According the US Surgeon General what do you think is the number one medical condition in the United States? Heart disease? Cancer? Diabetes?
In fact, it is loneliness. During a time when there are more ways to connect with other people that at any point in history, millions of Americans suffer from loneliness. A very sad irony.
Unfortunately, loneliness is a major risk factor for financial exploitation. Sophisticated scam artists have become very adept at preying on people who are lonely. This certainly applies to older adults, many of who may have lost a spouse, other family members, or close friends. But younger adults can be lonely as well, and they too are vulnerable.
In this short video, New York Times best-selling author and psychiatrist Edward “Ned” Hallowell, MD, argues that everyone is at risk, and he explains why thinking that you are not at risk puts you in fact in even greater risk.