Loneliness

• “Loneliness has followed me my whole life,” says Robert De Niro’s character, Travis Bickle, in Taxi Driver.
• He seems drawn to characters who experience, either through choice or circumstance, a life of loneliness and isolation.
• Here are six examples (among many) in which De Niro’s roles embody a sense of isolation, alienation or loneliness, both visually and thematically.

Taxi Driver (1976) and The King of Comedy (1982)

• Taxi Driver deals with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and a simultaneous desire and inability to forge meaningful relationships.
• The King of Comedy, meanwhile, is a narcissistic odyssey about comedic stardom.
• Paul Schrader, who wrote the script for Taxi Driver, has discussed his specific style of “monocular vision” within the film, meaning that the central protagonist is present in almost every scene.

Raging Bull (1980)

• Those themes of extreme isolation, performance and even stand-up comedy come together again in another De Niro and Scorsese collaboration – Raging Bull.
• Raging Bull charts how LaMotta’s success came at the extreme price of estrangement from his family and friends.
• His obsession with dominating in the ring spilled out as toxic behaviour in his domestic life, driving every meaningful relationship away.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994)

• In his career of strong, character-driven roles, some may overlook De Niro’s performance as the monster in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Mary Shelly’s gothic novel, Frankenstein.
• Branagh’s version, a faithful retelling, depicts Victor Frankenstein’s obsession with creating a living creature from human remains.
• Eventually, this fuels the monster’s hatred towards Frankenstein for giving him life without love.

Heat (1995)

• “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.” This is the mantra of career criminal Neal McCauley (De Niro’s character in Heat) who adopts isolation as a calculated strength.
• His discipline and precision make up the impetus of this crime noir, structured around a protagonist who is “alone but not lonely”.

Awakenings (1990)

• During the COVID pandemic, many of us were “cut off” from our social worlds through restrictions, lockdowns and mandates.
• In our latest research, my colleagues and I investigated the role FOMO plays in two kinds of internet use: problematic social media use and “doomscrolling”.

What are FOMO, problematic social media use and doomscrolling?

• Psychology researchers have been studying FOMO for more than a decade, and it has consistently been linked to mental health and wellbeing, alcohol use and problematic social media use.
• While problematic social media use has been around for a while, doomscrolling seems to be a more recent phenomenon.

What we tried to find out

• We tried a novel approach to see if we could find out just how FOMO leads individuals to engage in problematic internet use behaviours.
• The key factor, we thought, was emotion regulation – our ability to deal with our emotions.
• Research shows it's often about managing emotions
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  However, an idea that has been gaining attention recently is interpersonal emotion regulation.

What we found – and what it might mean for the future of internet use

• Similarly, people who report stronger FOMO are drawn to doomscrolling because of difficulty regulating their emotions intrapersonally (within themselves).
• However, we found no link between FOMO and doomscrolling through interpersonal emotion regulation.
• For instance, there are probably fewer people with whom to share your emotions while staying up trawling through bad news.

Getting the balance right

• In a world ensnared by the grip of the global pandemic, actor and teacher Jackie Theoharis found herself at a crossroads of personal turmoil and uncertainty.
• In her memoir The Truth About Greece That Summer, Jackie unveils a narrative beyond mere travelogue.
• From the vibrant streets of Mykonos to the serene shores of Serifos, each destination becomes a chapter in Jackie's odyssey towards liberation and healing.
• Her story resonates with authenticity as she navigates the labyrinth of identity, mental health, and the pursuit of personal freedom.

• Perfect Pair, which focuses on creating one-on-one connections between university students and seniors, joins the #ProjectLoveMeter Volunteer Network to increase volunteer resources across 15 states.
• "Perfect Pair is thrilled to join the #ProjectLoveMeter Volunteer Network to expand our collective mission to combat social isolation in older adults," said Lizzy Rueppel, Interim Executive Director at Perfect Pair.
• "Accushield is delighted to welcome Perfect Pair into the #ProjectLoveMeter Volunteer Network," said TK King, Vice President of Healthcare Strategy at Accushield.
• Accushield invites individuals and organizations alike to join the #ProjectLoveMeter Volunteer Network to help reduce senior loneliness and isolation risks.