain suffers from a lack of information coming from outside. However, the nervous system continues to send signals to the brain, albeit false ones. The brain, in turn, tries to create a holistic picture from false signals, which our psyche so strives for. The result is hallucinations.
So, Sarah Shourd said: “For several days I clearly heard footsteps along the corridor, although there was no one there. With my peripheral vision, I began to notice small lights, but they disappeared as soon as I turned my head. One day I heard a terrible scream that lasted for an eternity, and then I felt that one of the guards was trying to bring me to my senses. Then I realized that it was my cry."
8. Increased risk of suicide
This may seem obvious, but as loneliness increases, so does the risk of suicide. It doesn’t matter whether a person experiences isolation due to external reasons or due to personal problems: ideas of suicide are much more common among lonely people.
This prompted scientists to consider loneliness as a problem, as a disease that can and should be treated, especially if a person withdraws into himself while living in a metropolis.
7. Increased risk of depression
Studies have shown that lonely people for the most part feel less happy and satisfied, they are prone to pessimism and helplessness.
This may be due to the fact that loneliness itself contributes to a decrease in self-esteem, ability to work, and the ability to solve one’s problems. In addition, being isolated for a long time, a person loses social skills, and it becomes increasingly difficult for him to maintain relationships with others.
6. Increased tendency towards alcoholism
Loneliness is unanimously recognized by scientists as a factor contributing to the development of alcoholism. In addition, it is also a supporting factor, that is, it is more difficult for a lonely person to resist a bad habit.
At the moment this is just a theory, but still. Some scientists suggest that the inability (or failure) to satisfy basic emotional needs plays a critical role in the development of schizoid personality disorder.
The impossibility of normal communication leads to heightened emotions, the very pattern of social behavior is disrupted, and as a result, the personality disorder progresses.
Of course, loneliness cannot be the only cause of all serious mental disorders. However, it greatly aggravates symptoms and contributes to the progression of the disease.
3. Poor sleep
Loneliness leads to poor sleep, scientists say. Further consequences are low energy levels during the day and a feeling of constant fatigue.
Moreover, it is not the duration of rest that suffers, but rather its quality. Scientists have linked loneliness to poor sleep quality, namely micro-awakenings that a person does not notice, but which ultimately have a profound impact on well-being and productivity.
2. Negative influence on others
One interesting study proved that loneliness can be contagious. If you are close to someone who suffers from loneliness, you yourself are 52% more likely to feel lonely. It sounds paradoxical, but it is true, because a feeling of loneliness also occurs among people who live in large cities and lead an outwardly quite active social life. with the mortality rate from smoking. And loneliness is almost 2 times more deadly than obesity.
Social isolation impairs immune function and increases the risk of inflammation, which leads to arthritis, diabetes and heart disease.
Loneliness has doubled in recent decades, with 40% of those surveyed saying they were lonely, up from 20% in the 1980s.
Consequences of prolonged loneliness
Sarah Shourd, who spent more than a year in solitary confinement, is still undergoing psychotherapy sessions. Her interview brought public attention to the issue of solitary confinement. Now it is allowed almost all over the world, despite the fact that the girl herself equates it to physical torture. Here's what Sarah says: “You don't have to hit someone to hurt them. Solitary confinement will leave no trace, but its effects are serious and lasting. Immediately after my release, I couldn’t even talk to people, I couldn’t look them in the eyes, I wanted to escape from society. And now I am haunted by insomnia and nightmares. I believe that prolonged solitary confinement is a cruel punishment that should amount to torture. And I demand that this inhumane practice be stopped throughout the world.”
Loneliness can be overcome. Of course, if you find yourself in physical isolation, this will require much more strength from you - for example, people who have spent many months in solitary confinement tend to save themselves by exercising their brains. One woman mathematician, imprisoned for many months, solved equations in her head, composed mathematical problems, and taught imaginary lessons.
However, in practice, the loneliness of the “big city” is much more dangerous for us, but it is also easier to overcome.
- Be prepared for the fact that this will require conscious effort on your part. They're worth it because you'll be happier and healthier in the end.
- Admit the problem. You can communicate with dozens of people, but loneliness is more often an internal problem.
- Track all the negative manifestations of loneliness. This will help you gather strength to fight.
- Think about what it is about being around people that you enjoy most. This will be the first step in establishing or restoring social connections.
- Invest time and energy into developing relationships with people you like and understand. Remember that relationships require effort, just like everything good in our lives.
- Be optimistic. This attracts others, and will allow you to look at your problems completely differently. Ultimately, you already have all the tools in your hands to overcome loneliness. Or better yet, don’t let it develop.
