With this battery-powered touchscreen radio in our pocket, we are not only connected to all the knowledge in the world, but also to a myriad of people we can contact more or less anytime and directly. So the level of connectedness is higher than ever before.

Unfortunately, however, this is not about quantity. Almost everyone today wants a great built-in kitchen with a cooking island in the middle and that wonderful stainless steel refrigerator. So there are more and more of these designer home cooking studios.

But contrary to the trend, not only is there less cooking in private, but above all there are fewer meals together with friends and family. Within 10 years, the number of such get-togethers has halved. At the same time, the number of people who feel socially isolated has doubled. This is confirmed by numerous studies from Western countries. The trend toward single housing, the high rate of working women and the bad habit of dining in front of a running TV, plus excessive cell phone use are clear signs of this development.

The epidemic increase in depression that has already been mentioned may also be due to such factors. If we look back 200 years, there was no significant incidence of either cancer or depression in Europe.

So would it be a solution to do it like the Amish (Christian denomination in the eastern USA), who have taken it upon themselves to live as they did 300 years ago, i.e. without an electricity grid, cars or computers? Hardly. It would be more intelligent to deal properly with today's achievements. From a health perspective, however, the Amish do at least one thing absolutely right: they place a very high value on interacting in the community.

In doing so, you exclude a risk factor that few people have on their radar: Loneliness.
This is namely more harmful than

• smoking 15 cigarettes a day,
• Obesity,
• not to play sports.

This emerged from a sensational meta-study, which you can view here: https://is.gd/wbbhzw

Meaningful, meaningful connectedness can only be experienced in physical encounters with others. Consequently, physical meetings, shared ventures and activities, and the interactions that occur in the process are essential to our well-being. a

For young people, the addiction factor - in fact, a small dose of dopamine is released with every Facebook like they receive - is so high that they can hardly bear to leave their cell phones unattended for half an hour. The sight of people eating together at a table, each staring at a screen, should be taken as a reminder. I hope that one day society will value such habits the same way it values smoking: You can do it, but it's neither particularly beneficial nor wise.

Here are a few strategies to avoid social isolation:

• Take part in a team sport. Here you get group interaction, exercise and fun in a combo package. If you prefer moderate action, go to a yoga or qigong class or take a walk in the woods with others. If you haven't connected yet, ask for like-minded people in a Facebook community or visit Selfhealing.Academy.
• Once again, invite friends or family members to join you - preferably on a regular basis. Subsequently, you will then be invited yourself, and in this way several meetings per week will result.
• Visit other people who may be lonely, for example, in the hospital, children's home or senior residence. Not only will you get social interaction, but you will also experience the gratitude of those who surprise you in this way.
• Get a dog! In this way, you create two beneficial circumstances: on the one hand, a living creature that constantly needs your attention, and on the other hand, contacts with other dog owners.
• Get out into unspoiled nature - alone if necessary. Relevant experiments show that experiencing nature makes us friendlier, more sociable and more helpful people than the concrete desert of the city. So you become more open to others, which is a crucial prerequisite for overcoming your own loneliness. Nature has an exclusively positive effect on your life in the first place, which is why a separate chapter is devoted to it in this book.
• Volunteer in an association or church community.