Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

A way to stop social isolation? Beer.

Sarah Fraser, MD
Physician
September 5, 2017
Share
Tweet
Share

On our first night in Dublin, my mother and I head straight to a pub. We sit at a table across the room from a cheerful woman who looks to be in her eighties. It doesn’t take her long to walk across the room and join us. She grasps her pint of beer and takes a long gulp. We learn that her name is Mary and she welcomes us with céad míle fáilte, Gaelic for “one hundred thousand welcomes.” A man on stage with a guitar alternates between playing traditional Irish songs and nineties grunge tunes.

“This one goes out to Mary,” says the musician. A smile lights up her face as the musician gives his best rendition of the Irish folk classic, “Whiskey in the Jar.”

“I come to this pub every Monday and Friday,” Mary says with pride. “I’m a regular here, you know. Oh, look who walked in the door. I’ll be back in a flash. I must say hello to Old Johnny.”

“Old Johnny” is a couple of decades younger than Mary and he buys her a pint, which she drinks while standing next to him at the bar. She finishes it then stumbles back our way. I wonder whether it’s the beer or arthritis contributing to her unsteady gait. Probably both. Along the way, the guitarist plays another of her favorite tunes and a man in his thirties asks her to dance. Doing the polka in the middle of the room, Mary is in her glory.

“I used to go to the pub at the Gresham,” she says, sitting next to us again, catching her breath. “But I come here now. It’s closer to my bus stop. Not so far to walk. And I get along so well with everyone here. Another pint, will you?” she gestures to the bartender.

“For you, Mary? Anything me darlin’.”

My doctor-brain is firing full speed. Does Mary live alone? Might she fall on the way home?

“Where are you planning to visit while you’re here in Ireland?” she asks. We relay our plans — Cork, the Ring of Kerry, Galway perhaps.

“You must see the Ring of Kerry. I used to take trips around the countryside. Now I can’t leave town for more than a day or two, on account of the warfarin. It’s a drug. I’m not sure if you know what that is, but it’s a darn pain in the behind if you ask me! I have to get my blood checked every second day.”

My anxiety around Mary and her fall risk increases. I wish I didn’t know she was taking a blood thinner. Her risk of bleeding if she fell would be so high. Three more gulps and she’s finished pint three.

“Excuse me, ladies, I must go to the loo. They make me use the staff bathroom now, here on the main floor. Barred from downstairs, I am, on account of my tumble from last year.”

As she makes her way to the bathroom, she holds onto various objects, chairs, the bar, bystanders. When she returns, “Another tune for Mary.” She sits beside us once again and plays the air piano.

When she says she must settle up her tab, I breathe a sigh of relief. The bar staff must be relieved, too. After she stands, the bartender says, “Ah, Mary, don’t be leavin’ us yet. This one is on the house. Stay for another.” And she does.

ADVERTISEMENT

The rest of our trip is full of moments like this one, where I can’t fully turn my inner doctor off. I cringe a little bit inside while kissing the Blarney Stone, imagining the millions of other lips that have graced the sacred rock in exchange for the gift of eloquence (so goes the fable). At another pub, on another night, I watch an eight-month-old baby smile and kick her feet to the sound of her mother playing the fiddle, but the music is so loud it could damage the child’s eardrum. In Ireland, the prudent and the lively were often at odds with one another. Yet, there was something very special about the spirit of community.

Mary was anything but socially isolated. She had a group of people who she spent time with. They cared for her and looked out for her. The issue of social isolation in seniors is a serious one. According to a report published in 2013 by the Government of Canada’s National Seniors Council, social isolation of seniors increases health risks, such as smoking, heart disease, stroke, depression and even suicide. When seniors are socially isolated, they are also at increased risk of problem drinking and falling, the very same concerns I had with Mary.

In the age of loneliness, perhaps I can quote the Irish writer Oscar Wilde when he said “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

Sarah Fraser is a general practitioner who blogs at Sinus Rhythm.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com 

Prev

Medical device companies will soon face hard audits

September 5, 2017 Kevin 2
…
Next

Your patient is angry. Here are 5 things physicians can do.

September 5, 2017 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: Primary Care, Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Medical device companies will soon face hard audits
Next Post >
Your patient is angry. Here are 5 things physicians can do.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Sarah Fraser, MD

  • These 2 Canadian provinces are getting it right in the COVID-19 pandemic

    Sarah Fraser, MD
  • The bittersweet post-COVID life for this physician

    Sarah Fraser, MD
  • How long does coronavirus stay on surfaces?

    Sarah Fraser, MD

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • Why social media may be causing real emotional harm

    Edwin Leap, MD
  • Are negative news cycles and social media injurious to our health?

    Rabia Jalal, MD
  • How I used social media to get promoted to professor

    David R. Stukus, MD
  • How social media leads to a loss of creativity

    Edwin Leap, MD
  • Are patients using social media to attack physicians?

    David R. Stukus, MD

More in Physician

  • True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it

    Alae Kawam, DO & Kim Downey, PT & Nicole Solomos, DO
  • Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength

    Maureen Gibbons, MD
  • How a rainy walk helped an oncologist rediscover joy and bravery

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • How inspiration and family stories shape our most meaningful moments

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • A day in the life of a WHO public health professional in Meghalaya, India

    Dr. Poulami Mazumder
  • Why women doctors are still mistaken for nurses

    Emma Fenske, DO
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

      Sara Meyer | Social media
    • AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

      Fardad Behzadi, MD | Tech
    • Dedicated hypermobility clinics can transform patient care

      Katharina Schwan, MPH | Conditions
    • Why ADHD in adults is often missed—and why it matters [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

      Fardad Behzadi, MD | Tech
    • How deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is transforming mental health care

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it

      Alae Kawam, DO & Kim Downey, PT & Nicole Solomos, DO | Physician
    • How Gen Z is transforming mental health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Nurses aren’t eating their young — we’re starving the profession

      Adam J. Wickett, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 3 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Why removing fluoride from water is a public health disaster

      Steven J. Katz, DDS | Conditions
    • When did we start treating our lives like trauma?

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician
    • First impressions happen online—not in your exam room

      Sara Meyer | Social media
    • AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

      Fardad Behzadi, MD | Tech
    • Dedicated hypermobility clinics can transform patient care

      Katharina Schwan, MPH | Conditions
    • Why ADHD in adults is often missed—and why it matters [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Why tracking cognitive load could save doctors and patients

      Hiba Fatima Hamid | Education
    • What the world must learn from the life and death of Hind Rajab

      Saba Qaiser, RN | Conditions
    • The silent toll of ICE raids on U.S. patient care

      Carlin Lockwood | Policy
    • Why recovery after illness demands dignity, not suspicion

      Trisza Leann Ray, DO | Physician
    • Why does rifaximin cost 95 percent more in the U.S. than in Asia?

      Jai Kumar, MD, Brian Nohomovich, DO, PhD and Leonid Shamban, DO | Meds
    • Why medical students are trading empathy for publications

      Vijay Rajput, MD | Education
  • Recent Posts

    • AI is not a threat to radiologists. It’s a distraction from what truly matters in medicine.

      Fardad Behzadi, MD | Tech
    • How deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is transforming mental health care

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • True stories of doctors reclaiming their humanity in a system that challenges it

      Alae Kawam, DO & Kim Downey, PT & Nicole Solomos, DO | Physician
    • How Gen Z is transforming mental health care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Nurses aren’t eating their young — we’re starving the profession

      Adam J. Wickett, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why wanting more from your medical career is a sign of strength

      Maureen Gibbons, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

A way to stop social isolation? Beer.
3 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...